It is apparent that in J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit, there is the underlying theme of the continual struggle between good and evil. Tolkien's plan in the novel was to show this theme through an adventure story. The theme is highlighted in the episodes where Gandalf, the dwarves, and Bilbo fight against the many terrors of Middle Earth. Through fights with goblins, trolls, wolves and the Battle of Five Armies, it is seen that good always prevails over evil. The first encounter is with the trolls.
             The first evil that Bilbo and the dwarves come across is the trolls. Tolkien sets the reader up by saying that trolls and dwarves have a history of not getting along. The dwarves and Bilbo are caught by the rolls and put into sacks. Gandalf, the wizard, comes and instigates a fight between the trolls about how to cook the dwarves and Bilbo. Gandalf keeps them fighting until daybreak when the sun turns the rolls into stone. The dwarves then find food, treasure and weapons inside the trolls' cave. This is the first example of how, in Tolkien's story, good will always triumph over evil. It is the adventure of this fight with the trolls that makes the theme apparent to the reader. Tolkien makes it clear that the trolls are the enemy. Another enemy of the dwarves is goblins.
             The fight with the goblins is the second adventure in the story. While traveling in the Misty Mountains, the party is captured by the goblins. Once again, everyone but Gandalf is captured and carried through the tunnels into the heart of the mountain. Gandalf again comes to the rescue by killing the Great Goblin. For a second time, the forces of evil are destroyed by the good doings of Gandalf and the dwarves. It is Bilbo's third adventure, however, that proves that good will overcome evil.
             Tolkien describes the monster Gollum, "as darker as darkness" (79). Gollum is seen as one of the ulti
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