On the most superficial level, the journey of Bilbo and the dwarves conforms to the maps, drawn by Tolkien himself, that serve as the endpapers for most editions of the book. More subtly, the narrator draws your attention to the significance of events, as when Bilbo finds the ring of invisibility, that you might otherwise pass over. When a character is mistaken, the narrator sometimes shares with you the more accurate judgment, the better decision that could have been made. Despite the fact that he is narrating a story of his own invention, he assumes you are in sympathy with him and even share in his knowledge, as when he identifies the Wood-elves and comments that "of course" that is what they are.
At one point in the story, Tolkien offers a peek behind the scenes, as it were, to see the crafted structure of his plot. After Smaug has flown out of the Lonely Mountain in a rage and destroyed Esgaroth, the narrator begins Chapter 14 by asking you to go back two days to imagine the terror the people of Esgaroth felt as they saw Smaug descend upon them.
These narrative intrusions — places where the narrator breaks in upon his own story, destroying any illusion that it is reality unfolding before you — contribute to your sense that the plot is being capably managed and that the story is told by someone who really does know, down to the smallest detail, what happened. You are, in other words, in the hands of a master storyteller. While there is no "I" in The Hobbit, you find a great many references to "you," the reader. Tolkien's great attention to you as you read The Hobbit, his care that you understand every detail along the way, and his welcoming you into the world in which his story takes place accounts for much that makes the narrative voice so attractive.
