Bilbo: A True Hero

Joseph Campbell, a renowned mythologist and professor studied mythology and traditional stories. He defined a hero as “someone who has given his or her life for something bigger than oneself.” His creation of the Hero’s Journey structured the storyline for so many stories to come, including The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel follows the adventure of Bilbo Baggins, an ordinary hobbit turned hero. Gandalf, a wizard forces Bilbo on an adventure to regain treasure with thirteen dwarves. The company faces many challenges while Gandalf aids them. Eventually, Bilbo becomes forced to take charge and lead the company to the mountain. The experiences Bilbo encounters throughout his journey define and shape him into the hero he becomes.

In reality, people don’t always stay the same - they change based on their experiences. The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien is a novel about a group of dwarves who recruit Bilbo, a humble hobbit, to help them take back their home from Smaug, a dragon. Most hobbits dislike adventure, Bilbo being no exception, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he travels with the dwarves. Firstly, Bilbo conflicts with his own personality when he decides to go with the dwarves and changes from being homely to being more adventurous. Then, he conflicts with the spiders in Mirkwood and changes from being honest to being more deceitful. Lastly, he conflicts with his own fears on his way towards smaug where he evolves from being non-confrontational to being more brave. Thus, the purpose of the novel is to show that through conflict, a person can change unexpectedly, resulting in a positive outcome.

Bilbo’s beliefs throughout his life before his great adventure were fairly narrow-minded. He believed that having an extravagant home with the approval of his neighbors was extremely important. Doing anything out of the ordinary was unexpected out of Mr. Bilbo Baggins as he was very predictable in all his actions. As mentioned in the book, you could tell what a Baggins would say even before he answered your question. I believe that Bilbo always had the same beliefs throughout the book, but that some came out clearer in different situations. For example, in the case of Thorin withholding all the treasure from everybody else, Bilbo knew that the right thing to do was to negotiate peacefully with the other parties. So, he went behind the dwarves’

In “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien we hear about Bilbo’s great adventures. On Bilbo’s great journey he gains many spiritual treasures. Bilbo gains self-confidence, loyalty, courage, compassion, and selflessness. Bilbo also dealt with hardships, failures, and accomplishments. His journey with the dwarves and Gandalf helped him gain all these spiritual treasures.

The Hobbit’s Adventure Going on an adventure can be really hard, but only Bilbo Baggins knows how hard it really can be. In the story The Hobbit, by J.R.R Tolkien, a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who goes on a great adventure. He fights in many battles, verbal and physical, to fight for the greater good. Bilbo learned how to support his friends and how to be self reliant. The character changes from beginning to end, evolving into a heroic leader.

Bilbo is able to adapt to any situation that is thrown at him. One example that sticks out, is his use of the ring when fighting off the spiders after only having it for a short amount of time. “Hobbits are clever at quietness, especially in woods, as I have already told you; also Bilbo had slipped on his ring before he started. That is why the spiders neither saw nor heard him coming”(168). This incident that involved these spiders, showed several of Bilbo's personality traits.

Mahdi Jaber Mrs. Schwartz British Literature Dec 5 2015 Heroes “Heroes represent the best of ourselves, respecting that we are human beings. A hero can be anyone from Gandhi to your classroom teacher, anyone who can show courage when faced with a problem. A hero is someone who is willing to help others in his or her best capacity (Martin).” Respectively, anyone can be a hero but heroes are classified as people with aspects including Faith, loyalty, modesty, courtesy, honor, and bravery. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines a hero as “a person who is admired for great or brave acts of fine qualities.”

What is a hero? What must one do to qualify for the honor of having such a title? A man named Joseph Campbell wrote a book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces, with the idea that there is a road on which most heroes in most stories travel on their way to becoming a hero. This is called The Hero’s Journey. From leaving the comfort of The Shire to helping defeat a dragon and returning home with the treasure Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is one of these heroes.

In J.R.R Tolkien’s book, the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins goes on a long, treacherous journey to retrieve the dwarves’ treasure from the dragon, Smaug. Bilbo is terrified to go on this adventure, but is soon persuaded to go. This story is an epic that states all of the steps of a Hero’s Journey. With this being said, the three steps of the Hero’s Journey” are the departure, the initiation, and the return. Through Bilbo’s misadventures, he goes through all of these steps; him and all of his companions learn throughout the journey.

Bilbo was brave, but not aggressively so. He was loyal, but that did not mean he never had doubts. Bilbo Baggins, of Bag End was an honorable Hobbit. He was also the greatest hero of them all, although he may not seem like it.

Bilbo finally evolves into a brave hero and fits in with the dwarf party. Chapter eight shows Bilbo freeing himself by cutting down a spider web and described feeling different about himself. He then goes on to name his sword as many legendary heros have before which shows qualities of heroism and leadership. He also expresses his bravery and intelligence in chapter nine by devising a plan to get the party out to Esgoroth. Last but certainly not least Bilbo discovers how to use the key to get to the great dragon Smaug. Then descends to his lair alone and confronts the dragon.

Change is something that is hard for most people to accomplish. Change can mean going out of your comfort zone to fulfill something that has the delusion of being absolutely mental. Bilbo goes through a dramatic change in The Hobbit from being the unadventurous, dull hobbit to being the unshrinking, adventurous hero. He does this when he finds the ring, when he frees the dwarves from the giant spider’s webs, and when he helps the dwarves escape from the Wood Elves.

The poem “Beowulf” and “The Hobbit” by John Tolkien both talk about a hero in terms of his physical, emotional and public being that can be identified to be different. Although the idea of how they define a hero is similar, both writings have similarities of heroism, killing a dragon and creatures that are unordinary to the human eye. Heroism can be seen in “Beowulf” from the protagonist Beowulf, his bravery is shown by him killing nine sea monsters in the ocean by himself. Beowulf is brave and noble in his battles, fought without fear and struggle while clashing with monsters bigger than his size. He had pride that was unpredictable to the old and wise (Beowulf).

Thorin comments that if more of the contentious warriors of the world lived the way hobbits do, it would be a happier world, and Bilbo’s return to Hobbiton seems an acknowledgment of the same idea. Heroism is important in a world beset with evil, but Tolkien suggests that if everyone lived the simple life of hobbits, evil would be obsolete. So, in a sense, Bilbo does belong in Hobbiton, even if he does not in the eyes of the hobbit community. 3 Is Thorin in any sense a heroic leader? Do his actions in the novel make him deserving of his death at the end?

Even though this part of the hero’s journey was portrayed pretty similarly, there is still a bit of a difference. They both used their instincts, but Bilbo was influenced a bit by the dwarves. His Took side had shown while the dwarves were contemplating whether he was fit for the adventure or not. This made him want to prove himself to them. Instincts aren’t normally the cause of the call to adventure, but for some reason, these two very different novels are similar this way.