Hero’s Journey Essay
Literary Analysis of The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien
What happens when one day a cloaked figure asks you to join a group of heavily bearded men in search for treasure in a dragon’s lair? Bilbo is fortunate enough to experience such a peculiar invitation, but the Baggins side of him is quick in refusal. Yet off he still goes from his warm and fuzzy hobbit hole in the Shire to the desolate land of Dain, where he learns to prove his worth amongst his hot-tempered Dwarf companions. Along the way, allies are made, secrets kept and human desires put into play, eventually culminating in the concluding battles where Bilbo plays a pivotal role in the management of order in the fellowship. The Hobbit mirrors the world during the time
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Hobbits are known to be unassuming folk “who disappear quietly and quickly” (3). The story begins with a picture of the humdrum life of the hobbits peppered with descriptions of the mundane, from Bilbo’s house to his “enormous long wooden pipe that reached nearly down to his woolly toes (neatly brushed)” (3); Tolkien makes sure that the reader knows that Bilbo is of an unremarkable sort. Bilbo, a hobbit of Baggins and Took lineage, displays his Baggins’ side when he first hears of the wizard Gandalf’s seemingly nonchalant proposition. The Bagginses are known to be “very respectable … because they never had any adventures or did anything expected” (3). Anxious of whatsoever good a perilous undertaking would offer, and its sure likelihood of death, the gentlemanly Mr. Baggins flatly declines: “We are plain, quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things” (4). This refusal is borne out of a life which, up to that point, has been of second breakfasts, smoke-rings, and morning letters. His dismissive tone, however belie his adventurous Took blood. Later, in an attempt to quell the dwarves’ suspicions and introduce a lighter mood, Gandalf’s tone shifts from oratorical to comical, even sympathetic as he reassures them that though Bilbo “gets funny queer fits, (but) he is one of the best-- as fierce as a dragon in a …show more content…
Tolkien’s highly intricate imagery of malignance makes apparent the uncertainty encircling the company and sets the frightful mood over which Bilbo’s courage must prevail. His ominous description of Mirkwood Forest explains the hesitation in the company to pass onto the realm where “The entrance to the path was like a sort of arch leading into a gloomy tunnel”(153). The imagery evoked by “Trees … too old and strangled with ivy… to bear more than a few blackened leaves” (153) places the reader in the foreboding atmosphere in which the company is presently ensnarled, and effectively forewarns of sorcery, monsters and misery at play. Days into the forest, constant hunger gnaws at the company, leading them to disperse round and round in an entranced dream-like state. Then, somewhere in the pitch-dark night, Bilbo strikes dead a most nefarious enemy. The elation felt by the hobbit afterwards is one of great significance. Somehow, the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark…made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach”(170). Bilbo’s first triumph forces him to recognize the strength he commands. The change is further displayed when he names his sword Sting, alluding to the heroism incited in him by the entrapping wretchedness. This act also resolves for the reader why Bilbo’s sword is
Lastly, I would like to briefly mention how the yard sale of Bilbo’s property as he returned home slightly resembles the end of The Odyssey, where the hero Odysseus returns home after much traveling to many unkind strangers crowding his wife and home. Bilbo, too, had to metaphorically fight to reclaim what was his from the many people to whom his properties had been sold.
Bilbo Baggins has gone from a Hobbit to a Hero. In the minds of the readers Bilbo was not a hero, but he became one. He became a hero by going through trials, helping lots of people, and went from worrying about leaving his hobbit hole to fighting mythical creatures. Bilbo has gone through many trials, good and bad. While going through these trails Bilbo realizes what being a leader and hero is about.
“I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for all of you. If I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar he is, or will be when the time comes. There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself.” – Gandalf (The Hobbit, Ch. 1) Heroism, adventure, and development are key points when reading J. R. R. Tolkien’s, The Hobbit. Painfully naïve and content, Bilbo Baggins had the life-changing opportunity to advance from his comfort zone and into the mysterious and unknown world.
Again, he also discovers even more of his adventurous side. This is highlighted most when he defends himself and the dwarves from the giant spiders. Also, you can see his change when he is trapped in the Wood-Elf fort. Mirkwood marks the final challenge leading to Bilbo’s ultimate test. The Shire, the Misty Mountains, and Mirkwood make The Hobbit more than a typical adventure book because of their detail and contrasting tones.
It gives Bilbo the confidence he needs to later on to take charge and sort of lead the quest, just like in this quote. " Indeed they really expected him to think of some wonderful plan for helping them, and we 're not merely grumbling. They knew too well that they would soon all have been dead, if it had not been for the hobbit; and they thanked him many times." (Tolkien 166). This change in Bilbo 's image, allows the reader to have a more
World renowned author, J.R.R Tolkien, in his college lecture ‘On Fairy-Stories, discusses the fairy-tale story as a literary form. In this essay, Tolkien argues that fairytales go well beyond what we expect them to be, and backs up this argument by using many rhetorical devices such as-but not limited to- the power of ethos, logos, and rhetorical questions. J.R.R Tolkien, at the time of presenting this lecture,had already started his writing career ten years prior to the presentation’s time. The Hobbit had already been published, and critically acclaimed by a wide variety of readers; he had also been a professor of many universities
But the party saw them and they had other plans they wanted to keep this treasure for themselves, well all except for Bilbo, which had no problem with sharing. As time went on the dwarves barricaded themselves in the mountain and Bard had pleaded with the leader of the dwarves to just give him a share since he was the one who killed the dragon, but he still refused because he had grown greedy and he was still upset because he could not find his heart of the mountain. Meanwhile, the word of the dragon 's death had spread far and wide until it reached the goblins and when they heard of it they headed toward the mountain to claim the treasure. A war was brewing that no one quite knew the extent of, well not yet anyway. Back at the mountain, Bilbo was growing quite tired of this endless argument between Bard and the dwarves.
This fictional story takes place in the Western side of a fantasy land that Tolkien created, “Middle- Earth.” Many creatures inhabited this majestic land, one of which is a hobbit with the name “Bilbo Baggins.” Bilbo starts off as a conservative hobbit that lives under a hill. He was living his peaceful life until Gandalf, a mysterious wizard, randomly
Also noticed near the end of the eye catching book, “Now I wonder what has happened?” he said to himself. “At any rate I am not yet one of the fallen heroes; but I suppose there is still enough time for that” (Tolkien, The Hobbit, 310)! He appraised himself as a hero who had not yet given up. Bilbo’s hope could move mountains, just alike to any other hero’s faith.
A hero is someone who makes noble choices with noble intentions. While he makes seemingly noble choices, Bilbo Baggins makes these choices for the wrong reasons. He completes heroic acts when intending to impress Thorin and the other Dwarves, when his Took side takes over, and when he acts out of fear none of which constitute a noble act. In order to not disappoint him, Bilbo listens to Thorin.
Bilbo baggins is a person that sometimes like to stay inside of his house and sometimes go outside, so one day these dwarfs had kept on knocking at his door one or two at a time asking for food and for him to be the 14th dwarf. One day he get used to the dwarf sand go on a lot of adventures with them. then one day they had ended up getting caught by the elves. The elves had took them to jail but they did not take bilbo because he was invisible so he follows them to see where they were going. The next day he goes to the same place that the elves took them and when he was on the way there he had to stop and get them some food.
He begins by falling into a fit when he feels he is being forced to join Gandalf and the dwarves, and later he must be carried by Dori when they are escaping the Goblins. In the face of difficulties, he is often afraid and constantly daydreams of bacon and eggs and wishes himself back home. Bilbo is also shows signs of being fastidious. He does not like the mess the dwarves create in his home and he thinks multiple times that places they stay are unorganized
A Review of The Hobbit The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is the prelude to The Lord of the Rings also by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit is a fantasy. The Hobbit focuses on a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. (Hobbits defined by J.R.R. Tolkien are, “Little people, smaller than dwarfs.
We are first introduced to the main character Bilbo Baggins who is a peaceful Hobbit who loves staying in his lovely hole/home. And when Bilbo meets with Gandalf, they then discuss about having tea together. Which Gandalf then turns that tea meeting into an organizational meeting with 13 dwarves. They then start to talk about a map that would lead them to a mountain where they will find a dragon. This dragon has stolen many treasures and the group are going to reclaim it.