What Is The Author's Craft In The Hobbit

In 1949, Joseph Campbell discussed the hero’s journey, the foundation commonly used in stories throughout history. In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the hero’s journey narrative is used to tell the story of Bilbo Baggins’s adventure. The novel follows Bilbo Baggins and a company of dwarves as they seek to take back the dwarves’ fallen kingdom. As the story progresses, Bilbo’s character develops and the dwarves perception of him develops through the many trials before the death of Smaug the dragon and the final battle between a variety of mythical creatures. In The Hobbit, the dwarves originally doubt Bilbo’s abilities but as Bilbo encounters more obstacles and succeeds, the dwarves perception turns to one of respect and admiration.

When Bilbo feels pity for Gollum, and decides not to kill him, he takes risks, as leaping over Gollum may fail, causing Bilbo to fall prey to Gollum. In this situation, Bilbo pushes himself to spare Gollum and make daring decisions, where Bilbo is not aware of the consequences. Therefore Bilbo signifies risk-taking when sparing Gollum, despite the unpredictable consequences that result from his decisions. Lastly, Bilbo demonstrates pushing himself to take risks, despite the danger, is during when Bilbo is chosen to survey inside the Lonely Mountain, Smaug's citadel (pg. 198-201). Bilbo understands that he must uphold his position as a burglar, and be the first to enter the Lonely Mountain, where Smaug inhabits. When Bilbo enters Smaug’s lair, is a primary example of Bilbo’s risk-taking, despite the prominent danger. Bilbo exploring Smaug's stronghold is the climax of danger during The Hobbit. During this situation, Bilbo pushes himself greatly, to explore inside the Lonely Mountain, in order to manifest his capability as a burglar, Bilbo surpasses his ability to take risks and discovers the extent of his risk-taking abilities. He ultimately finds greater courage within himself, as a result of pushing himself to take risks. Bilbo knows of Smaug, who represents the great danger within the mountains. He takes this opportunity to exceed his risk-taking skills. Therefore Bilbo takes risks by upholding his burglar responsibilities, despite facing the

By putting his life in danger Bilbo shows a true example of heroism. Though the dwarves were still skeptical of his abilities, they were starting to take into consideration of what Gandalf had said about this little hobbit. Continuing their adventure the group is attacked by goblins where they are eventually saved by Gandalf. Throughout the turmoil of the attacking goblins Bilbo gets lost in the caves and finds himself alone in the darkness. It is in this event when Bilbo finds Gollum’s ring. Gollum was a sickly looking creature that had been dwelling in the caves for many years. Bilbo used his wits to outsmart the creature by playing a riddle game with him and eventually made it to safety. Having Bilbo win the riddle game shows that his smart and witty mind aids him in becoming the hero. Bilbo wasn’t some tough strong stereotypical super hero, he used his smarts to outwit his foes and to triumph over evil. Though Bilbo at the time did not know the power of the ring that he had retrieved from Gollum’s lair (the power of invisibility), it was his heroic fate that he found it as it assist him in becoming the hero of the story. Fate has it that Bilbo will become a hero, but Bilbo also has the courage on top of his fate to get the dwarves out of life threatening situations.

Thesis: In The Hobbit, Tolkien wants to show the reader that anyone, from any background can step up to a challenge, and be extraordinary rather than ordinary.

“Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait” (132). In J.R.R.Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the reader is taken through a parable that follows Bilbo Baggins on the ‘Hero’s Journey.’ This fantasy classic begins with an ‘everyman’ hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who takes on a perilous journey to reclaim the dwarves’ homeland, The Lonely Mountain. After being spurred into action by Gandalf, the herald and mentor figure, Bilbo finds himself going on a pernicious venture that contradicts his docile nature, pushing him to play the role of

The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien is said to be one of the greatest children's novels of all time. The novel, due to its use of such characters as goblins, elves, trolls, giants, and others is in tradition, a fairy tale. The tale centers on a small hobbit by the name of Bilbo Baggins. It follows the journey of a band of dwarves, a wizard named Gandalf, and their robber, Bilbo on their way to retrieving treasure that had long been taken away from them. The hobbit traveled all over Middle-Earth, beginning with Bilbo's tiny hobbit-hole in the ground, to Mirkwood forest, to finally reaching the Mountain in which the dragon Smaug lives. Tolkien uses a large amount of imagery in his writing which can been seen through settings in The Hobbit. The

Going forward, in this essay, topics such as heroism and transformity will be strongly analyzed through quotes directly from the book The Hobbit and opinions formed while reading. Through the book The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien is able to show how a hero isn’t always the typical buff and boots with a cape on his back kind of person. Tolkien shows the reader that a hero is made by the struggles he conquers and isn’t just a perfect character thrown into the beginning of the story.

One literary device used in J.R.R Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” is Foreshadowing. The fact that the protagonist bilbo has split heritages makes it obvious that by the end of the story he has to choose one. In The Hobbit, Bilbo states “Sorry! I don't want any adventures, thank you. Not Today. Good morning! But please come to tea -any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Good bye!” (Tolkien 6). Bilbo does not want to go on a journey. Gandalf and the dwarves asking Bilbo to follow them on the journey to recover the stolen gold and the fact that he has an adventurous side to him easily conveys that he will go on the adventure. Tolkien also tend to use personification in his writing . Smilie's also contribute Tolkien’s book as well. Tolkien says”Splendid! They used to go up like great lilies and snapdragons and laburnums of fire and hang in the twilight all evening!” (Tolkien

Bilbo puts his ring to follow the dwarves and try to come up with a plan on how to free the dwarves. He is always trying to think of ways to help the dwarves. He finally comes up with a plan. He gets the idea to put one dwarf in a barrel so they can escape. “For some time Bilbo had thought about this watergate and wondered if it could be used for the escape of his friends…” (177). This also shows how brave he is and that he stays with the dwarves rather than running off. Bilbo is showing to everyone that he had taken a cup from Smaug. This is a big sign of bravery. Even though there were previous instances where he was brave but, this also was a great achievement for Bilbo. His morals grow as his encounters with other races increase. Even though he has already shown morals multiple times, he keeps showing them and it starts to become a part of who he is and his

Bilbo’s story is a story of a hero’s journey. From his origins we do not see that Bilbo likes to go on adventures. However, his mother’s side of the family got the best of him and he does decide to go on the adventure. We will look at his call to adventure and why he decided to go on the trip. Next, we will look at Bilbo and the weapons and supernatural help he used. The final aspect we’ll look at is Bilbo’s trials and transformations and goals during Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

One little hobbit’s life shall change forever with adventure lurking by for tea. Bilbo displays three archetypes throughout his adventure. One of them is ‘the call to adventure’, where's ‘the Tookish side’ of him awakens, and Gandalf presents Bilbo with an adventure, though without giving him an alternative. A second one is ‘the magic item’, for instance the magic ring. And ultimately, the ‘supernatural aid’ , patently Gandalf for he is a wizard. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End, Under Hill has invariably led a quiet and ‘boring’ life. Well, at least he did until thirteen dwarves came rapping at his door.

Near the middle of the book, Bilbo sleeps soundly after he is brought to the nest of the great eagles and has food to eat. Upon waking up, Bilbo “[jumps] up to look at the time and [goes] to put his kettle on… And after that he [has] to get ready for a fresh start” (123). This signifies that Bilbo is acclimating to the journey. Although he indicates that he knows that he is not home, he takes the correct step in preparing for a new part of the journey.

For example on page 3 it states, " The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for times out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected." This shows that Bilbo Baggins is known for neglecting adventures. This also shows that Bilbo himself does not know what he is capable of doing. Another example of this theme is shown in chapter 5, when Bilbo had found himself in a dark cave with no sound nor light. Then comes Gollum a strange creature in search of a precious item. Bilbo Baggins has to find a way outside of this mysterious cave so he bribes Gollum. He then finds the precious item Gollum was searching for, a powerful ring which makes you invisible. He then finds his way out of the cave and passes the goblins and then escapes to meet back up with the

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit living in the Shire having a peaceful quiet life in his hobbit hole. One day after living a life of leisure and pleasure he is awakened by a rude knock on his door. In a matter of a few hours he will meet the people that changed his life for good. The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien is a story about a hobbit and his adventure. His adventure starts with a knock on his door by his old Friend Gandalf. Gandalf then promptly asks Bilbo”I am looking for someone to share in an adventure”(tolkien). Bilbo then denies Gandalf and continuous with his usual day until that night. When Bilbo is about to eat his dinner he gets a knock. He opens it to find two dwarves Dwalin and Balin. Bilbo 's shocked but invites them in. Bilbo does this eval times until he 's left with thirteen dwarves Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Ori, Nori, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin Oakenshield. They then invite him on a quest that would change his life. During his quest he faces many evils and overcomes them all to become a hero.

The Hobbit is an extravagant novel that tells the heroic story of the Bilbo Baggins. Although this fictional novel is a fun and intense adventure story, the author’s themes are directed towards everyday life. Some of the themes that this novel entails are, the calling of becoming a hero, the trails that shape a person’s character, and the helpers in a person’s life that shape a person to be able to reach their full potential. J.R.R. Tolkien uses this novel to express these everyday themes.