Bilbo Journey Analysis

At the beginning of the adventure, Bilbo was a timid, little hobbit with no idea how to steal or survive outside of his little hobbit hole. When Thorin and the rest of the dwarves first meet Bilbo, they question

In the beginning of the book, Bilbo is very unsure about his abilities and is not self-confident. He had never gone on an adventure before and wasn’t sure of what he was capable of. As the group faces many challenges, his confidence and courage grew, especially when he fends off the giant spiders. As the novel progresses, his courage grows, until they face their final task and Bilbo must go into the tunnels alone. By this point in the book, he has enough courage to do nearly anything. This conflict can be identified as man v. self. At one point in the book, Bilbo “felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach…” (Tolkien 144). This can be connected to the theme of the development of a hero from an ordinary person (or hobbit) because gaining courage is an essential part of becoming a hero. In this novel, there are endless amounts of conflicts, but these are two main conflicts that Bilbo

Finally the last example of Bilbo’s heroism is a battle against himself when he goes to visit Smaug the first time. In The Hobbit Tolkien states “[Bilbo] fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait” (200). Bilbo had to urge himself to continue down the tunnel to Smaug’s lair. Only a true hero would continue to walk towards a certain death, and that’s just what Bilbo Baggins did. Not only did Bilbo continue but he, being a burglar, stole a golden cup right in front of Smaug to! Bilbo is a hero for facing his fears and continuing to fulfill a promise.

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.

Following his discovery of the ring, Bilbo begins to face danger (Mathews 36). During the trip in the forest of Mirkwood, Bilbo uses Gandalf's absence to confirm his position as leader of the group through the memorable battle against the spiders (Mathews 38). Tolkien illustrates the importance of this combat through his words: "Somehow, the killing this giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark…made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt like a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath. ‘I will give you a name', he said to it, ‘and I shall call you Sting.'" The author thus stresses the importance of this incident (Tolkien 154). The naming of swords at that time was a sign of that heroism displayed by great warriors, and shows that Bilbo is gaining self-confidence and bravery (The 1924). The escape from the spiders brought about another challenge, the escape from the elves. Although the elves would most likely have released their prisoners after some time because of their natural righteousness, a delay would have prevented the dwarves from entering the mountain through the secret passage. Bilbo proves that he has the mental toughness of a hero by using brilliant strategy to enable his friends to escape unnoticed by the elves (Tolkien

Not only does the portrayal of Bilbo’s character and underlying courage convey his heroism, but so does his sense of ethics. This is what truly makes him a unique, caring hero. While a typical hero’s motive is wealth and fame, Bilbo gave up his share of the dwarves’ treasure to help avoid war between two nations that severely despise one another (the elf and dwarf kingdoms). The fact that he was willing to give up his wealth to avoid war and for the good of other people marks a significant aspect of his heroism and explains why he is “more worthy to wear the armor of elf-princes than many that have

Although this may seem like something your typical hobbit would stray away from, Bilbo is not your typical hobbit. In this moment, Bilbo truly becomes a hero. Before Bilbo was needed to save the dwarves, he was all by himself facing off against a spider. Once he had killed the spider with no help from any dwarf or wizard he became very confident. The book says,”Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins.” Bilbo knew that he was capable of being a hero, which aided him in becoming a one. After this, with the help of his magic ring, Bilbo was able to rescue the dwarves from the other evil

One important trait of being a brave person is by having courage. When a person has courage, that person will go out of there comfort zone and be brave enough to risk their life for you. This trait is very crucial to have, because if you're not willing to have the courage to be brave, then you're not even being brave in the first place. In The Hobbit, bilbo doesn't have to be here. He could have said no when the dwarves asked him to come. But bilbo had the courage to go and be a brave person and to fight all of the challenges along the way. Bilbo does not only be brave and go along with them, but he also has the courage to be the leader of the group. Putting his life before others. “Bilbo, however, soon slipped away to a different place. The idea came to him to lead the furious spiders away from the dwarves,” (J.R.R.Tolkien 159). Bilbo's idea is very

During initiation, Bilbo learns how to live in the new world. Amid the road of trials, the first thing Bilbo learns is that adventure is difficult. Many times throughout his journey, he and the dwarves find themselves starving. It is also difficult due to his relationship with Thorin. He is like a father figure to Bilbo in the sense that he is the leader of the dwarves. But in the end, Bilbo had to turn on Thorin for his own good. Ultimately he died from his wounds from the battle that could have been prevented, although he and Bilbo reconciled before his death; “I wish Thorin were living, but I am glad that we parted in kindness” (Tolkien 290). This type of relationship shows atonement with a father figure in the hero’s journey. It was also difficult in Bilbo’s new world, because Smaug represented a temptress whose reputation was intimidating enough to persuade Bilbo and the dwarves to end their journey before they had even been in his presence. The travelers knew he was undoubtedly daunting and that it would be a difficult task to slay him, for he was very strong and powerful. But that fact did not deter their desire for revenge; “My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws are shields, the shock of my tail is a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane , and my breath death” (Tolkien 226). The next thing Bilbo recognizes in his journey is that he has become a true hero, especially

Bilbo at one point agrees to go on the quest with Gandalf and the dwarfs, which is considered an act of a hero’s quest. Respectable hobbits don’t normally go on an adventurous quests and that is why at first Bilbo turned Gandalf down, but later decided that it could be fun. Bilbo woke up late the next morning and he was joyed to see that the dwarfs left without him, but then he sees Gandalf come running back to get him. As they head east on the main road, Bilbo is upset about having to leave without finishing his breakfast and not making proper preparations. So after walking for hours, they all eventually get extremely tired and they look for a place to stop for the night. Along this long quest there are many challenges that Bilbo will have to overcome. For example after Bilbo was chased by the goblins, he found a cave to stay in, but it’s the first time he has been alone and is in danger, so he has to overcome his fear and learn how to deal with these types of situations. The greatest challenge of the journey was when he reached the Abyss. When he reaches the Abyss he has to “become one” in the adventure. He has to overcome and face all of his fears alone. Challenges play a huge part in a quest because no quest big or small is always going to be easy. If you can overcome the challenges that are in the quest, then the quest will become easier, but overcoming the challenges, is the

On page 302 it says, “ ‘My dear Bilbo!’ he said. ‘Something is the matter with you! You are not the same hobbit that you were.’”. Bilbo was a hero because he was selfless and sacrificed his life to help the dwarfs defeat smaug.

Gandalf helped the dwarves during many situations. He acted as a mentor in the story. Gandalf provided the dwarves and the Hobbit with many gifts during the journey as shown on page 24 of The Hobbit, “Also,’ went on Gandalf, ‘I forgot to mention that with the map went a key, a small and curious key. Here it is!’ he said, and handed to Thorin a key with a long barrel and intricate wards, made of silver. ‘Keep it safe!”(J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, page 24). This map greatly helped the Hobbit and dwarves discover, and open, the door. Great insight, from Gandalf, on page 49 of The Hobbit states, “I went on to spy out our road. It will soon become dangerous and difficult”(J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, page 49-50). By telling them that the road ahead became difficult, the dwarves and Bilbo had time to prepare themselves. Finally, Gandalf presented perhaps the best gift, Bilbo, and he showed this on page 102 of The Hobbit, “Gandalf answered angrily; ‘I brought him, and I don’t bring things that are of no use”(J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, page 102). Even though Bilbo presented minor problems during the journey, he also saved their lives numerous times; Gandalf is to be thanked for that and all of the other

At the beginning of the book, Bilbo cares nothing for the world outside of the Shire or outside of his small hobbit home. But by the end of the book, his eyes have been opened to the world outside of the Shire, and he has an understanding of different parts of the world as well as different people (elves, dwarves, dragons, etc) in the world. Before the quest Bilbo would’ve never saved anyone that wasn’t himself from a threatening situation but in chapter 8 he saves the thirteen dwarves from the spiders, potentially saving their life. He showed his new selfless side that he has developed across the journey.

Bilbo became a hero once more when the dwarves were captured by the elvenking and sentenced to jail until they can tell him why they were venturing into his forest. Bilbo used a ring

Bilbo has a lot of positive traits. Bilbo is really stealthy. He was right behind a troll and it had no idea. With being stealthy Bilbo also has the ability pickpocket even though he got cot. His ability to hid is also good at keeping him from being captured. When thorin came and saw all the dwarves were captured but Bilbo was just out of site.