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.
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.
“I am glad you are here with me, here at the end of all things, Sam.” Frodo reaches out his hand over the flaming mouth of Mount Doom. The ring slips from his fingers and into the flames. The world returns to where it was before the evil eye had taken over. The Lord of the Rings chronicles the journey of Frodo Baggins to destroy the ring. It follows his transformation from a weak young hobbit to a hero who saves Middle Earth. Frodo is an archetypal hero because he follows the hero’s journey.
Bilbo and the dwarves (the company) first receive help from the friendly elves of Rivendell. On the journey, the group
Bilbo Baggins is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins
He soon figures out that barrels come and go from Lake Town down the river and that the Wood Elves would be clearing out the old barrels that very night. He steals the keys from the sleeping butler and unlocks the prison cells of the dwarfs and crams them into barrels. When all the dwarfs are in barrels Bilbo realizes he has put others before himself and is without a barrel. Bilbo Baggins has saved 13 dwarfs and they are on course to complete their adventure.
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.
There are three ways that Bilbo baggins has given into the Took side of him. One way is when Gandalf appears and shows him a note the dwarves left, agreeing to give him one-fourteenth of the profits if he accompanies them to reclaim their treasure. Bilbo runs to meet the dwarves, forgetting his handkerchief. Another way Bilbo goes out of his comfort zone is when Bilbo and the dwarves approach the Misty Mountains. The sense of danger increases and, once again, Bilbo thinks of home. Gandalf warns them that they are at the edge of the Wild and that they can stay with his friend Elrond in Rivendell. The third way is when With whips, the Goblins drive Bilbo and the dwarves to the cavern of the Great Goblin. On the way, they see their ponies,
Based on Thomas Foster’s, How to Read Literature like a Professor, a quest is like a journey. For a journey to be considered a quest, it must include (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (d) a real reason to go there. A quester is usually just a person who has no idea that they’re going on a quest until it actually happens. Items (b) and c) directly correlates with each other because normally, the quester is ordered to go somewhere and then perform a certain task. The real reason for a person to go on a quest is almost never the stated reason. The purpose for the real reason for a quest is usually so that quester can learn more about themselves. For that reason, questers are almost always very young and inexperienced.
When Gandalf puts the group’s fate in Bilbo’s hands. Bilbo makes a plan for the escape of the dwarves. When he avoids capture by becoming invisible he sneaks around ElevenKing’s palace. He steals the keys from the drunk guard and lets the dwarves free. The plan works and the dwarves escape to lake town. Bilbo earns tons of respect and becomes a hero for the
One character in “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien that faced significant struggles is Bilbo. A trial that he overcame was the expectations that the other hobbits had of him. The other hobbits’ viewpoints were that hobbits should not be adventurous and that they should be very dignified. As soon as he leaves for his adventure, the other hobbits no longer view him as respectable. Near the beginning, and even towards the middle, Bilbo finds himself agreeing with them, thinking that he should never have left his hobbit-hole. By the end of the novel, though, he finds that he no longer cares what the other hobbits think of him and has overcome that obstacle. At the end of the novel, it says that “he was in fact held by all the hobbits of the neighbourhood to be ‘queer’ … I am sorry to say he did not mind. He was quite content” (Tolkien 275). This conflict can be considered man v. society. This can be connected to one of the many overall themes of the book, the social limits set on
Bilbo is a timid, comfortable, and compact in his secure little hole at Bag End. Gandalf persuaded him into going on a quest with Thorin’s dwarves. Bilbo became afraid that he fainted. As the novel progresses, Bilbo prevails in the face of danger and adversity, justifying Gandalf’s early claim that there is more to him than what he thought. Bilbo’s journey fits into the tradition of a hero’s quest, because he basically went somewhere in order to gain something.
Many of us 7th graders think of a hero as something that has super powers. That is not always what a hero is, they could be the protagonist in a book. A hero that means a lot to me is Bilbo. Bilbo is the protagonist in the book "The Hobbit". This book is one of my favorite and I really enjoy reading it. The book is a very challenging but enjoyable at the same time. The hero's journey is the path or route that a main character takes in a book to become a savior or hero at the end of the book.
Bilbo lives a quiet and comfortable life in his hobbit hole in Bag end and he almost never leaves home. But the wizard knows that there is more to Bilbo that meets the eye and he has certain powers that can help the dwarves in their journey to
Bilbo Baggins is one of the main characters of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Being a main character in a story, especially an adventure story, typically comes with some pretty hefty responsibilities. More often than not, the main character is also the hero. A hero is defined as “a person, typically a man, who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities,” and these are not necessarily qualities readily attributed to Bilbo Baggins (oxforddictionaries.com). This essay will look at three ways in which Bilbo contrasts the traditional characteristics of a hero and what transformations he ends up making to fit the mold more closely. It will examine his lineage, his strength, and his attitude as well as the changes he makes throughout the story.