Examples Of Archetype 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.

Every author wants their readers to be engrossed in the story whether it be that a character or characters are relatable in some way to the reader, the plot, or the story itself. In order to create the characters or even the plot line the author needs to make it interesting for the reader to read. Authors use multiple stylistic choices throughout their story, and the readers may not even know that they are reading over the choices useless they are purposefully looking for it. In J.R.R Tolkien's book The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins is forced to accompany a group of dwarves: Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, Kili, and Gandalf the wizard. They start their quest to take back their homeland from the dragon Smaug. Throughout the story they experience many difficult tasks, such as walking through a forest that is infested with giant spiders, battling goblins that live in the mountains, and Gollum, a malnourished man in desperate need of a therapist. J.R.R. Tolkien utilizes indirect and direct characterization to help the readers understand the characters and help to justify their actions.

The Hobbit is a novel that is actually a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster explains a vast amount of archetypes. I will be applying the archetypes in the book “How to Read Literature like a Professor” to Bilbo Baggins’ journey.

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.

One of the most apparent character archetypes used in this novel is the everyman, a simple, adventure less, commonplace character that is played by Bilbo Baggins. In the beginning of the story, Bilbo is the classic everyman that lives in the Shire, but is soon thrust into a world he does not understand. As the story progresses Bilbo fulfills the role of the hero all while making a full circle back to the beginning and thus completing the Hero’s Journey. Another important figure in The Hobbit is Gandalf, who takes on the role of both the herald and the mentor. Gandalf’s role as the herald is clear as he embarks Bilbo on his adventure in the beginning of the novel. His role as the mentor is a longer and more subtle one as he guides Bilbo through his obstacles while letting Bilbo overcome them himself. His dual role helps support the storyline in building the full circled journey. The shadow role and the threshold guardians create a conflicting force that rivals the protagonists. The shadow is portrayed as Smaug and can be referred to as the antagonist throughout the expanse of the book. Bilbo and the dwarfs entire journey is based on their rivalry against the dragon guarding the homeland of the dwarfs, The Lonely Mountain, as he stands in the way of what they want, "Bilbo was now beginning to feel really uncomfortable. Whenever Smaug's roving eye, seeking for him in the shadows, flashed across him, he trembled, and an accountable desire seized hold of him to rush out and reveal himself and tell all the truth to Smaug. In fact he was in grievous danger of coming under the dragon-spell" (231). The use of this character in the Hero’s Journey is what creates a story and adds the necessary conflict to create the plot and engage the reader with the momentum it builds. Threshold guardians play a similar role in gathering momentum,

Along the way they encounter great dangers and various characters such as wood-elves, goblins, mystical creatures, trolls, humans, etc. And they have to fight their way through the many conflicts that they come upon. And Bilbo must find a way to help them overcome the complications that they face in their quest. The hobbit uses his common sense and his magical ring to get the gang out of sticky situations. But as well as the disputes that they endure, they also gained many friends and aid throughout their journeys through the forests. And with the help of their friends they were able to make it through the entire journey.

The Hobbit is a fictional novel written by J.R.R Tolkien. The novel is about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who was approached by a group of dwarves who were in search of treasure in the mountains. Along the way, the group faced many obstacles and bumps in the road. On the contrary, Thomas C. Foster wrote a book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, that gives students a bit of insight on how to understand what they’re reading, and it also helps students to figure out the true meaning of different situations and things that are written in literature. In the book, Foster went on to explain different archetypes that are typically hidden in literature. Some archetypes that Foster elaborated on were the hero’s quest, death, resurrection, and communion. Archetypes such as the hero’s quest can be applied to the the journey that is depicted throughout the novel: The Hobbit. Aspects of this archetype that will be discussed later include the quester, a destination, a stated reason to embark on the journey, obstacles along the way, and the actual reason for going on the journey.

The Hobbit tells the story of a Hobbit by the name of Bilbo Baggins that goes on an adventure. It is a captivating story but is has an amazing amount of archetypes within it. It is truly a work of art.

Many people find the story, “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkein as just an invigorating story of a normally unadventurous hobbit who goes on an adventure. Others may “read between the lines” and see that each event that takes place within the book is a symbol. These symbols are called archetypes. An archetype is basically a symbol or character in a story that represents common experiences, and has become patterns in English literature. In The Hobbit, the archetypes/symbols include: a quest, communion and, death and resurrection/ descent into the underworld.

“There he lay, a vast red-golden dragon, fast asleep; a thrumming came from his jaws and nostrils,” Bilbo Baggins was a self-centered hobbit who only cared about his well being. Like every other hobbit, he had no time for adventures but when a peculiar fellow shows up to his house, all he got was an adventure filled with perils. The book, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is about friendship, courage, and perseverance. The book begins in the home of Bilbo Baggins and ends in it too. Bilbo is just an ordinary hobbit but he soon changes as he gets whisked away on an adventure by a wizard named Gandalf.

The Hobbit begins with the introduction of the hero of the story, Bilbo Baggins. He was called upon by Gandalf to accompany him on an adventure to the Lonely Mountain, initially declining the offer. However with much persuasion, Bilbo finally decides to join Gandalf and the dwarves. At the beginning he seemed to be a burden to the party

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.

Him being at his home being comfortable and sitting outside and smoking his pipe at the beginning of the story. The here comes Gandalf with his long staff, and Bilbo greets him and say good morning to him. Gandalf says “What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?” Bilbo says all of them and invites Gandalf to sit down with him. Gandalf says that he does not have time to sit he is looking for someone to go on an adventure. Bilbo tells him he won’t find anyone around these parts. People who live in the Hill are quiet folks they aren’t into adventures. The rising action of the Hobbit is when Gandalf appears and asks Bilbo if he would like to go on an adventure. Bilbo of course at first says no and that hobbit’s do not go on adventures. Bilbo invites Gandalf tea and Gandalf accepts and before he leaves he leaves a sign on Bilbo’s front door. The next day Bilbo up and doing the things he would normally do when he hears a knock at his door. He thought it was Gandalf but it was Dwalin. Then two more dwarves Kili and Fili. Five more dwarves show up Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin. Then Gandalf arrives with four more dwarves Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin. They all start discussing the adventure, the map, and who was going to do what. Bilbo is excited about the adventure but

The quest begins when the group meets at the Green Dragon Inn. From there they venture into the Lone-lands. As heavy rains begin to fall, Bilbo notices that Gandalf is missing. This is something that is later on considered to be normal because Gandalf comes and goes throughout the duration of the trip. All through the quest Bilbo ends up saving the party from many dangerous situations. This is something that at first Bilbo finds hard to believe because he has very low self-esteem. The group always seems to find themselves in worse, and worse problems, but they always overcome these problems, with the help of Bilbo and some times Gandalf. Some of these problems include: getting caught by trolls, getting captured by goblins, being attacked by large wolves called Wargs, one of the dwarves falls into a coma from touching black water in the Mirkwood Forest, nearly dying of starvation, being captured by large spiders and being captured by wood-elves. Although this is all very good action, the real action begins when the party finally reaches their destination- Lonely Mountain (home of Smaug).

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.