Gollum Allegory

Sometimes it is incredibly difficult to tell who is the ‘good guy’ in a story. A hero never begins as the perfect man.. There are stories where the adventurer is a thief or a murderer. However, there are also tales about an average man realizing that he is lacking something or recognizing that it is time to leave the nest. In The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Bilbo Baggins is nothing extraordinary. He is, like most other hobbits, fearful of the unknown. But, with the prodding of Gandalf; Bilbo leaves the Shire and finds his courage. The first definition of a hero in the Merriam Webster dictionary is, “A mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability.” According to this explanation, Mr. Baggins is not a hero. However, Odysseus, the hero in the epic The Odyssey by Homer, fits the definition to a t.

The sources considered for this paper will come from a range of databases that are either multi-subject or specialize in literature. Some of the databases that have already shown to have articles to consider are Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, Literary Reference Center, and Project Muse. Other databases that have proven to have a mixture of both books and articles are the MLA International Bibliography and ebrary. These databases have various articles and books on the topic of J.R.R. Tolkien and his mythology as well as information on the myths that have inspired his writings. The current research plan for the paper is as follows, first, search for the myths that inspired Tolkien; second, search for the different things that were evidently taken from these myths; and third what things were unique to Tolkien’s mythology. When looking beyond the databases, there has proven to be a plethora of books on the topic of Tolkien’s mythology and some prove to be more useful than others when investigating the topic of this paper. Some of these books are The Making of Middle-Earth: A New Look Inside the World of J.R.R. Tolkien by Christopher Snyder, The Magical Worlds of Lord of the Rings: The Amazing Myths, Legends, and Facts Behind the Masterpiece by David Colbert, and Tolkien and the Invention of Myth: A Reader edited by Jane Chance. These books have provided both a good

Hey! You do you know what a hobbit? Well I will tell you what a hobbit. Well a hobbit are little people about half our size and smaller than dwarves. But hobbits have no beards at all dwarves do but were not talking about dwarves. And hobbits don’t wear shoes they have hair on their feet. Plus, there really good hears better than us. Besides they wear bright colors mostly green or yellow. You want to hear more? Of course you do. Wait I forgot to tell you about a special hobbit Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit and his mother is belladonna took and his father is Bungo Baggins come on let learn more about

Illogical as it is, Lord of the Rings greatly relates to society as it is today. It really shows through the views of logos, ethos, and pathos, especially when you examine and explore the movie’s genre reflection on modern culture and society.

The Hobbit is a classic example of a fool’s errand written as a children’s tale. Thirteen dwarves, a hobbit, and a wizard journey across Middle Earth to face a centuries-old dragon that decades earlier obliterated the combined armies of the dwarves. And yet, against all odds, this pack of misfits succeeds in their quest, reclaiming Erebor, killing the dragon, and renewing the line of Durin. The Hobbit is moralistic in nature; it never intends to showcase the literal triumph of the heroes over the dragon, but rather the victory of one set of values over another. The dwarves’ companionship, sacrifice, and heroism defeat the dragon’s antagonistic, materialist, and isolated nature. Many tales throughout the ages echo this classic theme: love

Greed is a common, yet detrimental factor in society today. All around the world people experience this type of attribute, whether it is for power or for the simple concept of desiring more in life. In order to further this prevalent theme, Peter Jackson created the film The Hobbit-Desolation of Smaug, in 2013. In this film, he continued the adventure of Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves and set them off to reclaim their ancient dwarven city guarded by the dragon, Smaug. Throughout the entire movie, the characters face many tough obstacles, those being orcs, elves and most importantly the evil dragon. Those elves actually came to their rescue later on in the movie, proving their loyalty. Those noble elves were Tauriel and Legolas. Also, a major character in the movie was Gandalf, which was the powerful wizard. In the movie, he aided in their adventure by leading them to the proper trail while also providing them with many struggles they may encounter on the way. While all of the characters and setting play a key role in shaping the movie as a whole, the theme of greed is a much greater aspect throughout the film. Peter Jackson implements personification, symbolism, and foreshadowing in his movie in order to point his audience towards the bigger message, greed is the root of all evil.

The Hobbit is a book filled with adventure and challenges. This novel is a tale of a quest. For the hobbit this isn’t just an ordinary quest it’s a hero’s quest. This novel offers a variety of archetypes, such as the hero’s quest and communion.

The Hobbit is a novel that is actually a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. “How to Read Literature like a Professor” explained a vast amount of archetypes that could be compared to Bilbo’s journey in “The Hobbit”. A hero’s quest and communion will be up for discussion and compared to certain parts of Bilbo Baggins’ journey.

Bilbo finds the One Ring. Bilbo meets Gollum and they play a game of Riddles. With the help of the ring, Bilbo escapes from Gollum and the goblins and is reunited with Gandalf and the dwarves on the east side of the Misty Mountains. After Bilbo escapes and rejoins the dwarves, improving his reputation with them, the goblins and wargs give chase, but the company are saved by eagles before coming and resting in the house of Beorn. The goblins represent a descent into the underworld because usually when you see or think about goblins locations they are underground creatures hiding underground from the world or civilization.

Escapism lets the audience tackle the question of morality in a way that they might not be able to do in the real world. Tolkien proposes the moral choice through Bilbo’s confrontation with Gollum, who stands in Bilbo’s way to freedom out of the mountain even though Bilbo has a weapon and is invisible (The Hobbit 81). Tolkien’s use of Bilbo demonstrates Lancaster’s idea, “…fantasy is just escapism. But it's also about the search for truth and for our place in the world…” (9). Bilbo’s moral choice is difficult because of his desire to escape the mountain and the goblins. Bilbo has some clear advantages over Gollum, which would make it easy for him to kill Gollum. However, Bilbo still takes the time to step back and demonstrates what he is thinking and discloses to the audience the reasoning for his moral choice. Bilbo thinks how Gollum never actually says he was going to kill Bilbo. All Gollum has been up to this point is intensely dislikeable and a bully to Bilbo. However, does that really give Bilbo the right to just kill him? Does that give the audience the right to kill Gollum? Bilbo’s step back and choice teaches the audience the truth that no, no one has the right to just end another’s life like that. Bilbo’s choice also demonstrates how he has found his place in the world morally and likewise the audience’s place should always be the moral high ground. While the moral choice is difficult for Bilbo to make, Bilbo still knows it is important for him as a person to make because he is better than Gollum and the goblins and other evil creatures he faces. The entire scene teaches the audience that they too should always make the moral decision because of the reason Bilbo gives and that there is always another way around a difficult situation with moral implications. Through escapism, the audience is allowed to journey

The Hobbit has many significant themes throughout the novel. Themes such as, too much of something good is a bad thing. This theme is shown on page 241. It states, " Long hours in the past days Thorin had spent in the treasury, and the lust of it was heavy on him." However the most significant theme in The Hobbit is, you never know what you are capable of doing unless you try.

Gollum, previously known as Smeagol, is one of the first bearers of the ring of power, and when he comes into the ring’s presence for the first time, the power makes him so corrupt that to get his hands on it he kills his friend Deagol. “‘ Smeagol had been watching him from behind a tree, and as Deagol gloated over the ring, Smeagol came softly up behind. “Give us that, Deagol, my love,” said Smeagol, over his friend’s shoulder. “Why?” said Deagol. “ Because it’s my birthday, my love, and I wants it,” said Smeagol. “I don’t care,” said Deagol. “I have given you a present already, more than I could afford. I found this, and I’m going to keep it.” “Oh, are you indeed, my love,” said Smeagol; and he caught Deagol by the throat and strangled him, because the gold looked so bright and beautiful. Then he put the ring on his finger’” (Tolkein Pg. 52). This text shows that Gollum, or Smeagol, is corrupt due to the rings power only by being around it. The need for the ring was so great that it pushed him to kill, a devastating act on its own, but he kills his own friend. This proves that with the power of the ring Gollum becomes immensely corrupt. After Gollum first obtains the ring he grows to feel a great hatred

The well-known novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, written by Robert Louis Stevenson, describes a monster created by science. Dr. Jekyll concocts a potion in attempt to isolate the good and evil sides of human nature. When he drinks the concoction, he is transformed into a human with a beastly nature. He becomes all that we can imagine as evil and physically appears just as misshapen. In the narrative we find the ghastly appearance a symbol for something more.

Forests through time have symbolized the unknown, the wild, and mystery; therefore, archetypal forests have there place in all books such as The Hobbit and many others. Forests are often a mysterious place in a hero’s heart; no one knows what lurks under the brush under leaves and into the trees watching travelers with unblinking eyes. In chapter 8 the author mentions about when Bilbo was on watch he could see eyes that would disappear and reappear all night watching them like prey not daring to go on the path by some unknown source. This not only shows the archetypal forests mysterious animals lurking around but also shows how mysterious happenings can occur in the forest such as a magically protected pass. Archetypal forests also represent

Power, despair, corruption, all are conceived by the ring of power, the one ring that’s sole purpose is to bring evil to the world and destroy the race of man. In the epic novel “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” by J. R. R. Tolkien, the author uses the ring as a symbol of evil that corrupts almost every soul it encounters. Tolkien carefully uses the ring to symbolize how even the smallest objects can cause so much pain and death and bring fear to the hearts in Middle Earth (setting in the book). The ring lies in the heart of the story, giving temptation to almost every character it crosses or has crossed and even transforming once thought to be harmless folk into the most twisted and sinister villains. The separation