The Hobbit Archetype

Since the publication of The Hobbit in 1937, critical readers have argued over whether the book is a fantasy, a fairy tale, a fable, a romance, an epic, or a novel. Classifying the book is one way of explaining its strengths and weaknesses and understanding the immense appeal it has held for many decades. The Hobbit seems to be about much more than its surface narrative, but Tolkien was adamant that it was not an allegory and said he much preferred history, whether real or invented, to allegory. The book is not a novel in the tradition of the great realistic novels of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; it is much closer to the idea of a romance, a genre that accommodates the improbable and even the supernatural. It is probably most accurate

The Hobbit written by Tolkien is very detailed so it makes it easier to pick out what is and what is not real. He was certain on how, when, and where the setting took place and how the characters would act in that timeline. This is what makes it believable.

Tolkien’s work are masterpieces in fantasy writing, but have sparked great controversy in the writer’s world of fiction. “The Lord of the Rings” explains that Tolkien’s perspective of modernism is not just considered a free form of writing , but a way of thinking. Also Tolkien’s popularity has come from his reference to an older, more traditional world where man has an obvious relationship with both the spiritual and natural world around him (128). “The Hobbit” says, “Tolkien believed mythology and fairy tales helped bridge the gap between generations” (104). Tolkien thought that his books had no age limits for who “should” be allowed to read them and brought imagination and wonder to whoever would read his books. Tolkien’s books have been told to represent “good” as a fuller, more imaginative reality than evil and has received many praises. “The Hobbit” explains, The Hobbit is a grand adventure of good defeating evil. The story is an important work in its own right and has made a foundation of the use of elements from myths in their work which modern fantasy, horror, and science-fiction writers build off of (104). “The Lord of the Rings” says, “Through innovations in both content and form, Tolkien created a saga that satisfied modern hunger in many new myths-Those heroic tales perpetuated in every culture that speak the power of

Joseph Campbell dedicated his whole life researching patterns that appear in almost every hero story or movie. He discovered that there are a few basics stages that just about every hero character goes through. This cycle is called “the monomyth” or more commonly known as “the hero’s journey.” This paper will compare and contrast Beowulf and Shrek and how each fits into the monomyth. Every story that involves a hero will subsequently follow the concept of the Heroes 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.

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.

Hobbit and many other widely famous nonfiction books are successful not just because of an

J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit” is a literary masterpiece full of details, songs, and, most importantly, characters. The protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is forced into a journey with Thorin and his other dwarven friends to defeat Smaug, a dragon who brought the demise of an old dwarf town named Dale, and take back their stolen treasure. With all these characters comes archetypes, a function or role that a character plays in a story, movie, or play. There may occur a hero, a trickster, and a herald. Strangely enough, there are characters in “The Hobbit” that fit into these three archetypes. Bilbo, Thorin and company, and Gandalf are all archetypes in the fictional book, “The Hobbit”.

The Hero’s Journey The story type I will be examining in this essay is the Spatial-Temporal Fantasy narratives. In the three fantasy stories, The Hobbit (Novel), Disney’s Alice in Wonderland (Film) and The Hunger Games (Film). The characters Bilbo Baggins, Alice and Katniss Everdeen all go through an archetypal hero’s journey, as researched by Joseph Campbell. Although Alice in Wonderland and The Hunger Games are both films, Alice in wonderland is an animated film while The Hunger Games is a motion picture film so it is safe to say they are quite different.

On a journey they go, to the rolling hills. Thirteen dwarves, a hobbit, and a wizard. In ‘The Hobbit’ many characters tell the story. Each and every one of them plays an important role in the story. There are three major archetypes in ‘The Hobbit’, they are The Hero, The Mentor, and The Shadow.

The most prominent archetype in The Hobbit is the hero’s quest, because Mr. Bilbo Baggins goes on a mission to help retrieve gold from a fearsome dragon that rightfully belongs to the dwarf friend’s he has made. According to Mr. Thomas C. Foster in his book, How To Read Literature Like A Professor on page 3, he states that a quest “consists of five things: (a) a quester, (b) a place to go, (c) a stated reason to go there, (d) challenges and trials en route, and (e) a real reason to go there.” The Hobbit has all five of those basic structures.

Almost every hero adventurous novel seems to follow the same structure, known as the Hero Archetyapal journey; stages a hero must follow in order to obtain the reward he/she is seeking. The Hobbit, a novel by J.R.R. Tolkien resembles similarly (keep one like resembles)to the Hero Archetypal Journey. Bilbo, a secure and innocent hobbit joins the quest with a group of dwarves and a wizard, Gandalf, to retrieve Thorin’s kingdom hoard, stolen by a wicked dragon, Smaug. The most important stage in The Hobbit is stage 7, tests, allies and enemies, because “they made Bilbo stronger, braver and clever.” (Cite from the level 4 exemplar) We see this occur when the company is captured by the wood elves, when they are helped by the elves of Rivendell

The Hero’s Journey between the three stories Star Wars, The Hunger Games, and The Hobbit is different in many ways.

In the previous century there have been two major series of fantasy novels; "Lord of the Rings" and more recently "Harry Potter". The genre, fantasy, is very broad, but generally contains one main character, the protagonist, who is fighting for, or against something, often against evil. In both these novels the main protagonist is fighting against evil and endures a kind of adventure and personal growth. As in most fantasy novels, the main characters are in an ulterior world, which is comparable in many ways. I intend to investigate into some of the many comparable components of these two novels.

The word “genre” is defined as a category of artistic composition, whether that art be painting, music, or literature. Genres are always defined by an origin point, the first and most essential example of its kind. In the case of literature, these are known as classical books. Novels and stories that are responsible for developing or popularizing a certain style, or theme. An easy example of a classical book responsible for creating genres could be The Hobbit. A fantasy novel written by J.R.R. Tolkien to entertain his children and keep track of the bedtime stories he continuously told them. Tolkien’s wonderous stories bore a new era of creation, seeing the continuation of the story in Lord of the Rings, and becoming the basis for modern fantasy