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The Hobbit Character Analysis

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The Hobbit is a fantasy novel, by J.R.R. Tolkien that tells the story of an unexpected story. Rather than being about a main character who is brave and noble, this story is about Bilbo Baggins, a predictable, mild-mannered hobbit. He lives in his cozy home and avoids anything out of the ordinary until he is presented with the opportunity of an adventure with Gandalf the wizard along with 13 dwarves. The goal is to take back the homeland of the dwarves from the dragon, Smaug, who has attacked and taken over. The journey entails mountains, forests, and creatures such as trolls, goblins, elves, and more. And even though no one sees much potential in the seemingly weak hobbit, Gandalf sees traits of a hero within Bilbo. This journey results in …show more content…

At this point in the novel, the narrator describes, “On they went, Gollum flip-flapping ahead, hissing and cursing; Bilbo behind going as softly as a hobbit can” (85). Once Gollum gets angry, Bilbo slips on the ring and becomes aware of its power invisibility. He takes advantage of this and follows Gollum until navigates his way back to the dwarves. This demonstrates Bilbo’s cleverness because it shows his ability to quickly read a situation. He has to think on his feet and independently if he is to return to the others. Bilbo has never been put in a situation where he has to quickly think on his own quite like this, so clearly, he has exhibited cleverness which has commenced his transformation. Through his experience in Mirkwood, Bilbo exhibits selflessness, which continues his transformation. In this episode, Bilbo and the dwarves enter the dark forest of Mirkwood and encounter giant spiders they have to fight off. The spiders entrap the dwarves in their silk, leaving Bilbo (with the ring) to find a way to save everyone. Bilbo shows his selflessness at this point when the novel says, “Bilbo saw that the moment had come when he must do something. (159)” and then later continues to say, “In this way, [Bilbo and Fili, who he had just rescued] rescued Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Dori, and Nori” (162). This shows Bilbo’s selflessness because he’s so determined to rescue the other dwarves and he once again has to think

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