The Hobbit

Welcome dear reader, to this report. In the following paragraphs, we will explore the characters, setting, and story of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit'. Finally we will be ending with my evaluation of the book as a whole. Enjoy!A Hobbit is a small hairy creature that lives underground, not in a cave, but in a hobbit hole, an extragantly decorated home under the hills of the shire, with a large, round door, pokeing out of the hill. One such creature, is a fellow named Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo loves nothing more than to sit on his porch, smoking his pipe. He never even thinks about leaving home, atleast he didn't until he met Gandalf, ab old wizard who was a friend of Bilbo's Grandfather. Gandalf is very tall even standing taller than some elves!

Continuing in the beginning, Bilbo declines the invitation from Gandalf to go on an adventure. “We don’t want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water” (Tolkien 3). He declines this invitation, and quickly ends the conversation here because at this point in the story he is not brave enough for an adventure. During another occasion Bilbo says, "Sorry! I don 't want any adventures, thank you. Not today. Good morning! But please come to tea - any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Come tomorrow! Good-bye!" (Tolkien 5). Here he

At the beginning of the book, Bilbo cares nothing for the world outside of the Shire or outside of his small hobbit home. But by the end of the book, his eyes have been opened to the world outside of the Shire, and he has an understanding of different parts of the world as well as different people (elves, dwarves, dragons, etc) in the world. Before the quest Bilbo would’ve never saved anyone that wasn’t himself from a threatening situation but in chapter 8 he saves the thirteen dwarves from the spiders, potentially saving their life. He showed his new selfless side that he has developed across the journey.

The story starts from the side of Mr. Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo starts as a nervous & annoyed host. He is hobbit, & his folk are reserved, but kind & carefree. Hobbits love to accommodate company when the time arrives, but this night Bilbo was in a ruck. Spontaneously, 13 dwarves & Gandalf tediously trickled through the door in groups & demanded dinner. Bilbo was not expecting these unknown & unplanned visitors, especially the grand total of 14! They ate & sang all night, while little time was devoted to business, which was planned that night. Bilbo was exhausted, unpleased, & unaffiliated with the pressing event they gathered to discuss. He was only aware that Gandalf selected him to be the Burglar of the party, which just so happened to be a vast journey across Middle-Earth. Unbeknownst to anyone, this was the start of a haunting tale, which Bilbo would never overlook. The first prominent issue Bilbo had to resolve the trolls. The group utilized this to test Bilbo’s strength, courage, brains, & stealth. Throughout the story, Bilbo continues to earn his spot among the dwarves, while the party is continually slammed with additional problems, however, everyday & every challenge reveals more of the nature of the dwarves & of Bilbo. With his role concluded & the Battle of Five Armies won, the yearning for home was too much to bear. Bilbo decided to travel home & achieve his part in the adventure of a lifetime. Each dwarf had grown quite fond of Bilbo, for the journey wouldn’t have been a success without their Burglar. The travel home was bittersweet & was a wonderful memoir of his quest. Gandalf accompanied him all the way to his Hobbit Hole on the Hill in Bag-End. Can we label Bilbo a hero? If so, what kind of hero is he? Is he a hero in history or in the eyes of the dwarves? Was Bilbo a savior for the descendants to come or the

Bilbo Baggins suffers a huge internal conflict in the novel largely due to his mixed family heritage. Bilbo's father was a Baggins, a family that is known for their laziness and cautious nature. His mother was a Took, a family that is known for being adventurous and causing mischief. Throughout the novel Bilbo is torn between his fathers and mothers heritage . He can’t decide whether to stay safe or to step up and join Gandalf on the quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain. This conflict eventually changes Bilbo's outlook on life. By the end of the novel he is no longer lazy and cowardly but strong and heroic. During the journey Bilbo is tested many times.(The Politics of Fantasy: The Hobbit and Fascism) Hobbits are shy, amiable, chubby little creatures who prefer to be left alone in their own company. No nasty adventures or ambiguous entanglements with unpredictable foreigners--just long, lazy mornings and afternoons filled with a succession of tea and seed cakes, watching the hair grow on one’s toes, puffing on one's pipe, and talking of nothing more threatening than tomorrow's weather. Bilbo is dead weight in the beginning of the novel. He only slows the group down and is a liability. Through the guidance of Gandalf and the rest of his friends he become an asset to the crew. Bilbo comes across Gollum in the roots of the mountain. Gollum has a

Being a hobbit who's lived his entire life in a comfortable hole in the ground, he's very reluctant to adventure with Gandalf and the dwarves. But when Gandalf leaves the group, Bilbo's heroic instinct kicks in. With the help of his invisibility ring, Bilbo rescues the dwarves whenever they happen to run into trouble, especially throughout Mirkwood, when they run into the spiders or the elves. The bravest thing Bilbo ends up doing, however, comes when he and the dwarves reach the Lonely Mountain. Being the first individual to enter the dragon's lair, he meets the infamous Smaug, discovers a weakness in its armor, and smoothly talks his way out of being eaten by the gargantuan

Bilbo Baggins, a respectable and unadventurous hobbit, is paid a visit by Gandalf, a wizard, who offers him the chance to go on an adventure. Bilbo, in trying to get rid of the wizard, inadvertently invites him to tea the next evening. The next day, Bilbo is flustered to find that in addition to Gandalf, he seems to have invited thirteen dwarves to tea as well. As he serves the dwarves and Gandalf tea and then supper, Bilbo learns that Gandalf has advertised him to the dwarves as a burglar. The dwarves wish him to help them on their quest to the Lonely Mountain, where they hope to recover treasure from Smaug the dragon, who destroyed their ancestral home under the mountain. Though at first Bilbo quakes at the suggestion of meeting a

Gandalf does play an important role in the novel, facilitating the beginning of Bilbo’s quest with the Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain, guiding them about halfway to their destination. But more important than the physical ramifications of Gandalf's help, his guidance also aids Bilbo's character development, helping him discover his courage and strength.

Hobbits are not normally heros. Bilbo is going against hobbits naturall instinct. The main reason Bilbo for agreeing to this is because he feels bad form the dwarves and he wanted to help which is a heroic trait. For hobbits to go on adventures and missions is shameful. Even after all these thing telling Bilbo he can’t do this he goes and does it anyway.

As more and more dwarves arrive the following day at Bilbo’s house, he became flustered and confused as to why there were so many dwarves in his home. When Bilbo learns that he is to accompany Gandalf and the dwarves on their adventure, he is unsure about it and doesn’t think that he should be the one to accompany them. Throughout the beginning of the journey, Bilbo is miserable and unhappy. He frequently thinks about giving up the adventure and returning to his home, as he frequently thinks thing along the lines of “his comfortable chair before the fire in his favorite sitting-room in his hobbit-hole”(Tolkien, 46). During the adventure, the group faces many challenges. They are captured by trolls, chased by goblins, trapped by spiders, and imprisoned by wood-elves. Along with these obstacles, Bilbo also gets split up from the group and finds himself talking to a creature named Gollum. Gollum has been driven mad by his “precious” possession, which is a ring that enables the person wearing it

Tolkien sets up the first meal between Biblo and dwarfs to act as a way to create the connection of camaraderie between strangers in order to emphasis the need for real connection within Bilbo’s ordered life. When the afternoon tea time arrives Bilbo is greeted by thirteen unexpected dwarf guests at his hobbit hole door. As the unexpected party around him grows, Bilbo stands at the edges unable to connect with the group. It is Gandalf who brings Bilbo into the conversation by declaring that the hobbit would become the groups new burglar. Thorin the leader of the company of dwarves disagrees with Gandalf stating that Bilbo is “more like a grocer than a burglar!” (Hobbit 22). Thorin in this comment points out the role that Bilbo plays within

The inspiring novel, The Hobbit, written by J. R. R. Tolkien, definitely deserves the right to be considered a timeless classic. Tolkien uses the main character, Bilbo Baggins, a well respected hobbit, to explain how fast one’s life can change. Mr. Baggins doesn’t believe he will go on an adventure through Middle-Earth the day Gandalf comes to Bag End to tell him so. Nor does he think the many races he only heard of in stories, will face him in the mountain pass. As the expedition takes the reader through the marvelous sights, the author drags them through the horrid forest of Mirkwood and traps them in the Elvenking’s dungeon. Tolkien’s excellent word choice enhances the novel further, indicating that it is a tale told long after the journey finishes. Through the use of dwarves, Tolkien describes the fact that all races show their true colors at one point or another, but it does not define them to be the same as all the others of that race. Mr. Tolkien beautifully intertwines the underlying messages and powerful statements in the wild settings and creative characters.

The value of a person is determined by the perception of others on themselves and the outlook that person has on themselves. An underdog is an individual that may have the ability to succeed and accomplish great things but overall their confidence level is low and from some past record people believe that they will fail. In the beginning of J.R.R. Tolkien’s the Hobbit several of the dwarves question Gandalf’s decision to bring Bilbo Baggins along, “Will he do, do you think? It is all very well for Gandalf to talk about this Hobbit being fierce, but one shriek like that in a moment of excitement would be enough to wake the dragon and all his relatives” (22). Of course one would question why Gandalf decided to bring a hobbit along. Hobbits are half the height of humans but they probably consume more food than the average human, they walk around barefooted, and they possess little or no innate in magic. In contrast, a keen elf or a strong skin-changer might have been a better companion for the dangerous journey. However, despite Bilbo’s shortfalls he is a central character in the Hobbit and he manages to accompany a band of dwarves on a journey to steal from a dragon. Whilst on this journey, Bilbo proves his self worth countless times by saving the dwarves from multiple dilemmas. Tolkien uses repetitive events to exemplify that although underdogs at first appear to be unlikely hero’s, through focusing on their strengths and maintaining their morals they can overcome obstacles

J. R. R. Tolkien 's novel The Hobbit is one of a kind. The novel revolves around the protagonist Bilbo Baggins and his journey not only of recovering the treasure from Smaug, but his journey becoming a hero. Through the main character Bilbo Baggins Tolkien changed my perspective on what a mythic hero is suppose to be. When the term “mythic hero” is brought up I visualize someone that is a stouthearted a warrior namely Achilles or Odysseus to be exact not a hobbit. A little friendly, good-natured, brilliant hobbit. To put it bluntly, he is the polar opposite of Achilles and Odysseus. Despite the fact Bilbo Baggins isn 't the typical mythological hero, in many ways he has the attributes of a hero. J. R. R. Tolkien ventured away from the archetypical hero we often see in Greek and Roman mythology.

There are certain books that have the ability to shift the reader’s perception of the world permanently. These are the classics: Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, the list goes on. Each of these books carries qualities that have withstood the test of time, that resonate with the readers even today. One of book that has not yet received its status as a classic is J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. However, its powerful messages, deep meaning, and appeal to a wide audience make it a book that every student in the Honors Program should read.