Bilbo’s Walk Into the Abyss The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolken displays a detailed Hero’s Journey that barely falters from the exact format. The stage of Into the Abyss is where the greatest challenges are faced and for Bilbo they were small, but caused significant mental, moral, and physical changes. Bilbo’s time spent in the goblin-infested Misty Mountains demonstrated him going Into the Abyss due to the revealing of how seemingly unimportant moments can end up being the most influential and change a person drastically. The main concept that sent Bilbo off Into the Abyss stage was the riddles with Gollum. The complicated riddles that Gollum threw at him put Bilbo into a mental state of a true hero. He used both his intelligence and …show more content…
Bilbo’s time spent in the goblin-infested Misty Mountains demonstrated him going Into the Abyss due to the revealing of how seemingly unimportant moments can end up being the most influential and change a person drastically. When someone thinks of the most important part of any hero story they will usually pick the ending when the hero finally wins the great battle or achieves what they have wanted from the beginning. However, those times may be the major moments, but they are not always the most influential. The most influential moments can be the smaller seemingly less important times of a story and yet without them the grand finale of a story could never happen. So, for a character like Bilbo it is those moments that really transformed him into a brave hobbit and a true
When you think of a hero, is the first character to pop in your head a little hobbit named Bilbo Baggins? In most cases, people think of Superman or Hercules, but in The Hobbit, an unexpected hero emerges and changes the name for all heroes to come. The Hobbit is a novel about Bilbo Baggins and his journey, with thirteen dwarves and a wizard, seeking the treasure stolen by the dragon, Smaug. While on this unexpected journey, Bilbo and his companions overcome many obstacles to eventually get to the treasure and retrieve it. Throughout the story, Bilbo develops into a courageous man, who indeed, is a hero. Richard Tyre wrote an article, “You Can’t Teach Tolkien,” and he explains his theory in which he connects multiple story’s plot with six elements. The Hobbit, is assuredly a prime example of Tyre’s theory because it follows all six steps throughout the story simultaneously. The six elements are; “(1) those who hunt for treasure, (2) must go alone, (3) at night, (4) and when they find it, (5) they must leave some of their blood behind, (6) and the treasure is never what they expected” (Tyre 19). These elements are steps in which a character must take to emerge into a hero in the end. Bilbo Baggins is the hero in The Hobbit, but he doesn’t start off as the hero. He has always had heroic traits but throughout the novel, he pursues those six steps and in the resolution, he is transformed into an actual hero.
Bilbo is a timid, comfortable, and compact in his secure little hole at Bag End. Gandalf persuaded him into going on a quest with Thorin’s dwarves. Bilbo became afraid that he fainted. As the novel progresses, Bilbo prevails in the face of danger and adversity, justifying Gandalf’s early claim that there is more to him than what he thought. Bilbo’s journey fits into the tradition of a hero’s quest, because he basically went somewhere in order to gain something.
Finally the last example of Bilbo’s heroism is a battle against himself when he goes to visit Smaug the first time. In The Hobbit Tolkien states “[Bilbo] fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait” (200). Bilbo had to urge himself to continue down the tunnel to Smaug’s lair. Only a true hero would continue to walk towards a certain death, and that’s just what Bilbo Baggins did. Not only did Bilbo continue but he, being a burglar, stole a golden cup right in front of Smaug to! Bilbo is a hero for facing his fears and continuing to fulfill a promise.
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.
He slowly evolved as time went on, starting with a knock his door by an extraordinary wizard. Then, soon after that, when the dwarves arrived, Bilbo’s perspective seemed to change and open up to possibilities. He became more confident and more willing to prove himself. This is shown in Bilbo’s first challenge where he risks his life and the dwarves to steal from the trolls, so he didn’t come back empty handed. This showed him, that sometimes risks are worth taking. Another event that made Bilbo “evolve” a lot, is when he faced off his first challenge completely by himself. This was in Gollum's cave. There were many ways that Gollum changed Bilbo’s adventure, but besides that, the encounter changed Bilbo. It changed him because it seems like, in this event, Bilbo finally is able to trust in himself like when he decided to outmaneuver golem all by himself, and when he uses his wits, and brains to defeat Gollum. Through this, Bilbo discovered, that he himself could be strong, by using just his bravery, and his smarts. One more of these important events, that I believe is the most essential to this topic is the encounters with the spiders. This is because, in this one event, all the lessons Bilbo has learned, and all his adventures contribute to his success. He needs his bravery and wits, to be able to taunt the spider, his ability to persevere past challenges, and also, his willingness to
Baggins. He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach” (Tolkien 141-142). This event has led to Bilbo beginning to believe in himself, which is an important contribution to his overall development into the hero of this tale. Finally, when Bilbo is met with the task of meeting the dragon Smaug, he does not turn back. Even when he must walk alone through the dark, secluded hallway to Smaug’s lair knowing that he could meet his doom at any instant, he walked on. His internal being knows this is his final test of courage, and his will to carry on demonstrates his final development into a hero.
In conclusion, we can now see that Bilbo is in fact a dynamic character. He gains many qualities he can use in the future, like courage, learning to use his wits, and letting out the adventurous side in him. He used to be almost paranoid, to himself, and strict. But now he has turned into something much bigger, an adventurer. So the adventure changed him for the better. This is how Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit we thought would never do anything
In the book The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien he makes sure you know that the theme is about how crucial it is for people to step outside of their comfort zone and be brave because it may be a fun adventure and people might just make new friends. Otherwise they will have a mundane life. On page 22, Gandalf and the dwarfs are trying to convince Bilbo that he should go on the adventure with them "'I should like to know about risks, out-of-pocket expenses, time required and remuneration, and so forth' by which he meant 'What am I going to get out of it? and am I going to come back alive?'" This shows how Bilbo is working up the courage to go on the adventure and this is the moment that he starts to be brave. In the book The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien on page 198, Tolkien wrote, "He gazed for what seemed like an age, before being drawn almost against his will, he stole from the shadow of the doorway, across the floor to the nearest edge of the mounds of treasure.
Hobbit Essay: Emerging Hero Is Bilbo Baggins, from The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien a lonely hobbit or is he the most heroic hero there is? Bilbo learns that he is capable of doing many things during his adventure, learning many things that were hidden away from his great ancestors on the Tookish side. Bilbo learns from Thorin and the other dwarves how to be courageous, heroic and intelligent, but above all else how to lead the expedition into the great unknown with a victory. His traits and will to learn stand out to the other dwarves who later begin to admire his greatness.
“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.
Bilbo’s story is a story of a hero’s journey. From his origins we do not see that Bilbo likes to go on adventures. However, his mother’s side of the family got the best of him and he does decide to go on the adventure. We will look at his call to adventure and why he decided to go on the trip. Next, we will look at Bilbo and the weapons and supernatural help he used. The final aspect we’ll look at is Bilbo’s trials and transformations and goals during Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
Although this may seem like something your typical hobbit would stray away from, Bilbo is not your typical hobbit. In this moment, Bilbo truly becomes a hero. Before Bilbo was needed to save the dwarves, he was all by himself facing off against a spider. Once he had killed the spider with no help from any dwarf or wizard he became very confident. The book says,”Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins.” Bilbo knew that he was capable of being a hero, which aided him in becoming a one. After this, with the help of his magic ring, Bilbo was able to rescue the dwarves from the other evil
The book, The Hobbit, follows the archetype of the hero’s journey. In the story, Bilbo Baggins is compelled to leave his ordinary hobbit life and join a band of dwarves and a wizard to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its treasures from Smaug, the evil dragon who stole it from Thorin’s ancestors. Breaking away from a monotonous life was proving to be a difficult task for the tiny hero. He had to learn how to live life as an adventurer. He also had to come to terms and adjust to a normal life once his journey was over. The Hobbit is a major example of the hero’s journey.
Bilbo at one point agrees to go on the quest with Gandalf and the dwarfs, which is considered an act of a hero’s quest. Respectable hobbits don’t normally go on an adventurous quests and that is why at first Bilbo turned Gandalf down, but later decided that it could be fun. Bilbo woke up late the next morning and he was joyed to see that the dwarfs left without him, but then he sees Gandalf come running back to get him. As they head east on the main road, Bilbo is upset about having to leave without finishing his breakfast and not making proper preparations. So after walking for hours, they all eventually get extremely tired and they look for a place to stop for the night. Along this long quest there are many challenges that Bilbo will have to overcome. For example after Bilbo was chased by the goblins, he found a cave to stay in, but it’s the first time he has been alone and is in danger, so he has to overcome his fear and learn how to deal with these types of situations. The greatest challenge of the journey was when he reached the Abyss. When he reaches the Abyss he has to “become one” in the adventure. He has to overcome and face all of his fears alone. Challenges play a huge part in a quest because no quest big or small is always going to be easy. If you can overcome the challenges that are in the quest, then the quest will become easier, but overcoming the challenges, is the
To begin with, Bilbo Baggins can be classified as the hero of “The Hobbit”. Mr. Baggins has shown a tremendous amount of growth throughout this journey. And he also illustrates willingness to sacrifice himself for the safety of his companions. To demonstrate, in Chapter 8 of “The Hobbit”, Bilbo finally begins to show his bravery and courage by rescuing the dwarves from the spiders: “He gave a shout and slashed at the spiders in front of him. They quickly gave way, and he scrambled and fell down the tree right into the middle of those on the ground. His little sword was something new in the way of stings for them. How it darted to and fro!” (Tolkien, J. R. R., “The Hobbit”, #177). As this quote explains, Bilbo was bravely rescuing the dwarves and fighting off the spiders. It also shows how willing he is to sacrifice himself for this dangerous journey. In addition, citations from “The Hobbit” shows that Bilbo also volunteers to be the first one to enter the tunnel and confront Smaug: “Then the hobbit slipped on his ring, and warned by the echoes to take more than hobbit’s care to make no sound, he crept