The Hobbit Life Lessons

Fact 1: Bilbo Baggins went through several tasks that made his character grow. Through countless excursions into the wild it was obvious that Bilbo developed greatly into a wonderfully cheerful hero. After Bilbo beat Gollum in a game of riddles he became more confident in himself. Bilbo’s task was to solve a riddle that Gollum gave him. If he got the answer he lived. If he was wrong, Gollum would eat him. Bilbo was good at riddles and he defeated Gollum. Then Bilbo used his ring to escape. This event made him even more confident. Bilbo realized that he had accomplished a very tough task when he beat Gollum. This event also made Bilbo more skilled in being stealthy when he had his ring on.

As children develop into adults, certain events and time periods stand out as the reason for important changes in their character. J.R.R. Tolkien portrayed the main character of The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, as a child on his trip into adulthood. Throughout The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, the protagonist, changes from a childlike hobbit to a fully matured hero. J.R.R. Tolkien divides the change in Bilbo's character into the three major part of the book, prior to the quest, during the quest, and after the quest.

In chapter 5, the hobbit stumbles upon Gollum, who is clearly a threat to Bilbo, but although he stays aware, he plays Gollum’s game in order for him to survive and escape. Gollum uses literally uses language to try and kill Bilbo, but Bilbo uses it to save his life in the game of riddles they play. However, Bilbo isn’t a master of language yet, who runs out of riddles to ask so instead asks a casual question “What have I got in my pockets?”. Gollum’s demand to know what is in Bilbo's pocket, and Bilbo’s refusal to reveal it is a example of perseverance although he’s life in at stake. When Bilbo wears the ring he inadvertently stole, he had the opportunity of killing Gollum, but refuses because he’s kind and sympathizes with the weak and pitiable. At times like this, it’s clear that Tolkien made Bilbo a moral character; and this morality and kindness is what establishes Bilbo as a hero in the

At the beginning of the adventure, Bilbo was a timid, little hobbit with no idea how to steal or survive outside of his little hobbit hole. When Thorin and the rest of the dwarves first meet Bilbo, they question

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

Bilbo has changed into a different hobbit since he left for his adventure. Before he left, Bilbo wanted nothing more than to stay in the comforts of his hobbit-hole, but afterwards he was more willing to abandon comfort for more adventures. The hobbit was not at all willing for adventure in the beginning since Gandalf, a wizard, practically tricked him into going on the trip, but after getting the thrill of adventure, Bilbo was more open to venturing outside his hobbit-hole. On the journey, the company came across many creatures and with these encounters, Bilbo became more open to different creatures than only meeting visitors that came to his hobbit-hole. With these encounters, however, the hobbit obtained a sense of confidence when meeting adversity.

Journeys come in all shapes and sizes, they show up out of nowhere or are planned for months. One thing all journeys have in common is that they take a person from one place to another. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is the tale of such a journey. The Hobbit is the tale of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit from a small, peaceful part of the world. Bilbo’s tranquil life is disrupted when the wizard Gandalf shows up along with a company of thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin, and invites Bilbo on away on an adventure of epic proportions. The group quests to recapture the dwarves ancestral home from the dragon Smaug. On their way to the mountain where the dragon lurks, Bilbo is faced with hungry trolls, villainous goblins, the dark creature Gollum, evil spiders,

In the beginning of the book, Bilbo is very unsure about his abilities and is not self-confident. He had never gone on an adventure before and wasn’t sure of what he was capable of. As the group faces many challenges, his confidence and courage grew, especially when he fends off the giant spiders. As the novel progresses, his courage grows, until they face their final task and Bilbo must go into the tunnels alone. By this point in the book, he has enough courage to do nearly anything. This conflict can be identified as man v. self. At one point in the book, Bilbo “felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach…” (Tolkien 144). This can be connected to the theme of the development of a hero from an ordinary person (or hobbit) because gaining courage is an essential part of becoming a hero. In this novel, there are endless amounts of conflicts, but these are two main conflicts that Bilbo

It all begins when a mysterious wizard by the name of Gandalf talks him to go on an adventure. Immediately, Bilbo turns down his offer since he was not interested in any adventures taking him away from his safe village. However, the next day, thirteen dwarves came to his house, reuniting to later set off on their quest. Soon, Bilbo finds out that he’s been recruited, unwillingly, as a burglar into Thorin’s expedition to retrieve his treasure. He becomes so frighten that he faints but reluctantly accepts. Nonetheless, the dwarves initially see him as a sort of a child who cannot possibly help them in their quest for treasure, but Gandalf assures them that there was more of the hobbit than meets the eye.

First of all, he gains courage in the story. Before he went on this adventure, he was timid and to himself. This is because hobbits didn’t go on anything dangerous, especially adventures. This all changes as soon as Bilbo goes on this journey with Gandalf and the dwarves. We see our first example of this when he tries to steal from the three huge, nasty

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.

First, Bilbo is selfless. He shows this to be true during many troubles on this journey. As he travels with twelve dwarves and a wizard, who has now left them, through many lands, their journey brings them to Mirkwood, a very large, dark wood with many dangerous and horrifying creatures. In this forest, the company encounters giant spiders and the dwarves are captured and wrapped in spider silk, while Bilbo hides by using a magical ring that he had found earlier in their travels. He then uses his sword to fight the beasts and save his friends. After this, they notice that Thorin, the king of the dwarves, was missing. They searched for him and the path which they had lost before their quarrel with the spiders. Then, Wood elves with bows and swords surrounded them and captured all but Bilbo, for he had once again used his ring to ‘disappear’. The elves took the dwarves to their palace and locked them away in the king’s dungeon, where Thorin was also.

Bilbo puts his ring to follow the dwarves and try to come up with a plan on how to free the dwarves. He is always trying to think of ways to help the dwarves. He finally comes up with a plan. He gets the idea to put one dwarf in a barrel so they can escape. “For some time Bilbo had thought about this watergate and wondered if it could be used for the escape of his friends…” (177). This also shows how brave he is and that he stays with the dwarves rather than running off. Bilbo is showing to everyone that he had taken a cup from Smaug. This is a big sign of bravery. Even though there were previous instances where he was brave but, this also was a great achievement for Bilbo. His morals grow as his encounters with other races increase. Even though he has already shown morals multiple times, he keeps showing them and it starts to become a part of who he is and his

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.

Not only does the portrayal of Bilbo’s character and underlying courage convey his heroism, but so does his sense of ethics. This is what truly makes him a unique, caring hero. While a typical hero’s motive is wealth and fame, Bilbo gave up his share of the dwarves’ treasure to help avoid war between two nations that severely despise one another (the elf and dwarf kingdoms). The fact that he was willing to give up his wealth to avoid war and for the good of other people marks a significant aspect of his heroism and explains why he is “more worthy to wear the armor of elf-princes than many that have