Tolkien a literary icon set the standards of what a fantasy is in his essay On Fairy Stories assessing what he believes a story must contain to make it a true “fairy story”. Tolkien never references The Hobbit which he published two years prior. The Hobbit is Tolkien’s first novel based in a fictitious land known as Middle Earth and is about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins and his unexpected journey with a band of dwarfs and a wizard. Tolkien must have believed his novel The Hobbit to be a fairy story by the standards he set in his essay and there is sufficient evidence to say that he did. Tolkien offers a basic outline of what goes into a fairy story from the Oxford English dictionary, “a tale about fairies, or generally a fairy legend; …show more content…
This quote is about the main character Bilbo Baggins a hobbit whom has never left the borders of the shire or had a desire for adventure until Tolkien inserts the character Gandalf. Tolkien’s The Hobbit revolves around this concept of desire where everyone in the story desires something whether it’s Gollum and the ring or the dwarfs and their treasure. Tolkien in his essay brings up that idea of desire in a fairy story stating “When the sudden “turn” comes we get a piercing glimpse of joy, and heart's desire, that for a moment passes outside the frame, rends indeed the very web of story” (On Fairy Stories 23). Tolkien is saying here that in a fairy story when the characters life takes a “turn” and gets that glimpse of joy that he gets a desire that he would not have had on his own. This is how The Hobbit story began due to the Dwarfs stories Bilbo got that inner desire to “to go see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees, explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking stick” (The Hobbit, 24). In this quote Tolkien suggest that Bilbo had that inner desire to leave the shire because of the “turn” in his life. Gandalf and the band of dwarfs were this “turn” when they showed up on Bilbo’s door step and tell him of the adventures and the beauties of Middle Earth he would endure. From Tolkien’s quote Bilbo’s desire for adventure is the start for the web of the story which is a trait that makes The Hobbit a true fairy
In 1949, Joseph Campbell discussed the hero’s journey, the foundation commonly used in stories throughout history. In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the hero’s journey narrative is used to tell the story of Bilbo Baggins’s adventure. The novel follows Bilbo Baggins and a company of dwarves as they seek to take back the dwarves’ fallen kingdom. As the story progresses, Bilbo’s character develops and the dwarves perception of him develops through the many trials before the death of Smaug the dragon and the final battle between a variety of mythical creatures. In The Hobbit, the dwarves originally doubt Bilbo’s abilities but as Bilbo encounters more obstacles and succeeds, the dwarves perception turns to one of respect and admiration.
Some of the creatures we find in the novel are trolls, dwarves, wizards, goblins, and dragons but the most uncommon one you would have found are hobbits and i. Not many writers use the hobbit in their fantasy novels. J.R.R Tolkien was one of the famous writers of the 20th century he was the first one to write about the hobbit and give life to this mythical creature and we see they way he sees the character grow.
The Hobbit, written by John R. R. Tolkien, is a fantasy novel published on September 21, 1937. It was written as a prelude to the famous series, The Lord of the Rings, written seventeen years later. The Hobbit introduces the reader to an incredibly immersive fantasy world, that enriches the reader into its epic storyline. The story takes place in a land called Middle-earth, a land filled with enchanting surprises and magical wonders. It was the perfect playground for Tolkien to develop his main character Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo Baggins was a small hobbit, who unaware in the beginning would become a large role in the plot. It is through this character that Tolkien implemented the theme of heroism into the story. Bilbo’s
Going forward, in this essay, topics such as heroism and transformity will be strongly analyzed through quotes directly from the book The Hobbit and opinions formed while reading. Through the book The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien is able to show how a hero isn’t always the typical buff and boots with a cape on his back kind of person. Tolkien shows the reader that a hero is made by the struggles he conquers and isn’t just a perfect character thrown into the beginning of the story.
Do you ever wonder what kind of person you are? Are you adventurous, perseptive, athletic? Have these traits ever affected your decision making? Because in “The Hobbit” By J.R.R. Tolkien, The protagonist Bilbo Baggins feels conflicted whether he should act like his more daring ancestors, the Tooks by embarking on a perilous journey to retake a kingdom. Or to be like his more respectable ancestors, the Bagginses and stay in the comfort of his warm home. As you can see, the traits he has acquired from his forebears are altering the way he sees the situation. Much like Bilbo, I believe that we all have similar sides to our personalities, whether the conflict is to be brave or timid, or smart rather than foolishly. And it is up to us to correctly
Looking. Searching. Seeking. There is just nothing like it for getting to conclusions. Finding. “There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after” (Tolkien). Certainly, when E.M Forster wrote A Passage to India or J.R.R Tolkien wrote The Hobbit or Kurt Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse -Five they were not looking for anything. However, they ended up finding a crucial link in their books–links to society at the time their books were published. 1924, 1937, 1969 or is it 1890, 2157 (Shire reckoning), 1945-It is not possible to be entirely sure. And it is this ambiguity that reveals a major aspect of literature. Literature has a tendency to represent the prevailing collective outlook. Forster highlights the growing discontent, of both Indians and the British, with the way the sub-continent is handled. Tolkien represents, very allegorically, the hardy nature of the people surviving the great depression, naming them hobbits. Vonnegut expresses the general disillusionment of the post-war years and Billy Pilgrim’s fatalist nature provides a grim undercurrent to the cheery “good war” (Jarvis 62). Thus, as seen through Forster, Tolkien, and Vonnegut’s books A Passage to India, The Hobbit, and Slaughterhouse -Five (respectively) authors tend to mimic
Do all stories need to have every part of the Heroic Journey to be considered heroic? I will be explaining the similarities and differences between the book The Hobbit and the movie Wreck It Ralph. To find which has a stronger Heroic Journey. The Hobbit is a stronger Heroic Journey than Wreck It Ralph. This can be seen through a comparison of the departure, initiation, and the return.
The Hobbit, written by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, describes a quest that Bilbo Baggins and his friends made. Bilbo Baggins, the protagonist of the novel, was one of the many
depictions of characters and details that capture the imagination. The plot of this novel is the
J. R. R. Tolkien created a book with magic, fantasy, and wonder. He created a fiction based story with belief. In the beginning of the story, Bilbo Baggins was a tired, clumsy hobbit. He faced many challenges and also became victorious. The hobbit made friends with the 13 dwarves, a wizard and many more magical creatures. They went on a journey to gain, land, riches, and to kill the scary beast Smaug. Eventually, Bilbo had to go home, but he went home with a smile on his face knowing he became something he never thought he could be.
The contrast between different types of leadership appears in the chapter Flies and Spiders in J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The chapter starts off with the group no longer having Gandalf lead them through the perils that lie in the Mirkwood. Thorin helps lead the group past a deadly river that cannot be touched and helps them until he is captured by elves. Bilbo battle spiders and saves the dwarves on multiple occasions in Thorin’s absence. In this chapter you see a new contrast in Throrin and Company. No longer having Gandalf Thorin picked up the mantle of leadership and lead by command. Bilbo then assumed the role of leadership in Thorins absence and lead by putting others first, putting himself on the line. As the story progresses you have these two types of leadership contrasting throughout the story. Ultimately in the end Bilbo’s was of leadership proved to be better.
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have been beloved works among many generations of readers since they were first published. The author of these two books, J.R.R. Tolkien is just as interesting a man as many of the characters he created in the world of Middle-Earth. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Africa to a banker manager and his wife in 1892 and had only one sibling, Hilary, who was less than two years younger (Wikipedia). When he was young both of his parents died (one from rheumatic fever, the other from diabetes) and he and his brother were raised by a Catholic priest in Birmingham (Wikipedia). Tolkien was involved in World War One and Two, first as a serviceman, then as a cryptographer (Wikipedia). Indeed he was very
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit living in the Shire having a peaceful quiet life in his hobbit hole. One day after living a life of leisure and pleasure he is awakened by a rude knock on his door. In a matter of a few hours he will meet the people that changed his life for good. The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien is a story about a hobbit and his adventure. His adventure starts with a knock on his door by his old Friend Gandalf. Gandalf then promptly asks Bilbo”I am looking for someone to share in an adventure”(tolkien). Bilbo then denies Gandalf and continuous with his usual day until that night. When Bilbo is about to eat his dinner he gets a knock. He opens it to find two dwarves Dwalin and Balin. Bilbo 's shocked but invites them in. Bilbo does this eval times until he 's left with thirteen dwarves Dwalin, Balin, Kili, Fili, Dori, Ori, Nori, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and Thorin Oakenshield. They then invite him on a quest that would change his life. During his quest he faces many evils and overcomes them all to become a hero.
Firstly, with fairy tales, I grew up being an avid Disney fan, therefore, a significant consumer of the fairytale, but after discovering Harry Potter, I realized that it pushed the boundary for it just to be quantified as a fairytale. Harry Potter has elements of fairy tales from the from the theme to the setting then the castle to the drama, danger, adventure, best friend/ sidekick, the fairy godmother and even the evil character but still would be a disservice fairytale to characterize it as one solely.
The protagonist of the book is Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo the main character in the book, is a hobbit. He was scared to leave his home town of Bagan. Bilbo was invited by dwarves to go on an adventure to find treasure that belonged to the them. Little was known about what could happen on this trip, but still Bilbo was drawn to this adventure with much excitement. It was when he did not have food to eat that he would question why he left his hobbit hole.