Who Is Bilbo Baggins A Hero

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.

Many science fiction fantasy novels have a hero or heroine. In J.R.R Tolkien’s novel the hobbit Bilbo Baggins is a hero, Even though he finds a ring of invisibility that allows him to preform surprising feats. Some of his acts of heroism are when Bilbo make his first attempt at burglary when he steals from the trolls, when he creates a plan to free his friends from the ElvenKing and follows it through and when he goes down to visit Smaug for the first time 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.

What is a hero? Is it someone who possesses great strength and bravery, or is it someone who attains fame and wealth? In the world of Middle Earth that J.R.R Tolkien has created, Bilbo Baggins shows us that a hero can be quite the opposite. He is offered (and partially set up by Gandalf the wizard) to partake in an adventure as a burglar to help reclaim the bearded Dwarves’ homeland from the dragon Smaug. The little hobbit is frightened by the mere thought of danger, but the adventure in him ignites and causes him to agree. Through a series of events, Tolkien uses Bilbo’s characterization and ethics to portray the overall theme of heroism.

A hero is somone who is brave and selfless Bilbo Baggins is the epitome of a hero. According to Joseph Campbell “17 Stages of the Monomyth,” there will be a call to adventure. From the very beginning of the novel the narrator makes it clear that going on adventures is something that hobbits don't engage in. However, Bilbo after refusing to at first decided to go on the journey. Going on the journey he left his comfort zone put himself in danger, and potentially lost respect from all of the other hobbits. Like the typical hero in literature he made a sacrifice in order to help the dwarves. In many ways Biblo differs from heroes in Greek and Roman mythology. I noticed the vast majority of the heroes in Greek and Roman mythology tend to be warriors,

Bilbo Baggins Is A Hero “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” This quote by Christopher Reeves is a great description of Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo is just an ordinary hobbit. There is not anything exciting about his life. He lives in a quiet house, in a quiet town, with quiet people.

On page 302 it says, “ ‘My dear Bilbo!’ he said. ‘Something is the matter with you! You are not the same hobbit that you were.’”. Bilbo was a hero because he was selfless and sacrificed his life to help the dwarfs defeat smaug.

A traditional hero is usually bound to male qualities such as muscular physiques strong enough to defeat legendary enemies, but in The Hobbit the heroes are feminine as well. When we typically think of a hero we think of the stereotypical man of strength, the mighty warrior who bravely slays any evil oposition. Popular heroes such as Hercules, King Arthur, and Beowulf are considered heroes because of their outward strength honored for their accomplishments in battle. In The Hobbit, the stereotypical hero is Beorn, a "huge man with a thick black bear and hair, and great bare arms and legs with knotted muscles" (Tolkien, 108) Beorn can, as the name implies, change his appearance into that of a huge bear. In the Battle of Five Armies, the war revolving around Smaug's dwarven treasure, Beorn is they mighty hero who alone, transformed into his bear form, fights and slays the goblin leader turning the tide of the battle.

In The Hobbit, Bilbo goes from a cozy hobbit to a adventures hobbit. Bilbo may have been small for the adventure, but he had the biggest heart off them all. These three point show how Bilbo became a hero.

I confidently say that Bilbo is a hero based on his courage, leadership, and self- sacrifice for his companions. This type of hero does act courageously, and preform even he is scared. Bilbo’s courage is one of the dominant qualities in this journey. Because of his surge the dwarves get lonely mountain and find their treasure. He initiates this quality on his mother’s side “his make-up from the Took side” (PG 03).

A hero possesses the mentality of a person of great courage and ability. Most associate heroes with extraordinary physical strength and special talents and abilities, such as Anglo-Saxon hero, Beowulf. The Hobbit, depicts a well known hobbit from The Shire, Bilbo Baggins. Located in Middle Earth, the Shire houses a population of hobbits. One might not associate a hobbit with the physical appearance of a hero because hobbits represent the antithesis of a hero’s

Tolkien makes it quite clear that heroes come in many various shapes, sizes, and backgrounds. At the beginning of the book, Tolkien introduces what a Hobbit is, and their lifestyle. They aren’t really the most interesting creatures, and they seem less than likely to become the hero of the story. Straight from the book, Tolkien describes Hobbits like this: “They are a little people,about

There are many great characteristics of being a hero figure. Tolkien has things that he especially looks for in a hero we know this by using the Hobbit as evidence. Negative characters have distinct features and personalities that set them apart , the same for positive characters. Having mental strength is better when being a hero compared to physical strength. J.R.R Tolkien must have had hero characteristics in mind when creating the Hobbit.

In J. R. Tolkien’s book, The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins transformed from being a hobbit to a hero when he was called to adventure when the dwarfs came to his house unexpectedly. On his adventure he went through the road of trials where he kills a spider which gives him confidence. He took Smaug’s cup, during the road of trials, which awoken Smaug in an anger and made Bilbo look like a thief. Bilbo’s call to adventure (Tolkien 4) happened when the dwarves and Gandalf showed up at Bilbo’s house unexpectedly. Gandalf told Bilbo that they needed him to go on a journey with them to get the Arkenstone.

During many of his tasks, he had to save his companions. For example, Bilbo had to save Bombur from the enchanted lake by “...pulling him to safety using just a rope.” on page 159. Another example is when Bilbo had to save Thorin and Co. from the spiders alone. He slayed many spiders, cute the dwarves free from the webs, and get all of them to safety with venom running through their veins. Bilbo had “Bilbo killed the spiders with his new trusty sword sting that gave him confidence…” on page 170-180. In the beginning, Bilbo was cowardly and afraid to even go far enough to not be able to see his little hobbit hole. This proves these adventures brought out the best of him. My last example is when Bilbo rescued everyone by becoming “The Barrel Rider” on page 196-204 by putting them all in empty barrels that would travel through a lake to lead them to the Lake