In the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Bilbo Baggins, a simple hobbit gets caught up with a group of dwarves looking to recapture their stolen gold. He faces many challenges including; spiders, wood elves, a dragon, goblin, and orcs. He receives help along the way from Beorn, a shapeshifter, and Gandalf, a wise wizard. One theme in the Hobbit was sometimes you’re braver than you think. The other theme was sometimes the path to success is very hard and you have to face many challenges. Bilbo shows the first theme by his many acts of bravery throughout the book. The second theme is shown through the many challenges faced by the characters.
One theme in the Hobbit by J.R.R. is sometimes you’re braver than you think. One piece of evidence that supports that theme is on page 89 where Bilbo is escaping from the Goblins and Gollum alone. He, “Dodged this way and that,” when escaping. This shows how he started to be able to face challenges by himself. Another example of Bilbo’s bravery is when on page 156, where it states, “Somehow the killing of a giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard, of the dwarves,
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or anyone else.” This happens when spiders in the woods of Mirkwood capture the dwarves. Bilbo manages to escape and kill the spiders by himself, and again shows how Bilbo becomes less dependent on other people to fight for him. These acts show how Bilbo, a shy hobbit, can prove himself wrong and be a brave warrior. Another theme in the Hobbit was that the path to success is very hard and you have to face many challenges. One example of the many challenges faced by the dwarves and Bilbo was on page 283, when during the Battle of Seven Armies, “Men and elves were being slowly beaten down.” In this scene, the army of goblins and orcs were attacking furiously and beating the combined army of men, elves, and dwarves. Although the men, elves, and dwarves eventually won, it was a very perilous situation for the crusaders trying to recapture their gold. An additional example of the many challenges is on page 224, where Bilbo confronts Smaug, a dragon. Smaug declares, “My armour is like 10 fold shields, my teeth swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death.” This shows how treacherous Bilbo’s situation was. Had he not been wearing a ring to make himself invisible, Bilbo surely would have been Smaug’s next meal. These are only a sampling of the many dangers that the dwarves and Bilbo faced along their path to winning back their ancient gold and glory. In the Hobbit readers will find the author, J.R.R.
Tolkien to be very good. He develops the story gradually, building up to the climax, and changing the main characters attitude. In the beginning Bilbo, the main character, starts as a very timid hobbit who knows nothing beyond his home, and is overwhelmed by the appearance of the twelve dwarves sudden appearance to his house. Although he grudgingly agrees to join them in their quest, he is very unhappy, and conveys it through this quote: “I wish I was home by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing!” This shows how unhappy Bilbo was at the beginning of the story. Over the course of the story, J.R.R. Tolkien develops Bilbo into a brave character who had proved himself through his many acts of bravery. In conclusion, the author did an excellent job developing Bilbo as a
character. Two themes in the Hobbit were sometimes you’re braver than you think, and sometimes the path to success is very hard and you have to face many challenges. Bilbo’s development from a shy hobbit who cares for nothing beyond his hobbit hole, and nothing adventurous to a brave, proven, warrior, shows the first theme, sometimes you’re braver than you think. Lastly, how can the themes from the Hobbit be applied to your life?
Perseverance is a skill that takes a long time to develop. In J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Bilbo is the one who gains this skill over the course of the book. He undergoes many struggles along the way, including giant spiders, and armored dragons. These test his loyalty to his group, as well as to the cause. The cause being to take back the mountain stronghold that the dwarves lost long ago. Seeing their journey, one theme is evident. Bilbo Baggins' motivation to continue to the stronghold in the mountains changed from annoyed to driven over the course of his travels.
Bilbo cleverly eluded Smaug’s temptation, spared the life of foul creature Gollum, and demonstrate courage more and more throughout his journey. These exquisite traits made Bilbo into the revered character that was loved and respected for generations of readers. Throughout the book, Bilbo’s character had changed. At first, he was the ordinary hobbit who described adventures as “Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things” (4) but by the end of his journeys stated to Thorin, “I am glad that I have shared in your perils” (290). Bilbo’s ability to fight evil, make new friends, and to look beyond his maps and books enable him to become a hero. As Gandalf once said at the very beginning, “There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself” (19). Gandalf was right. What appeared to be an uneasy hobbit who fainted at the thought of adventures, turned out to be a brave leader, a compassionate friend, and an inspiring
J.R.R Tolkien's action packed, fantasy driven, inspiring novel The Hobbit shows the message that everyone must know, that you should never give up even if all hope seems to be lost. It shows setting of evergreen forests with villages scattered along the paths of which they must take and mountains just on the horizon. The read must go along with bilbo baggins a hobbit that does not realize there is more to him than just being a baggins and that he will live up to his family's name. Even after gandalf tells him that he will embark on a great adventure he still doesn’t believe he is anymore than just bilbo. Therefor this story is inspiring and shows that with the setting, character, and theme combined make this story a great read.
Within J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, Tolkien uses the character of Bilbo Baggins to reveal to the reader the constant struggle between heroic and anti-heroic qualities within Bilbo and ourselves.
At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Baggins starts out at his comfy little hobbit home, but suddenly a grand, wise wizard shows up. Not long after, 12 dwarves began to appear, one by one at Bilbo’s door, and they have come to carry him off on a life-changing adventure, full of greed. That was the beginning of our hairy hobbit’s transformation from a shy, quiet hobbit, to a strong and bold life-saving hero, who enchants any who come in contact with him. For example of his strength and boldness, would be in chapter 5, when Bilbo rhymes riddles for an unknown creature, who calls itself Gollum. Bilbo would’ve been eaten if he were to have lost, but took his chances, and risked it anyway. After all, it did get him out of that goblin-infested cave.
Bilbo is happy to visit the elves and have tea with Gandalf, but he is also just as happy to relax in his hobbit-hole and enjoy the comforts of home that he longed for so much on his journey. Bilbo Baggins undergoes a hero’s journey in The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. He departs from his home, is initiated into a more mature mindset, undergoes a road of trials, goes through his innermost cave, and is returned home and reintegrated into society. Bilbo’s journey is also a quest for self identity, because he realizes his place as “quite a little fellow in a wide world” and learns to balance out his respectable Baggins heritage with his adventurous Took background (Tolkien 363).
Then one day a wizard by the name of Gandalf comes and gives Bilbo the opportunity to go on an adventure. Bilbo turns his offer down, but the next day thirteen dwarves come to his house. They have meals together and they sleep at Bilbo’s house. Gandalf then convinces him to go on an adventure with them. Bilbo is many things, in the beginning he is flat, static, main, and he is the protagonist.
Heroes are present in many of the films produced today and these heroes generally follow both Campbell’s “Hero’s journey” and “Heroic Archetypes”. Some of Campbell’s tenets for a hero are that he must be called to a quest, he will face trials and tribulations, face temptation, complete a task, and eventually return home. The hero must also fit an archetype and its quest, fear, dragon, task, and virtue. Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is in fact one of the aforementioned heroes. Bilbo Baggins has always wanted an adventure and one day he is called on a quest to win back the Dwarfish kingdom of Erebor from the dragon, Smaug. Bilbo had not realized at the time of his departure that he was a hero and at first he even refused to go on the quest. Bilbo fits many of the tenets of the departure, initiation, and return of Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” along with one of his archetypes. Joseph Campbell defines a hero as “someone who has given his life to something bigger than himself” and this is what Bilbo Baggins has done by accepting his quest to aid the Dwarves on their journey to the Lonely Mountain.
In the book The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Bilbo seems to be very brave because he is a hobbit who didn’t like adventures, but he decides to go on one and shows that he has courage , and he is not afraid of something that others might be afraid of.
A hero. Today, by definition, to be a hero is to have abundant power, defiance, to attain fame and wealth, and to have the intrepidity to help the ones who cannot defend for themselves. However, Bilbo Baggins, the protagonist of The Hobbit, by J.R.R Tolkien, grows to be a hero without possessing any of these qualities after he partakes in an adventure to help reclaim the Dwarves’ homeland from the dragon Smaug. This quest to the Lonely Mountain brings the indolent hobbit into a completely new world, where he faces trouble and experiences a region of supernatural wonder. Bilbo’s adequacy and heroism are shown in the adventure through his latent cunningness and courageous acts, and through the loyalty and devotion he shows to his companions.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit, one who enjoys peace and quiet, feasts and fireplaces, and the coziness of his home. At the beginning the The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, Bilbo could not even imagine going on a tenacious adventure, but by the end he has survived the longest, toughest battle yet. Throughout the novel Bilbo Baggins changes from a prudent, typical hobbit into a courageous, sacrificing adventurer.
Bilbo Baggins is a very soft and quiet hobbit. He loves to eat, and is pampered by his own self. So when Gandalf arrives to take him on an adventure, Bilbo is a little hesitant –scared to death- to risk his life with Thorin and Company. “At may never return he began to feel a shriek coming up inside, and very soon it burst out like the whistle of an engine coming out of a tunnel. […] The...
Bilbo assumes that he is an inadequate companion for the adventure, and that idea is apparent as he and the dwarves equally doubt his skills that Gandalf is so confident about. " 'I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for you...There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself. '" (Tolkien 33) The dwarves allow Bilbo to join their company, but they do not completely take Gandalf 's word and have a difficult time becoming accustomed to the hobbit. The party describes him during the journey as being "more trouble than use so far" and wished Gandalf had "chosen someone with more sense" (119). However, once they realize that in spite of how traumatic a situation is for Bilbo, he still finds a way to help them when they can 't defend themselves, and because of that they accept him as a friend and stay loyal to him until the end of the quest and the
Bilbo begins his long journey with the dwarves, who at the time were still skeptical of Bilbo’s abilities. The dwarves didn’t see why they needed such a small incompetent hobbit with them along their journey. Gandalf tells them to stop complaining and to trust that there is more to Bilbo than meets the eye (Tolkien 6). Bilbo soon shows his courage and heroism for the first time in the story when they run into their first obstacle, three large trolls huddled around a campfire. Bilbo, who was once a shy, non-adventurous type, begins to develop into a hero as he tries to steal one of the trolls’ money purses. This is a dramatic scene in the novel because it was Bilbo’s very first act outside his comfort zone. It was this...
Perhaps this quest of self-discovering of Bilbo also reflects the trek everyone must also partake. The road to success is a combination of confidence, courage, love and support, and self-acceptance. Bilbo saves the dwarves multiple times, and accomplishes his task near the end of the book. This shows teens that good will come out of doing the right thing, and this will encourage them. Seeing and processing positive examples from the Hobbit will give teens the idea that doing the right thing is the most rewarding, and to not give up when confronted with difficulties in life. With careful readings and reflections, the Hobbit can motivate teens to make the right choices in life and inspire them to strive for success.