Heroism In The Hobbit

1566 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The hobbit essay thesis

“Heroism is a matter of integrity- becoming more and more at each step ourselves.” (Joseph Campbell) The Hero’s Journey is the basic template for all great stories. It includes the start to an adventure, a mentor, initiation by trials an and challenges, victory, and return. In The Hobbit, a fantasy novel by J.R.R Tolkien, the tale depicts the quest of protagonist Bilbo Baggins, a humble hobbit who plays the role of the burglar as he must help dwarves bring back their home held captive by the dragon Smaug. As he makes the quest to the Lonely Mountain he changes, grows, and develops as the inner “Took” personality grows within himself. The major transforming events test his abilities late causing Bilbo to evoke and reveal his true heroic nature.
Before Bilbo goes on the death defying journey he is introduced as a regular hobbit who is calm, and never having the thought of going on an adventure. Bilbo’s background includes his “Baggins” personality and his “Took” personality. The Bagginses side of the family is described as “very respectable, not only because they never had any adventures” (Tolkien 2). On the outside Bilbo is seen with having a Baggins personality which is as of a regular hobbit. The Tooks were however different than many hobbits and was seen by society as “not as respectable as the Bagginses, though they were undoubtedly richer”(3). Bilbo’s Took side of family was known for going on adventures and being more different than the normal hobbit. Within himself Bilbo possesses a Took personality and realizes only at the end of his journey. Though Bilbo doesn't know this within himself as he later on changes as an individual he begins to notice the changes occurring.
The call for adventure is where the init...

... middle of paper ...

...uch as they use to before. However Bilbo is not bothered by the fact as he has gained more to not care about any of it. In the end he gained more experiences, friends, and tales to tell in the future about the adventures he has made. “‘My dear Bilbo!’ he said.‘Something is the matter with you! You are not the same hobbit that you were.’”(302). Bilbo has reached the point of becoming a hero as his journey comes to an end. As Bilbo finally returns to everyday life he lives as a different hobbit than before.
The Hero’s Journey exhibits the transformation of the character Bilbo Baggins into a brave and confident hobbit as he face many events that exam the abilities and changes through the quest he makes. The development, growth, and changes that occur in Bilbos characteristics makes him able to handle the many challenges and temptations that he is faced with.

Show More
Related

  • The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein - Bilbo Baggins

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bilbo Baggins lived a very simple life, a life he enjoyed very much, until the day when the wizard Gandalf arrived at his door one morning. Gandalf was searching for someone to share an adventure with, but Bilbo quickly declined, saying, “We don’t want any adventures here. You might try over The Hill or across The Water,” and with that the hobbit dismissed the wandering wizard, but not before he had given the wizard an invitation for tea the next day. This of coarse, was the polite thing to do. But Gandalf saw something more in Bilbo and would not be discouraged.

    Read More

  • Bilbo Hero Quotes

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Bilbo Baggins An Outline For The Hobbit

    536 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is shown that this story can convey a strong message that all readers should know. That when you believe in yourself that you could accomplish things that were only in your wildest dreams. Bilbo Baggins had been the one to overcome his fear of changing his daily life and become the hero that he should be known for. Even though he starts off as the most non-courageous person in the world into a great hero. He goes one to defeat spiders, goblins, and outsmarts doby into getting the ring.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Bilbo In The Hobbit

    572 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Bilbo Baggins The Hero's Journey Analysis

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    (Tolkien 32). Bilbo is “not the hobbit that [he was] before he left the Shire” (Tolkien, 360). He has lost his reputation as a perfectly predictable Baggins, but he has gained “the honor of dwarves, wizards, and all such folk as ever passed that way” (Tolkien 361). He spends his time now “writing poetry and visiting the elves,” and despite all the other hobbits’ disapproval of Bilbo and his adventures, “he [remains] very happy to the end of his days” which are “extraordinarily long” (Tolkien 361). Although Bilbo’s character has changed and become more Tookish in many ways, he remains “only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all” (Tolkien 363).

    Read More

  • The Hero's Journey In The Hobbit By J. R.

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    As any developing hero does, Bilbo contemplates accepting the Call to Adventure. At the time for the hero, “the problem he faces may seem to much to handle and the comfort of home far more attractive than the perilous road ahead” (Bronzite). Bilbo has adapted to a calm and quiet style of living, and has found content in living in his hobbit hole. He recognizes the possible dangers of the journey and would much rather stay in the comfort of his own home. Thorin explains vague details about the trip and mentions “perhaps all of us may never return” (Tolkien 17). Bilbo is deeply affected by the previous statement as he has never thought about going on an adventure and never returning to his home. Bilbo is awoken by the fact that there are perils in the world that could prevent him from returning home. He reacts by shrieking and falling flat on the floor (Tolkien 17). After hearing Thorin’s comment, he contemplates refusing to go on the journey. Eventually, Bilbo chooses to accept, although he is a bit wary. Continuing through the stages, Bilbo meets with his mentor. He and his mentor Gandalf have met previously, but on different terms. Now Bilbo is meeting Gandalf, the wizard, in comparison to Gandalf, the neighbor. The hero’s mentor is there to “provide the hero with something (physical or mental) which will help the hero move forward in his adventure”

    Read More

  • The Hobbit Journey Analysis

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    In J.R.R. Tolkien 's novel, The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins goes through a classic representation of the Hero’s Journey. Throughout the story, Bilbo transitions from being a complacent, sheltered hobbit, to a more adventurous hobbit. The Hobbit has all three parts of the hero’s journey; The Departure, Initiation and The Return, all of which is interpreted throughout the quest.

    Read More

  • Importance Of The Hero's Journey In The Hobbit

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every hero goes through certain stages in their valorous journey. Some stages are more important in a hero’s journey compared to others. In The Hobbit, the most important stage of the hero’s journey is stage 6, tests/challenges. This is because the hero, Bilbo (a friendly hobbit), learns how to make decisions based on his mistakes and work individually, he learns new tactics and strategies and he earns possessions and answers after accomplishing them. Bilbo learns to make his own decisions when he sees trolls ahead in their way and he must decide whether to warn the dwarves or steal from the trolls. We see Bilbo learn new tactics and strategies when he must win a riddle-contest against Gollum. Bilbo earns an answer when he plans and outsmarts

    Read More

  • Bilbo Baggins' Transformation Depicted in Tolkien's The Hobbit

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    All in all, Bilbo has changed a great deal in The Hobbit. He went from flat, static, main, and protagonist to round, dynamic, main, and protagonist. He changed all throughout the books, but the five biggest chapters were chapter two, five, eight, nine, and twelve. Bilbo once was a very peaceful Hobbit. Now he is a bold adventurous Hobbit who takes risks. Therefore, Bilbo Baggins is a changed Hobbit at the end of the story.

    Read More

  • The Hero’s Journey in the Film: The Hobbit

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Bilbo In The Hobbit

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Theme of Change in The Hobbit

    813 Words  | 2 Pages

    Finally, as the novel is coming to an end, it is apparent how much Bilbo Baggins has changed throughout The Hobbit. In the introduction of the book, Tolkien displays Bilbo as a fearful creature afraid to follow his Took roots. As the book continues, Bilbo sees things that change him and make him a stronger hobbit than the old Bilbo. By the end of the book, Mr. Baggins finally gained his well earned respect and found out that being an adventurer is not an awful thing to be. So, it seems as if the theme of change in The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien was shown through Bilbo’s character.

    Read More

  • The Hobbit: Thematic Analysis

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • The Hobbit

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Identity In The Hobbit

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bilbo doesn’t realize it at first, with the help of Gandalf he sees he has changed. He has become brave and fearless. He has also learned the value of friendship and kindness through his new friends and their journey together which has now forever

    Read More

More about Heroism In The Hobbit

Open Document