Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
An essay on the hobbit
Essays of the hobbit
An essay on the hobbit
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Wide reading Huy Nguyen 8M
What traits make a hero admirable? Courage? Wit? Magnanimity? Bilbo Baggins in J.R.R. Tolkien’s book: The Hobbit, displays these rare characteristics uncommon is the fictional and nonfictional world. Set in a fictional world, a timid, middle-aged hobbit, Bilbo, who rarely leaves his home, embarks on an adventure into distant lands with unknown dwarves and a wizard to reclaim the dwarves’ home from Smaug, the dragon. Bilbo frequently displays admirable traits such as wit, magnanimity, and courage, thereby making him a character deserving admiration.
As it is commonly said, mind over matter. Bilbo clearly shows this trait when he was lost in Gollum’s cave. Using wit Bilbo confronted and defeated Gollum in a riddle game through the use of a “cheat” riddle. Clearly displays Bilbo’s wit as despite having his life threatened, Bilbo stayed calm and put his mind over the matter, allowing his wit overcome his fear and Gollum winning Bilbo his life. Therefore, Bilbo is an admirable character as he possesses uncommon wit which saved his life in times of danger.
…show more content…
This type of courage is shown by Bilbo as he accepts and departs on his adventure. The hobbits of Bilbo’s town frowned upon adventures and considered them to be dangerous and wasteful, yet Bilbo went on one because he thought it was right, thereby showing Bilbo’s courageous nature as he defied the status quo and society’s slander, thus making him an admirable character to many of today’s people as they do not have the courage to defy their status
Mark Twain best described courage when he said that, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear” (Twain). Both in The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Watership Down by Richard Adams, the authors deal with the topic of courage and each share a similar view on it as this quote. Indeed, both authors suggest that courage is not accumulated simply by acts of heroism, but rather by overcoming fears and speaking one’s mind as well. These books are very similar in the way that bravery is displayed through the characters in an uncommon way. Firstly, an example of bravery
George Washington. Aragorn. Beowulf. Captain America. Martin Luther. Han Solo. Wright Brothers. History, books, and movies are full of these types of characters. Whether they led our country to victory or saved a galaxy far far away, these people can be defined as heroes. A hero could be defined as someone who is cunning, shows justice and mercy, and has the courage to take on many challenges. In J. R. R. Tolkien’s renowned book The Hobbit, he fills the pages with many heroes. There is Thorin, King under the mountain, who has come to reclaim his home. There is Bard, a bowman, who kills the chiefest and greatest dragon Smaug. There are the mighty eagles, who rescue the dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf moments before their death. And there is also
Everyone is born with some form of courage. The question is, in their lifetime, will they choose to use it and grow from it? People can be courageous in many different situations and through multiple types of courage. In To Kill A Mockingbird, the author, Harper Lee, values standing up for what is right as being the most important category of courage. Harper Lee displays acts of courage through the characters when Atticus defends Tom Robinson, Scout and Jem choose not to show their anger through violence, and town’s people stand up for Tom and Atticus; thus showing that the author believes that standing up for what is right is the most valuable attribute of courage.
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,
The highest level of courage is staying true to yourself. Being honest to yourself and standing up for what you believe in takes great courage. Unfortunately, being courageous comes at a high cost and you may not always be rewarded for it. In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, many characters show courage at the topmost level. Their acts may seem foolish and immoral to others, but they do what they believe in. The book shows that true courage is fighting in what you believe no matter what the consequences. We see this type of courage in Jem, Scout, Atticus and even Boo Radley throughout the course of the book.
Courage is a theme that is shown throughout the entire epic of Beowulf. By definition courage is the state or quality of mind or spirit that enables one to face danger, fear, or vicissitudes on ones own will and determination. There are many things form the epic that could be used to prove this statement, but I chose to use the section entitled "The Final Battle." In this section there are two great speeches given by both Beowulf and Wiglaf. I believe that in both of these monologues courage is portrayed by the two warriors, and it is easy to see why.
Displaying acts of courage has the aptitude to make immense alteration to one’s personal integrity. Courage is seen as a virtue, and is a constantly repeated choice. The presence of courage is paramount to the actions of the characters throughout Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. “I wish none of this had happened.” (Frodo, LOTR:FOTR, Jackson), “So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” (Gandalf, LOTR:FOTR, Jackson). This moment which occurs early in the first film, elucidates the way courage is implemented throughout the films, where it must be found within the individual to consummate both colossal and trivial feats. The significance
One example was when Bilbo faced off against Gollum in the goblin tunnel, this was most certainly one of Bilbo's greatest acts of courage. When Bilbo woke up underground and had no idea where he was, he then soon finds Gollum. The sneaky sea creature declared a match of trickery riddles. Gollum was more than surprised when Bilbo defeated him by asking the question “what have I got in my pocket” (78). The answer of course was Gollum's ring of invisibility. What makes Bilbo so audacious is he has no idea what he is getting himself into. To Bilbo, it is all the unknown so he walks by himself with pride into these situations. Another proof of Bilbo's daringness is when he faces Smaug alone in the Lonely Mountains. Bilbo was more ready to challenge Smaug than he ever would have been at the beginning of his adventure. When it comes time to encounter Smaug for the first time, Bilbo hears his snoring so he knew he was asleep. Although Smaug later noticed, Bilbo left his lair with a two handled golden cup. The second time Bilbo journeys into Smaug's lair the dragon pretended to be asleep at first, then startles Bilbo when he begins to have a conversation with him. While in discussion, Bilbo purposely replies only in riddle to him while discovering his weak spot which was above his left breast. Bilbo comes out alive by outrunning Smaug's deathly flames. Bilbo has proven himself
Many people believe that to have courage, you must conquer something physically challenging. Courage is a quality in which the mind is able to confront any difficulty, whether that be fear, danger or even pain. Scout and her older brother Jem are both influenced by
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
In the novel The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien Bilbo has two sides to him his Took side and his Baggins side. His Baggins side is Boring and cautious. But Bilbo’s Took side is wealthy, adventurous and risky. Every individual has two side to them, I have two different sides. I think that people have two different sides to them, maybe they have not shown it yet but it is there. Everyone has some different sides to them it will never be the same. It is impossible because every person has different personalities and special features. I get what Bilbo is trying to say but his adventurous side wants to go, but he has more cautious in him wants to stay, but everyone has that some are more adventurous and some are more
“ True courage is about knowing when to take a life and when to spear one.” In the fantasy novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, an interesting character in the book was Gandalf. Gandalf was a very interesting character because of his character traits. An example of the character traits that Gandalf had are that he has courage, he is caring, and most of all he is very wise.
The theme, “Bravery can come in many shapes and sizes,” is shown when Bilbo was lost in a dark forest and was being attacked by a giant spider. Bilbo ends up killing the spider. For example on page 156 the text says, “Somehow the killing of a giant spider all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins.” This is an example of Bilbo being brave because he could have ran or hid from the spider. Instead he took the chance of being killed and went closer to the spider and stabbed it with his knife. This was
We can see instances of courage all throughout the Lord of the Rings. In Chapter Two of the Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo agrees to carry the Ring to Rivendell. He has lived in the Shire for the majority of his life. He has been given Bag End, a Baggins family heirloom, as his home. Without much persuasion, he agrees to give it all away, and set out to Rivendell. What possessed him to do this? The beginning of his journey is started with courage, a trait that would help him greatly along the way.
Mark Twain once said, “It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage is so rare.” Mark Twain calls attention to the differing types of courage. It is very true that classic heroic courage is significantly easier to see to the common man. For instance, if a dog is stuck in a burning building the obvious, and ethically right thing to do is to get the dog out. In that situation it is easy to see the heroic action that is happening, however, situations of silent moral courage often go unnoticed. This type of fortitude usually illustrates cases in which there will be an action that is not clear to a normal person. Courage is often portrayed in literature, in example, Mrs. Dubose from Harper Lee’s To Kill