The Hobbit – Book Review Essay, Research Paper

The story has a wonderful adventurous plot. The plot is that of an adventurous journey by dwarves and their friend, the hobbit, in search of long lost treasure. The plot is suspenseful as the dwarves and the hobbit encounter several obstacles; spiders that catch them, elves that imprison them and goblins that wish to eat them. They win over some of their adversaries; the skinchanging Bear and the people of Elvenking. The story is not limited to the physical journey but also is richer through the emotional journey that the Hobbit encounters. He is a quiet, contented and unassuming Hobbit thrust into an adventure much against his will. He faces fear and death several times to find himself much changed and more courageous and trustworthy that even he ever suspected.

The creation of the characters is done by their dialogues and monologues, actions and things noted by the narrator (the author in this case) himself. An example for dialogue: ?All the same, I should like it all plain and clear, also I should like to know about risks, out-of-pocket expenses…? (by Bilbo, page 22, it shows that he is not ready to jump into things so quickly). An example for a monologue: ?Now is the time for our esteemed Mr. Baggins, who has proved himself…? (by Thorin, page 210, it shows Thorin?s style). A good example for action is when Thorin blocked the Gate in the mountain that shows the reader that the treasure is important to Thorin and he rather die than giving it away. An example for notes by the author: ?You are familiar with Thorin?s style on important occasions…? (page 210) the author talks directly to the reader and helps him understand the text.

Each character has a physical description. The length and content of the description increase as the character importance to the plot increases (e.g., the hobbit has very long descriptions in the story (especially in the introduction) and the Elvenking has fewer descriptions). The more important characters get an emotional description too, but it is not well seen, but it can be extracted from the text by analyzing it. The main character of the book is Mr. Bilbo Baggins. He is the Hobbit who led the Dwarves to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their treasure from the dragon named Smaug. Bilbo is middle aged and resides in a clean, warm burrow dug into the side of a hill. In the beginning of the story Bilbo is a very weak character. He is easily frightened, and very shy. One of his strengths though, is that he is of the mythical race called Hobbits. Hobbits are known for their skills in thievery and spying. There are two main characteristics of Hobbits that separate them from normal humans. One, Hobbits are very small. They only grow to reach the height of about three feet if they are lucky. Secondly, they have large feet that are covered at the tops by thick hair. This hair is used to keep the hobbit?s feet warm because they do not wear boots. Another characteristic of hobbits is that they normally don?t wish for any excitement or adventure. They thrive on repetition and dull activities such as gardening. Hobbits also love to eat. Bilbo?s favorite foods are: cake, bacon, sausage, eggs, wine, bread and any other fattening things that can be thought of. Some other important characters are as follows. Gandalf, he is the wizard that accompanies Bilbo and the dwarves on their quest. Thorin Oakenshield is son of the king of the dwarves who were driven from the Lonely Mountain. Smaug is the dragon of the Lonely Mountain who hordes the treasure he stole. Gollum is a slimy creature that was born a Hobbit but had the ring too long; this is the character that Bilbo steals the ring from. Bard is the archer that kills Smaug. Bilbo is the main character of the story and also the narrator.

The main conflict of the story line is Bilbo vs. Himself. Bilbo has to overcome his fears of dragons and other creatures in order to carry out his part of the mission. Another conflict is the whole party vs. Smaug. The party of dwarves along with Bilbo and Gandalf, have to be able to destroy the dragon in order to claim their so deserved treasure. Bilbo completes this task by finding the dragon?s weak spot and relaying the location to an archer in Lake Town. Both of these conflicts are won by the end of the story.

The theme of the novel was very hard to find and is not clearly shown. It is basically this: if you over come your fears, you can achieve almost anything. Bilbo is unsure of what he is doing when in crisis, but later on in the story he becomes more in control of himself. After Bilbo overcomes his main fears of adventure, danger and failure, he is able to complete the mission successfully. The moral is to not let your fears get in the way of what you want to do or be in life. Bilbo Baggins is an excellent example of how this works.

The story occurs in the imaginary world ?Middle-earth? created by the author, it is appropriate since creatures that are found in the book (e.g., goblins and dwarves) do not exist in our world.

Since the story happens in many places over Middle-earth the author gives a deep description only in places where important things to the plot happen but in other places he gives a more general description. Most places make the reader have a picture in his brain of them, the author uses the appropriate words and gives good descriptions.

It takes the story about a year to occur. It starts at the spring and ends in about the same time the year after. Parts of the story take place in every time of the day (and night). The mood is of fantasy world, where everything (like magic and huge treasures) can appear and happen.

I liked The Hobbit a lot. The physical and emotional journeys make for a suspenseful, exciting and colourful plot which I thoroughly enjoyed. The author uses characters that appear only in fairy tales, yet gives them a personality that shows maturity. I especially liked the way Bilbo changed from a tea drinking home maker to a strong and careless adventurer. I like the way the plot develops very slowly and I like that the story is filled with heart throbbing action. It is a wonderful story, I would highly recommend this book for children of all ages as well as adults. It has a certain appeal that makes the reader want to continue reading the book all day. I intend to read the other books about the Hobbits? adventures written by J.R.R. Tolkien.