The Hobbir Essay, Research Paper

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein

I will talk about the plot and character development, setting, and my opinions in the following paragraphs.

Plot:

Bilbo is the main character and protagonist of this book. He is a hobbit who lives in the shire and dislikes adventures. I personally like him. He s very likeable. Smog is probably the main antagonist. He s a huge fire breathing, jewel encrusted, beast that lives in a giant cavern. There are other antagonists in the book also, smog is just one of them. Others include: the trolls, Gollem, and to some degree the elves. The biggest type of conflict in the hobbit is Man vs. Man (if you consider hobbits and dragons in that category. If not Creature vs. Creature J). The entire plot can be summed up into a few sentences. Basically the dwarfs ask Bilbo to come and help them on their quest to kill smog, he reluctantly agrees. Along their trip there is numerous squabbles and fights, one fight with Gollem Bilbo gets the magical ring. They go and kill Smog (with the help of Bilbo s ring) then go on to fight a war. Bilbo returns home with a great deal of treasure and the book ends.

There are so many characters in the story that its hard to follow and know all of them in great detail (There are many dwarves and it s confusing). In the beginning there is an introduction where the author describes a hobbit (Bilbo) and the hobbit s family. The introduction also gives a general background, which makes the story easier to understand. The plot, especially the middle, is not complicated and easy to follow. The ending is expected since the author gives hints about it. In the introduction when he says that the hobbit would gain something, this tells us that he will not die J. You aren t kept in suspense and expect to see what happens at the end. The last climax (or what is supposed to be the climax) takes a long time to occur ((the last fight, good (men, elves, dwarves & eagles) vs. evil (wargs & goblins))). Because it s so long it makes the climax seem a little less then I feel it should be. After the climax there is the long return home. It s really boring since there is nothing to expect and you know that the hobbit would get home safely (because it says so in the intro). In my opinion it should have been shorter.

Character Development:

The author develops and creates his characters though their speech and action. Also the author makes the characters through the narrator (the author in this one). An example from the books showing this is: 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 fast). An example of a monologue that they used is: Now is the time for our esteemed Mr. Baggins, who has proved himself… (by Thorin, page 210, it shows Thorin s style, aggressive).

A really good example of an action is when Thorin blocked the Gate in the mountain that shows you that the treasure is important to Thorin and he rather die than lose it. The author also gives small notes throughout the books like: You are familiar with Thorin s style on important occasions… (Page 210) the author talks to you and helps you understand the text. Each character has a physical description. The length and depth of the description is based on how important the character is in the book. The hobbits have very long descriptions in the story (especially in the introduction) and the Elvenking has fewer descriptions, as he isn t as important. The more important characters get an emotional description as well, but its sort of hard to find and understand. The example I gave before about Bilbo not rushing into things is a good example of it.

The most important character is, of course, Bilbo. He is the one that makes things happen (by his mistakes and luck). The author gives long descriptions of him and refers to him a lot because he is the main character. Without him the plot would not have been the same. The other characters are divided into the more important characters (such as the dwarves and Gandalf) and then into less important and less talked about ones (such as the elf guards that caught the party in the woods). It isn t hard to believe that the characters can exist in reality even though they cannot. They are not supposed to since it is a fantasy book, but his descriptions are very vivid.

Setting:

The story occurs in the imaginary Middle-earth created by JRR himself; it is perfect for this book because creatures that are found throughout (e.g., goblins and dwarves) do not exist in our world. Since the story happens in many places over Middle-earth the author gives an in-depth description only in places where important things happen (Smogs lair would be an example: all sorts of valuables lay in the giant lair. From beautifully made gold statues to cloaks of jewels. ). In other places he gives a more general description (in the elven woods: The trees loomed ). Most places make you picture what it must look like in your head; the author uses really good words and gives good descriptions.

It takes the story about a year from start to finish. 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 a fantasy world, where anything (like magic and huge treasures) can appear and happen.

Author s Purpose:

I feel the Authors purpose in writing this book is primarily to entertain. Some of his writing is actually humorous and other parts can be both, very serious and somewhat sad.

My Opinion:

I felt the book was all together very good. It was a bit boring and predictable, but still pretty good. I would recommend this book to general audiences that have a decent ability to comprehend underlying reasoning.