The Hobbit: An unexpected Hero's Journey

   The Hobbit was written by J R.R. Tolkien in 1937 after the midst of WW1 The Hobbit is a fantasy epic written. This book would be a major milestone in fantasy story telling. Having been written after WW1 the book explore themes of war, industrialization, and the hero's journey. 
   The book begins with a hole in the ground. There lives a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, Bilbo in many retrospects isn't you typical hero or protagonist of the story, he is an everyday man. This is similar to Tolkien's own experience as him and the other soldiers of the first World War were everyday men that were he reluctantly joined military. This in many aspects is vastly similar to the call to action of Bilbo Baggins, he is called to an adventure that far exceeds the norms of his everyday life. As he begins his journey he like Tolkien faced many challenges and along the way he had revelations. But by the end however the Banding company of dwarves like Tolkein's friends were nearly wiped out by the end. Although the book vastly reflected Tolkein's experience in the 1st World War and by extension the Second, The Hobbit ends on a lighter note. The book and story follows the typical Hero's Journey, first Bilbo is called to action to go on an adventure outside his lifestyle norms (Helping the dwarves) then along the journey he has revelations that help better him as a person (He becomes brave and puts himself in the service of others) then he comes back a changed person. 
   

Comments

  1. Autumn RoseOctober 15, 2018 at 6:58 AM

    I never knew the connection between The Hobbit and World War 1. That personal experience Tolkien incorporated into his novel really gives a lot of meaning and power to the story. Thinking about Bilbo's journey as a soldier in a war he doesn't want to be a part of makes the characters and the conflicts more relatable.

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  2. mroyal Lit & MediaOctober 26, 2018 at 7:26 AM

    This is really interesting, because I did not know that things in The Hobbit symbolized things from World War I. Bilbo is scared a lot of the time during the journey, and I never thought about the fact that soldiers might be afraid too.

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