“The Hobbit” by Tolkien, Essay Example

The Hobbit book by J.R.R. Tolkien is set in Middle Earth and was first published in early 1937 (Tolkien 11).  The book mainly illustrates and a comfort hobbit-hole that belongs to Bilbo Baggins, who is the main character in the story.  The books also mainly deal with children literature and mostly involve a number of similarities as the Beowulf story (Tolkien 13).  This is because hobbit Bilbo Baggins struggles to win a share of a treasure guarded by the dragon just like in the Beowulf story. Bilbo journey takes him to various sinister settings in the story and allows him reach high levels of maturity as depicted at the end of the story (Tolkien 15).   Therefore, the main purpose and aim of this paper is to focus on the development of Bilbo as the chief character in the book and the changes that take place along his journey at particular moments in the story. The paper will also evaluate whether these are bad or good changes as depicted in the story.

Bilbo Character Development in “The Hobbit” Story by J.R.R Tolkien

Bilbo is the main character and the chief protagonist in the story (Tolkien 21).  He is depicted by the author as one of the courageous and heroic character in the story (Harris 72). Although various characters are corrupted by greed at the beginning of the story, Bilbo maintains high integrity in the story (Tolkien 31).  At beginning and start of the story, he is depicted as the most comfortable hobbits, and he loves foods, drinks as well as security. This is indicated when he snug some little hole at the Bad end especially under the hill (Tolkien 14).

Later in the story, the author introduced Bilbo family life including his involvement with Gandalf under the mountain (Corliss 11). This later gives him gradual development and transformation from a small size homebody to a brave, courageous and confident hero. He is able to hold the dwarves group together due to his cunning tricks, and this allows him to save and rescue them from spiders and wood elves in the Mirkwood (Tolkien 131). After finding his way to the mountain, he leads the group to the treasure; he discovers the Smaug’s weak spot and also attempts to thwart Thorin’s greed (Parman 36).  Through this, he brings peace to the elves, humans, and the feuding dwarves (Tolkien 111).

In that sense, Tolkien portrays Bilbo development and changes in the story by depicting him as a small man at the start of the story but later develops into a heroic, confident and brave character in the story (Parman 34). Despite remarkable deeds, Bilbo as the character does not change him (Epps 122). Furthermore, he realizes he has unique and good characters but he does not act arrogantly (Tolkien 167). Thorin also manages to learn how to survive in the outer world from heroic deeds and characters (Tolkien 173). Therefore, due to his ability to save the humans and the elves, it is clear that Bilbo developed into a hero in the story.

Works Cited

Corliss, Richard. “Review: Do Enlist In The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies.” Time.Com (2014): 11.

Epps, Peter G. “Joseph Pearce. Bilbo’s Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning of the Hobbit.” Christianity & Literature 64.1 (2014): 122-126.

Harris, Jennifer. “A Hobbit Journey: Discovering the Enchantment of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.” Library Journal 137.18 (2012): 72.

Parman, Sue. “A Song for J. R. R. Tolkien.” Antioch Review 73.1 (2015): 34-44.

Tolkien, J. R. “The Hobbit”.  (1937): 11-410