It is beyond me to identify themes that may be specific or peculiar to roman catholic teachings. Glenn beck will be covering christian themes and imagery in the hobbit tonight on theblaze tv. Gandalf disappears, while the dwarves get themselves into trouble with the trolls. The main themes in the hobbit are the meaning of heroism, the consequences of greed, and the longing for home. A motif is a narrative element with symbolic meaning that repeats throughout a text. As a scholar of ancient languages and literatures, tolkien would have known the theme well through greek and norse myth and old and middleenglish poetry. The hobbit, or, there and back again analysis shmoop. Tolkien avoid frightening young readers while writing about sobering and unpleasant events tolkien uses a great deal of humor to soften the blow of unpleasant details and events. In his journey he must reach the lonely mountain which is a desolate place full of dangerous monsters that would test bilbo in. Nearly every character demonstrates greedincluding bilbo when he keeps the arkenstone and ring. I actually read the book after seeing the first two hobbit movies. And the hobbit is also clearly a quest because the whole engine of the book is thorin and the dwarves plan to seek their stolen gold in the lair of the dragon smaug.
The hobbit or there and back again, is a very well written book following the adventures of bilbo baggins. What i have guessed is that bilbo thought about the ending and he could have gone back but he forged ahead. Litcharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in the hobbit, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Top ten differences between the hobbit book and films. Tolkiens own children, and met with instant critical acclaim when first published in the 1930s. Finally, this also counts as a comingofage story because it depicts the. Tolkiens fantasyadventure tale of a hesitant hobbit, dwarves, and a grayrobed wizard, was published 75 years ago this september. The hobbit cliffsnotes study guides book summaries.
The hobbit is an adventure story involving bilbo baggins, a hobbit, gandalf, a wizard and several other creatures including dwarves, elves, and a dragon. Throughout the novel bilbo baggins is on a voyage of selfdiscovery, uncovering unknown talents to conquer the dangers throughout his quest. The main antagonist bilbo, is a old fashioned hobbit. Adventure the final example of adventure as a theme is the quest the dwarves and bilbo embark on itself. At the beginning of the story, bilbo is timid, comfortable, and complacent in his secure little hole at bag end. The hobbit is built on centuries of legend and myth, including a great deal of the quest of king arthurs court for the holy grail. I have read the book but i dont completely understand the moral. Bilbo baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home. The film stars brad pitt, eric bana and orlando bloom and combines a love story with the war as a relationship forms between two people who cannot be in love due to family ties and constraints. Hobbits are about 4 feet tall and dont wear shoes because they have hairy feet there is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly west. With the imminent release of the first of peter jacksons threepart adaptation of the hobbit, i revisited j. Id like to say, the hobbit did not need to be three movies, and while they arent bad, the book was better.
It was published on 21 september 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the carnegie medal and awarded a prize from the new york herald tribune for best juvenile fiction. The hobbit, or there and back again is a childrens fantasy novel by english author j. The hobbit, or, there and back again themes shmoop. A great modern classic and the prelude to the lord of the rings, the hobbit was written for j. I do believe this helped make the book spring to life so vibrantly for me. The main theme is troy is making sure you are remembered forever. The goblins, the wargs, the spiders and the dragon smaug all make the theme of the bad side. R tolkien that takes place in the fictional world of middle earth, which is the setting of most of the authors works. Thorin oakenshield appears like a hero in the book, yet, unlike thorin and the dwarves, bilbo isnt impacted by greed at all in the book. The theme of coming of age in the hobbit from litcharts. Troy is a war film from 2004 based on the trojan war and homers the illiad. The quest theme is central to the story of beowulf, the oldenglish epic about which tolkien published an. This story is full of maps, keys and clever games of riddles. Kili, fili, oin, gloin, and thorin are a few of them.
I dont have the book just the jrrtillustrated edition but lees version is very atmospheric. He travels through forests and mountains and across lakes and streams in his search to kill the dragon smaug and get millions in gold. Book bilbo is far more cheerful and outgoing than his film counterpart, and upon gandalf arriving at. Devin brown when examining popular literary works, theres often a fascinating story surrounding the author and his or her intended purpose in crafting the messaging within a book. Bilbo baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. Themes of the hobbit chapter 1 dwarves, hobbits and wizards. While it was originally conceived as a book for children. While he later reveals that he heard from his friend elrond that trolls were in the area, and that is why he turned around and came back for them, it still doesnt account for the. It was published just before the outbreak of wwii in europe, and the book acts as a prologue of sorts for the great trilogy, the lord of the rings. Alan lee, who was one of the concept artists for the lotr films, got the job because of illustrations hed already done for tolkien editions, including the hobbit. Just when the dwarves are about to be sat upon by the trolls, gandalf appears and starts to create strife between the trolls. There is a belief that the spiritual growth of a complete life journey.
I cannot think of any scholarly literature off the top of my head that deals with christian themes in the hobbit but you can find a few examples. Its hard to miss that the hobbit is a fantasy novel, what with all of the elves and goblins and trolls and things. The definitive collection of tolkiens classic fairie tales, in the vein of the hobbit, illustrated by oscar winner alan lee never before published in a single volume, tolkiens four novellas farmer giles of ham, leaf by niggle, smith of wootton. To simplify its meaning, historicism is just the concept of connect main themes and ideas of a story to an event or such in history. Its connections in history lie mainly with that of the major historical events that took place just prior to the publishing of this book. So far, the only evidence of his magical powers is the light he made come from his staff in bilbos home. The heros journey is a 12step literary template through which a character is.
When you add the two themes together you get good vs evil. Bard represents the human armies of laketown, he directly confronts thori. It is the journey theyre on to reclaim their kingdom and treasure that makes the book. The hobbit themes from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. He has a great treasure in front of him, a treasure so massive he couldnt spend it in 100 lifetimes, yet he still wants to keep it for himself. There are big, brave guys in the hobbit like bard who seem to have no doubts about their courage or ability in this world. The hobbit s main theme is bilbos development into a hero, which more broadly represents the development of a common person into a hero. This discussion will include the significance of these literary devices, and how the author used them. For example, as readers learn that a ferocious dragon has caused devastation and the death of thorins friends and family, gandalf has us pondering how the. The hobbit is an adventure story that embodies the classic heros journey, first defined by author joseph campbell in 1949. Tolkiens novel the hobbit there are various themes and motifs. Although bilbo baggins is fully grown at the beginning of the hobbit, his adventures teach him to be brave, to take responsibility for himself and for others, and to develop skills he didnt know he had. The hobbit book to film analysis chapter one an unexpected party bilbo from the book is a fundamentally different character than martin freemans character depicted in the film, albeit the role and essence are the same.
Tolkiens the hobbit proves someone can succeed even through adversity and danger while showing that a hobbit is more than meets the eye. The hobbit is the unforgettable story of bilbo, a peaceloving hobbit, who embarks on a strange and magical adventure. It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. The company is willing to travel through the dangerous misty mountains, into the forest of mirkwood, sail down into laketown in barrels, and find a way to get rid of smaug to. The hobbit is a story about little bilbo baggins and his notsolittle adventure. For school, i have to compare and contrast a book with a poem. The themes that will be discussed in this lesson include bravery, greed, hospitality, and luck. In the first few chapters, we find that sleep is one of the few cherished joys. Read the hobbit absolutely for free at readanybook. In fact, azog is supposed to be dead from the start. The hobbit shows clear signs of historicism in its context. Good races like the elves and bad races like the wargs seem to suggest that morality is black and white in the hobbit.
This essay explains minutes where both, generosity and greed are revealed. The next day, he is visited by dwarves who believe bilbo can be of use to them in their journey to the lonely mountain to reclaim their ancestral treasure, now in the possession of smaug the dragon. From religious sentiments to embedded ideals about the. Although bilbo baggins is fully grown at the beginning of the hobbit, his adventures teach him to be brave, to take. Differences between jrr tolkiens novel and peter jacksons movie trilogy.
Given the phenomenal success of the scores of the lord of the rings trilogy, howard shores challenge could probably not have been any more difficult when he agreed to compose the music for peter jacksons film adaptation of the hobbit. Themes of the hobbit chapter 1 dwarves, hobbits and. He even bothers to capitalize that the elves are good people. The book remains popular and is recognized as a classic in childrens literature. Book summary bilbo declines, reluctant to leave the safety and comfort of his hobbithole. I dont really remember these guys from the book, to be honest. Coming of age although bilbo baggins is fully grown at the beginning of the hobbit, his adventures teach him to be brave, to take responsibility for himself and for others, and to develop skills he didnt know he. May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the. Gandalf hides and uses his voice to cause trouble between the trolls. The hobbit tells a fantastic story of adventure, danger, friendship, and courage, and serves as a prequel to the even more immersive and epic book series, the lord of the rings.