Author Details

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (J. R. R. Tolkien) was an English writer, philologist, poet, and university professor. He was born on the 3rd of January 1892 and died the 2nd of September 1973. Tolkien is best known as the author of the high fantasy classics The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

Author’s Styles / Language

The author has an amazing style of writing that brings the reader in to the world and carries them through the advantages. The language in the novel is rather straightforward and seems to be almost casual. The novel is written in a fun and friendly language with each character having their own voice. Tolkien seems to balance out the sense of danger and the humour in the novel. The novel also has a few different songs through out it.

Orientation / Setting

The novel is set in The Shire, a fantasy world where many magical and weird creatures live. The time is set in the mythical time created by the author. Middle Earth includes towns, villages, dark and wonderful forests, huge mountains, and scary caves. Middle Earth contains many creatures like hobbits, goblins, troll, giant eagles, orcs, wizards, elves, dwarves, and giant spiders. Hobbiton is a village of the hobbits where Bilbo lives in peace and quiet.

The setting plays a major role in the development of the story. If it wasn’t for the setting the story would have been way too short.

Imagery

The imagery seemed either dark or light, depending on Bilbo’s mood and contrast of his surroundings. Because the novel pulls the reader into the adventure you imagine the surrounds as reading.

Symbolism

Smaug represents the evil in the world which was brought on by greed. He holds all the treasure in his mountain for no purpose but his own. The hard feelings between the elves and dwarves represent the sin that allows the evil to continue. Bilbo and Gandalf represent the saviours and wise because they save the world from evil.

Characterisation

Bilbo, at the beginning of the novel, was a simple and respectable hobbit in his home town of Hobbiton. He changes to become brave hero, using his wisdom to rescue the dwarves on many occasions. Although Bilbo enjoys the adventure he is happy to live a happy life at home.

Gandalf is a magical intelligent wizard who chooses bilbo for the adventure to the mountain. From the time they meet Gandalf and Bilbo have a great relationship. Gandalf rescues the group a few times during the expedition.

Thorin is in command of the twelve dwarves and heir to the dwarf kingdom in the Lonely Mountain. Thorin almost starts a war between the dwarves and the men and elves before all join forces to battle the goblins. Thorin during the battle at death sees the error of his ways and apologies to Bilbo.

Smaug is a greedy and evil dragon that livings on lonely mountain guarding treasure that was stolen from the dwarves.

Structure

The tale begins in Bilbo’s home where Gandalf persuades him to go with the dwarves on their adventure. The plot then progresses through wild and dangerous lands to the Lonely Mountain, where a battle is fought and won. Eventually the novel comes back in a full circle, ending at Bilbo’s house, where it began.

Narrative perspective / Impact

The wonderful fantasy story is told by a narrator who speaks in a very casual and easy to read way.

The novel is a fantasy story that keeps you wondering what is going to happen next and draws you in to the adventure. There is not meant to be any lessons to learn behind the story. It is just a very fun expedition to entertain the reader.

Main Ideas / Themes / Issues

The three main themes in The Hobbit were friendship, trust and greed. There are many different friendships along the adventure, new and continued friendships. The best friendships are between Gandalf and the dwarves and Gandalf and Bilbo. Trust is important to Bilbo because this is a new world to him. He trusts that Gandalf will be there when trouble is abroad. The dwarves are the trouble behind the greed in the novel by not sharing the treasure and almost starting wars.

Plot

Bilbo has an unexpected party with Gandalf and Thorin’s band of dwarves. Gandalf reveals a map and the chance for bilbo to join the expedition in to the secret door of the Mountain. Bilbo and the group travel in to Rivendell, fighting trolls on the way. The group then gets caught by goblin and Bilbo is separated from the group on escape. Bilbo stumbles across a magical ring allowing him to become invisible. Bilbo escapes from Gollum with his ring to rejoin with the dwarves. The group then are saved once again from goblins by giant eagles.

Bilbo and the dwarves, without Gandalf, enter in to the black forest of Mirkwood. In the forest the dwarves are saved by Bilbo by a giant spider and the dungeons of the Wood-elves. The group, after meeting the Lake-Men, make it to the mountain and find the secret door. After bilbo steal the great cup from the dragon liar, the dragon in killed by a bowman at Lake-Town.

The dwarves take over the mountain and bilbo steals an heirloom of Thorin’s dynasty, the Arkenstone. The Wood-Elves and Lake-Men lay siege the Mountain and request compensation for their aid. Bilbo tries to ransom the Arkenstone, to stop a war. Thorin refuses and summons an army from the north.

Gandalf reappears to warn all of an approaching army of goblins. The dwarves, elves and men join forces and win the Battle of Five Armies with help from the giant eagles and a man in the form of a bear, named Beorn. Thorin dies during the battle and asks Bilbo for forgiveness. After the battle the treasure is divided fairly between the humans and creatures. Bilbo returns home wealthy.

The Ending

When Bilbo returns back to Hobbiton, he and Gandalf find a commotion out side of his house. The local hobbits are auctioning off his stuff and some of his relatives are hoping to have his house because they believe he must have suffered death. Bilbo convinces some of the hobbits it is him who has returned and he retrieves some of his stuff back.

Bilbo reputation among the other hobbit is not very good any more. They no longer find him respectable but odd and are not impressed by his advantages. Bilbo uses most of his treasure to buy gifts for his nieces and nephews who like bilbo very much.

Many years later Balin, one of the thirteen dwarves, and Gandalf visit Bilbo and they tell tails of the world Bilbo left.

Mood / Tone / Atmosphere

It was the setting and Bilbo that set the mood, the tone and the atmosphere for the actions and adventures that took place in the novel.

Significant Quotations

“The next day he had almost forgotten about Gandalf. He did not remember things very well, unless he put them down on his Engagement Tablet: like this: Gandalf Tea Wednesday. Yesterday he had been too flustered to do anything of the kind.”

Chapter 1, pg. 7

“Bilbo had escaped the goblins, but he did not where he was. He had lost hood, cloak, food, pony his buttons and his friends. He wandered on and on, till the sun began to sink westwards – behind the mountains.”

Chapter 5, pg. 86

“Roaring he swept back over the town. A hail of dark arrows leaped up and snapped and rattled on his scales and jewels, and their shafts fell back kindled by his breath burning and hissing into the lake. No fireworks you ever imagined equalled the sights that night.”

Chapter 14, pg. 234