The Hobbit: Concept Analysis

8/18/2019 The Hobbit: Concept Analysis

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Watts ¦ BYU ¦ 2007

The HobbitCONCEPT/VOCABULARY ANALYSIS

Literary Text: The Hobbit: or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

Organizational Patterns

The Hobbit is divided into nineteen chapters varying in lengthfrom 6 – 25 pages. The chapters for the most part representstages in the “adventure” of Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, and his 14companions (13 dwarves and a wizard named Gandalf). In eachchapter, the characters either get into some sort of trouble andthen get themselves out again, or are resting with a newly-met

friend while they recuperate from their last near-escape. Theiradventure lasts about one year. The story is told by a third-person omniscient narrator with a penchant for humor and aneccentrically amusing need to give hints about the future andthen say “I told you so” when his all-knowing-ness becomesevident.

Issues Related to the Study of Literature

image is original artwork © David Wenzel

THEME

Journey – One of the major themes of the book is that of the journey. Bilbo and hiscompanions go on a journey to find a treasure that was stolen by a dragon long ago. The conflicts theyface and the people they meet either help them or hinder them in continuing their journey. Thejourney theme gives the book both its plot structure and its character development. Bilbo mustphysically travel to different parts of Middle Earth (Tolkien’s made up world where the story is set)and therefore encounters people, places, and dangers that further the plot of the novel. As Bilbo travelsthis path, the physical encounters allow him to grow and mature as a character.

Identity – There are three ways identity is confronted in The Hobbit: race, lineage, andcharacter.

Race: Throughout the story we meet characters of many different races. There arehobbits, of course, dwarves, men, elves, trolls, and orcs. Each of these races has a

set of traits that are fairly unchangeable. For example, orcs and trolls are bad;elves and hobbits are good. Dwarves are short and always have beards. Theyprefer being underground, mining for treasure. Hobbits would rather sitpeacefully at home than have the excitement of an adventure. These racial

traits limit personal choice, but keep the lines between good and evil distinct.


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Lineage

: Tolkien often refers to the character’s lineage in thestory. Bilbo is descended from Tooks, one of the more adventurousfamilies of hobbits, and this lineage is what gets him into hisadventure. His inner struggle between fear and courage is often notedas a struggle between the Baggins in him and the Took in him.Thorin is descended from the ancient kings of the dwarves and

therefore the treasure that the party is seeking is his birthright. He isdescribed as proud and slightly condescending because he deserves therespect his heritage dictates. Also, Bard is described as being courageous because he is adescendant of the ancient lords of the Dale.

Character: Bilbo’s character at the beginning of the story is afraid of adventure (for themost part), does not have confidence in his ability to do anything but cook and blow smokerings, and is rather shy and timid. Throughout the story, he makes decisions and acts in waysthat show he is not greedy, that he is kind and loyal, and that he is brave in the face of danger.Not only does his character develop through these decisions and acts, but because he has provedthat he is good, he ends up at home again, alive and happy.

POWER – The theme of power is an important one in The Hobbit. How and when to usepower, and its effect on those who have it, is addressed in many settings. Gandalf has magical powersthat make him stronger than all of the other companions. He uses his power only when absolutelynecessary, though, and then it is usually only used to aid others. Gandalf is never corrupted by hispower like some of the other characters in the story. When Thorin becomes king of the Dwarves, thepower is something he uses to greedily defend his treasure.

SETTING

The Hobbit is set in a fictional fantasy world called Middle Earth. Bilbo, at the beginning of the story,lives at Bag-end, which is a typical hobbit hole in the Shire. He and his companions then travelthrough the Misty Mountains to Mirkwood and then on to the Lonely Mountain where Smaug, thedragon, lives and guards the treasure that the party is looking for. The maps above are detailed imagesof different areas of Middle Earth found in Tolkien’s books. If you click on an image it should link youto a larger version online.

TONE

The tone of the novel is serious but whimsical. We are told of characters (mostly evil ones) beinginjured or killed; the characters are often in dangerous situations where it appears there is no way out;many serious subjects are addressed. However, the voice of the narrator speaks to the reader directly –as if the narrator and the readers are sitting around a campfire where he is telling a tall tale. He ofteninterjects into the serious situations with comments like, “Poor Mr. Baggins…” and “A very good thing,too!” These interjections and the short sentences and simple words give the story a whimsical feel.


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image is original artwork © 2001 Donato Giancola

FORSHADOWING

“…I am sending Mr. Baggins with you. I have told you before that hehas more about him than you guess, and you will find that out beforelong.”

The foreshadowing in the novel comes mostly from Gandalf and thenarrator. Gandalf is the oldest and wisest character that is

consistently in the storyline. He often can see ahead and gives theother characters hints about what is to come – although he does it

quite cryptically, as in the quote above. The narrator gives hints as well, but to the reader. Forexample, after the journey has started, the narrator says of Bilbo, “He was thinking one again of hiscomfortable chair before the fire in his favourite sitting-room in his hobbit-hole, and of the kettlesinging. Not for the last time!” The narrator is clueing us into the fact that there are many moreadventures in Bilbo’s future that are going to be difficult and uncomfortable for him.

Affective Issues Related to the Work

Students should be able to relate to the character of Bilbo because of the internal struggles he has.

Peer pressure – Before Bilbo sets out on his adventure, he is afraid of being seen as notrespectable by his community, but part of him longs for the excitement he knows would be involved insuch a journey. Also, prior to the turning point in the story, when Bilbo finds his confidence in himself(after fighting the spiders in Mirkwood--note: this is not the climax of the story), Bilbo often goes alongwith things because he feels he does not have a choice. Teenagers are often caught in these dilemmas:do they do the exciting thing their friends are doing, or do they do the responsible thing and risklooking bad? Do they let others pressure them into doing something they do not want to do?

Self-discovery – Bilbo is also struggling to find himself. Although this would not be

considered a coming-of-age story, Bilbo, through his adventures, discovers a confidence in his ownabilities and realizes what he truly values. He goes on the adventure for the promise of enormouswealth, but by the time he returns home, he has given most of his wealth away because he now values aquiet, peaceful afternoon and a warm home-cooked meal more than any amount of gold. Teenagers arealso at a point in their lives where they are deciding what they value and how they wish to be defined,so they should be able to relate to Bilbo’s process of self-discovery.

Vocabulary Issues

The vocabulary in The Hobbit is fairly easily contextualized, but somestudents may find some words difficult to understand. See thevocabulary activity for a list of difficult words. There are creatures in

the book of which the students may not have knowledge, but they aredescribed by the narrator in the text.

Background Knowledge

Since The Hobbit is set in a fictional fantasy world, students would benefit from instruction that helpsthem understand the differences between our world and Bilbo’s. The maps to which I have linked inthe SETTING section could be printed out or put on overheads so the students could see the layout of


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the world and the path that the characters take on their journey. Also important are the different racesthat are presented and the fact that magic is used. Students who have read fantasy before will be

familiar with most of the ideas involved in these two differences, butsome students may need some quick definitions to make the readingeasier.

Background knowledge may also be needed to help the studentsunderstand the game of riddles played by Bilbo and Gollum.Explaining that riddles are word games and giving the students somemodern examples of them (What is black and white and red (read) allover? – a newspaper!) could help them appreciate this part of thestory.

Also, an understanding of an epic tale and the elements involved mayhelp them understand the organization of the story and how the plotadvances. Tolkien was very familiar with Icelandic sagas and Old-English epics such as Beowulf as a scholar of English, which no doubtinfluenced his writing.

Implications for Students of Diversity

Students of diversity may be particularly interested in the issues relating to identity in this novel.Characters in the novel are often defined by their race or lineage. Often students with distinguishingfeatures of a certain race are defined by their race as well. Also, Bilbo struggles within himself becausepart of him wants to be a good “Baggins” and part of him wants to be a good “Took.” He cannotseparate out the two pieces and eventually learns to live happily with both. Students of diversity oftenare torn between two cultures and must find their place in one or the other or both before they findhappiness as Bilbo did.

The issue of power is also a controversial one in multicultural studies right now. Many people thinkthat those of European descent have more power than minorities and that they use it to their advantagein society and the school system. Characters in then novel use power in many different ways. It maybe relevant to discuss how the use of power by the novel’s characters relates to the educational powerstruggle that is happening right now.

Gender Issues

There are no female characters in the novel, so gender roles are only implicitlyexpressed. This book was published originally in 1937, so the lack of femalecharacters in an adventure novel may be an expression of the time in which itwas written. It would be important for the students to discuss the changingroles of men and women in our world and how those standards are reflected inliterature.

It is also possible to look at the differences between Bilbo’s traits and the traitsof the dwarves as Tolkien’s way of lauding female goodness. Although Bilbois not feminine, he exhibits feminine traits of which the dwarves arecompletely void, such as a selflessness to benefit the greater community, andan immunity to the lure of money. These traits, however, could also be seen as stereotypical.


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The Central Question Enduring Issues

What is heroism? The Hobbit is the story of a quiet, unsuspecting, normal hobbit who becomes ahero without really even realizing it. Other characters such as Thorin and the Elf King are the types ofpeople that are usually hailed as heroes in traditional epic tales. They havestrength, courage, royal blood and a knowledge of war and weapon fighting. Yet

these characters are not the heroes at the end of the novel. This prompts us to ask,what makes a true hero? The themes of identity and power both play into this ideaand help us decide both what the author thought made a true hero and what wethink defines heroism today.

Project Ideas

Timeline: In groups, have students create a timeline of events in the novel. They may wantto make separate but parallel timelines for Bilbo and his companions, Gandalf, and minor characterssuch as the Goblin army and the eagles. You could also assign different groups to do each timeline andthen bring them all together at the end of the project. This will help the students pay attention to thesubtle mention of time in the novel and have a concrete picture of how the plot plays out.

Creative writing ¦ songs and riddles: Tolkien often uses the songs characters singto clue the reader into the characters’ personalities and traits. Riddles and word play also play animportant part in the story. Have students study some of the songs and riddles and then have themwrite their own song to describe themselves or a riddle that they can share with the class.

Visual aids: After reading about some of the different races, discuss with the students thedifferent physical traits that each race is supposed to have. It would be good to write their responses onthe board or an overhead that has already been divided into headings for each race. Once the physicaltraits have been described, have the students point out the personality traits and characteristics thatTolkien has given each race. Now have the students brainstorm ways that the personality traits andcharacteristics could be shown visually. Armed with these ideas, have the students choose one of theraces or characters from the book and represent that character both physically and otherwise in a visualformat. Since not all students will be good at drawing, you may want to give them the option ofmaking a collage (out of magazines or on the computer), sculpting with clay, making shadow-boxes, oreven an ABC picture book. To help the students be motivated to do a good job, you can invite them tosubmit their art to a Tolkien fan-art gallery such as the one at www.theonering.net.

Functional Informational Texts

Biographies: Students may be better able to understand the novel byknowing more about the author, his motivations to write, and hisinspirations. A good concise biography can be found at

http://www.tolkiensociety.org/tolkien/biography.html. You may also findgood books on the subject like these:Carpenter, Humphrey. J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography. New York: HoughtonMifflin, 2000.Tolkien, J. R. R. The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. New York: HoughtonMifflin, 2000.


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Alphabets: Tolkien wrote two languages and made his own alphabet for Middle Earth. Studentscould study other alphabets as groups and present to the class their findings. An interesting book to goalong with this study would be the "Guide to Names in The Lord of the Rings" which is now onlypublished as part of the book The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond andChristina Scull. Students would probably also like finding out their hobbit names athttp://www.chriswetherell.com/hobbit/.

Middle earth histories: Tolkien created a whole history for Middle Earth, which at Bilbo’s time is in its Third Age. Studentsmay benefit from knowing more about the world of Middle Earth. Two primary books were written byTolkien on the histories of Middle Earth:Tolkien, J. R. R. The Book of Lost Tales: The History of Middle-Earth. New York: Del Rey, 1992.Tolkien, J. R. R. The Silmarillion. New York: Ballantine, 1990.

Myths:The Hobbit shares many aspects with myths and legends. Students could research myths and learn thebasic elements that make a myth. They could then find the similarities and differences in The Hobbit orwrite a myth themselves.

“Smaug over Laketown” © John Howe

Documents

The Hobbit: Concept Analysis