Monday, February 11, 2019

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien


"My dear Bilbo! he said. Something is the matter with you! You are not the hobbit that you were." -Gandolf

I wish I could have read this book before seeing the movies, but as I watch them all as they were coming out and just read the book for the first time for this class, I unfortunately cannot change that.  Because I had seen the movies, so much felt like it was missing from this book.  I realize now why there were so many changes made, but I am not sure I would have done all of them myself.  

My favorite part about this book is the protagonist.  Bilbo is such a relatable character.  He really just finds himself in the middle of all of this greatness not really making many choices on his own yet still lucking out.  The entire time he is dreaming of his bed back home.  While I love The Lord of the Rings series, I think that Frodo is more of a savior archetype which can make him hard to relate to.  He saves everyone, by doing what no one else could before him, and sacrifices almost everything to fix someone else's mistake.  Frodo leaves his story scarred yet stronger.  Bilbo on the other hand gets thrown into an adventure he didn't sign up for, wants to go home, manages to mess up the right way every single time, and walks away with a huge secret that starts the drama in the original series.  He leaves his story a different character, but I wouldn’t call him scarred, just braver.  He is a great example to children and adults of what a real human is: flawed but brave.  He tries his hardest and makes difficult choices, all while fate throwing him where he needs to go.  Bilbo is a great main character.  
 -Amanda

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