Archetypes In The Hobbit

The Hobbit is a novel that is actually a prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster explains a vast amount of archetypes. I will be applying the archetypes in the book “How to Read Literature like a Professor” to Bilbo Baggins’ journey.

The Hobbit, written by John R. R. Tolkien, is a fantasy novel published on September 21, 1937. It was written as a prelude to the famous series, The Lord of the Rings, written seventeen years later. The Hobbit introduces the reader to an incredibly immersive fantasy world, that enriches the reader into its epic storyline. The story takes place in a land called Middle-earth, a land filled with enchanting surprises and magical wonders. It was the perfect playground for Tolkien to develop his main character Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo Baggins was a small hobbit, who unaware in the beginning would become a large role in the plot. It is through this character that Tolkien implemented the theme of heroism into the story. Bilbo’s

“Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait” (132). In J.R.R.Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the reader is taken through a parable that follows Bilbo Baggins on the ‘Hero’s Journey.’ This fantasy classic begins with an ‘everyman’ hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who takes on a perilous journey to reclaim the dwarves’ homeland, The Lonely Mountain. After being spurred into action by Gandalf, the herald and mentor figure, Bilbo finds himself going on a pernicious venture that contradicts his docile nature, pushing him to play the role of

In the resound novel “The Hobbit”, written by J.R. Tolkien, the main character Bilbo Baggins has to overcome many power struggles to find out who he really is. Bilbo is one, if not the, most powerful ideological character there ever was in a book. His small stature and uncanny upbringing makes him so important to the concept of power. In the book, the hobbit is the smallest and most quiet race, they keep to themselves and do not like adventure or anything out of their norm. One day a large wizard comes to take Bilbo away on an adventure, he has to choose whether to stay in the norm or take a step outside of it. He chooses to take the leap and uncovers the first step to unlocking his inner power. The reason Tolkien uses a Hobbit as the main character is simple, hobbits are a small, weak creatures who

The Hobbit is a fictional novel written by J.R.R Tolkien. The novel is about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who was approached by a group of dwarves who were in search of treasure in the mountains. Along the way, the group faced many obstacles and bumps in the road. On the contrary, Thomas C. Foster wrote a book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, that gives students a bit of insight on how to understand what they’re reading, and it also helps students to figure out the true meaning of different situations and things that are written in literature. In the book, Foster went on to explain different archetypes that are typically hidden in literature. Some archetypes that Foster elaborated on were the hero’s quest, death, resurrection, and communion. Archetypes such as the hero’s quest can be applied to the the journey that is depicted throughout the novel: The Hobbit. Aspects of this archetype that will be discussed later include the quester, a destination, a stated reason to embark on the journey, obstacles along the way, and the actual reason for going on the journey.

Bilbo Baggins Is A Hero “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” This quote by Christopher Reeves is a great description of Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo is just an ordinary hobbit. There is not anything exciting about his life. He lives in a quiet house, in a quiet town, with quiet people.

Many people find the story, “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkein as just an invigorating story of a normally unadventurous hobbit who goes on an adventure. Others may “read between the lines” and see that each event that takes place within the book is a symbol. These symbols are called archetypes. An archetype is basically a symbol or character in a story that represents common experiences, and has become patterns in English literature. In The Hobbit, the archetypes/symbols include: a quest, communion and, death and resurrection/ descent into the underworld.

Archetypes are used in everywhere such as films, books, and art. They can be in characters, images, and themes. Archetypes repeat in every literature in every genre.

The Hobbit is a book filled with adventure and challenges. This novel is a tale of a quest. For the hobbit this isn’t just an ordinary quest it’s a hero’s quest. This novel offers a variety of archetypes, such as the hero’s quest and communion.

J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit” is a literary masterpiece full of details, songs, and, most importantly, characters. The protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is forced into a journey with Thorin and his other dwarven friends to defeat Smaug, a dragon who brought the demise of an old dwarf town named Dale, and take back their stolen treasure. With all these characters comes archetypes, a function or role that a character plays in a story, movie, or play. There may occur a hero, a trickster, and a herald. Strangely enough, there are characters in “The Hobbit” that fit into these three archetypes. Bilbo, Thorin and company, and Gandalf are all archetypes in the fictional book, “The Hobbit”.

These three characters each play key roles in developing the plot and creating suspense. The hero is represented by Bilbo in this story. On page 4, the author explains,”This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins.” Bilbo was a very ordinary hobbit in the beginning.

As Bilbo Goes on his journey, he gets attacked by goblins and wolves. Thorin’s company gets imprisoned by elves, and thrown in a river. Thorin’s company gets attacked by a dragon, and put in the middle of a war. Throughout his hardships, there are many archetypes that they met. He makes many friends, and many foes. Archetypes are different types of characters , and the three main archetypes in “The Hobbit” are Bilbo, who played as the hero, Gandalf, who played as the mentor, and smaug, who played as the shadow, all of these characters helped shape this story.

Bilbo Baggins is the protagonist of The Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins has curly brown hair and thick leathery feet. He was fat in the stomach and was half the height of an adult. He likes having multiple meals a day, and snacks. Bilbo also had long clever fingers. Bilbo is a very respectable individual. He enjoyed staying at home, Bilbo doing something unexpected was unheard of. Before the adventure, he thought highly of his neighbor's opinion about him. When Gandalf chose Bilbo the other dwarves thought that he was unfit for the job. The dwarves did not

“Hobbits really are amazing creatures… You can learn all that there is to know about their ways in a month, and yet after a hundred years they can still surprise you at a pinch,” explained Gandalf (Tolkien 62). Bilbo likes the comfort of his home and his habits but also has a small wish in the back of his head to do something more with his life. He finds his opportunity when Gandalf and the Dwarves hire him as a Burglar in their Company. Along the Company’s journey, Bilbo makes discoveries about his strength he didn’t know he had. By the end of the story, Bilbo was put through many trials that would have changed a simple man, but his ethics emerged unscathed. Although Bilbo Baggins is only half the size of a human, the way Tolkien develops

The hero’s journey begins with the hero being introduced in their ordinary world. This is where the reader learns about the hero’s background, flaws and strengths. This is so that the reader can establish a bond with the situation, which gives them experience of an adventure through the hero. In chapter 1 of The Hobbit, Tolkien introduces Bilbo Baggins as an ordinary hobbit who lives in an ordinary hobbit hole on the side of The Hill. In this chapter Tolkien hints towards Bilbo’s mother’s side, the Took-clan, who ‘something was not entirely hobbit like about them’ (Page 13).