The Hobbit.

Sophie Bledsoe

Mrs. Whitlock

English IV

25 February 2013

The Hobbit: Symbolism, Themes, and Character Development

In fairy tales, the battle between good and evil is evident. Fairy tales are known to have morals. Narnia is an example of a classic and popular fantasy series with morals and symbolism. Like Narnia, The Hobbit has symbolism. The Hobbit 's symbolism is more subtle, but when looking it 's not difficult to find. There are morals in the story that follow christian values and show respect for others. The main character Bilbo, shows that through a journey of self discovery, growth, and wisdom, even if people do not think they are capable of amazing things, they are more powerful and impactful on their environment then they ever thought possible.

Bilbo 's character develops throughout the book as he grows braver and stronger.

“Bilbo’s understated charisma is a quality common to many protagonists in children’s literature. Another quality he shares with many heroes of children’s literature is his small size: as a hobbit, Bilbo is only half the size of a man. At the beginning of the novel, Bilbo is, like most hobbits, comfortable and complacent. He loves food, drink, and security, and he relishes his snug little hole at Bag End, Underhill. But as Gandalf says, there is more to Bilbo than meets the eye. Bilbo is a Baggins, the heir of a thoroughly respectable and conventional family, but his mother was a Took, an eccentric clan of hobbits noted for their love of excitement and adventure.” (SparkNotes, Analysis of Major Characters)

Bilbo finds his identity is not defined by other people or his family history and that he can mold his own future. In the beginning of The Hobbit he constantly doubts himself. Before he embarked on his journey he was quite a dull and uninteresting fellow. " 'We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! '" said Bilbo. (Tolkien, 4). Bilbo does not want the leave the quiet comfortable hole he knows as “home”. “ 'Good Morning” he said at last. “We don 't want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water.” By this he meant the conversation was at an end.” (Tolkien, 5). Bilbo ends up abandoning all worldly comfort on the long journey to save a lost city from a cruel dragon and fights heroically along the way. Bilbo starts to realize that he is stronger than before after he battles and kills a giant spider. “Somehow the killing of this giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark . . . made a great difference to Mr. Baggins.(Bilbo) He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach,” (Tolkien, 145). Bravery is overcoming fear to do what is right. Bilbo becomes a worthy role model by the end of his journey by preforming feats of great bravery.

The lineage and races are different among the characters. The world views and morals of the characters are different as well. Even through the disagreements and fights the characters pull it together and save the city. The contrast in morals among the races meant that there was no shortage of irritation between the characters.

“The differences among Tolkien’s imaginary races are a major focus of the novel, particularly in its second half. Elves, dwarves, trolls, and goblins differ from one another physically, psychologically, and morally. These inherent racial differences drastically limit the possibility of individual choice but make moral distinctions easy to maintain. All goblins are evil, for example, and all elves are good. The notion of races having different moral qualities is reflected in the novel’s idea of nature.” (SparkNotes Editors, Themes, Motifs, and Symbols)

In The Hobbit, Bilbo 's journey symbolizes the journey a sinner must go through to get to God. First, like Bilbo, a sinner must abandon all worldly comfort, and then a sinner will have to leave all hiding places behind, and put everything in the open. On a sinner 's journey, they must go through trails and tribulations, face evil temptations, and fight their fears. Bilbo was scared, and met many hardships, as well as fought his fears during his journey. A sinner will become uncomfortable and want to go back to the old way they did things. Bilbo wanted to go home and forget all about the journey he was on. A sinner must finally accept that there is no turning back, like Bilbo did, and march straight on, for victory or for a probable defeat or death. “At the end of the novel, Bilbo 's own foray into political intrigue demonstrates that he has gained a certain sensibility. And this is no small feat, as the Ring tends to make its bearer foolhardy and unwise, rather than cautious, generous and patient.” (Classic Notes, Wisdom and Knowledge)

The book The Hobbit, is humorous and witty but also serious with its morals. Bilbo thought he was unprepared for the massive change in his life, the new people, the struggles, and the danger. Bilbo 's astronomical character development, growth, and wisdom are the main themes of the book. The Christian symbolism of his journey is astonishing. Bilbo was boring, shy, and weak at first, but he made a big difference in his environment. He changed people and situations he would have though he was to small and insignificant to do anything about. There are struggles in an unexpected journey, yet Bilbo found himself and changed the world. Christians go through a similar journey. A Christian may think that they are not capable of making a big impact in the world, but, as Bilbo learned, anyone can do great things if they just have faith.

I know that plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of someone else 's words or ideas, and I pledge that this paper is not plagiarized, Sophie B.

Work Cited

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Hobbit” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 11 Jan. 2013.

John Burton, “The Hobbit Study Guide” ClassicNote. GradeSaver.com Web. Dec 01, 2001,

Tolkein, J.R.R. The Hobbit. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973. Print.

Cited: SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Hobbit” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 11 Jan. 2013. John Burton, “The Hobbit Study Guide” ClassicNote. GradeSaver.com Web. Dec 01, 2001, Tolkein, J.R.R. The Hobbit. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973. Print.