The Hobbit Theme Essay

The Hobbit is that marvelous story that all fantasy books try to live up to. It’s that one book, that if your friends have no knowledge whatsoever of, you have a hard time believing them. And there is a reason why. J.R.R. Tolkien’s storytelling ability is astounding. The book begins in a “Hobbit’s” home. What is a Hobbit? Hobbits are small people, even smaller than Dwarfs. In their homeland, the Shire, they live fairly normal lives. But very rarely, one will go on an adventure. A great wizard, Gandalf, has chosen poor little Bilbo Baggins, to help on an adventure with thirteen Dwarfs. What do they aspire to do? They will attempt to travel through Middle Earth, and reclaim the riches stolen by a dragon named Smaug. Why is The Hobbit a fantasy book? First of all, we need to clarify what a fantasy really is. A fantasy, in its deepest form, is a story, which involves supernatural elements, in a fictional setting. What are examples of supernatural elements in the book? A major one, is magic. “He wanted it because it was a ring of power, and if you slipped that ring on your finger, you were invisible;” If we analyze this quote, we see that there is a magical ring, that when worn, makes you invisible. This is magic. The ring isn’t the only magic in the book. Beorn is a great example. Using magic, he can
Why is that? It is the perfect example of a classic fantasy. It has a plot, that is an archetype in many books today, the unlikely hero. Bilbo Baggins was never thought to be an adventurer. In the end, he was thought to be the greatest of them all. From this point on, many stories have this plot. “The dwarves looked with quite a new respect, when he talked about dodging guards, jumping over Gollum, and squeezing through, as if it was not very difficult or very alarming.” As you can see, Bilbo had changed since he left the Shire, and had impressed the