The Hobbit (6 points)

Family

The Hobbit is well known as the first world building fantasy novel. Tolkien describes in great detail the life, society, and languages of these new races. Authors have tried to replicate the creativity of Tolkien's tales, but I think they all miss something important. Modern novels follow a simple format: love interest, call to action, destiny, and force of evil. Tolkien uses his own format, and this stands out from the rest. There is no set love interest, but relationships matter. Bilbo builds his own family among the dwarves. They forge brotherly bonds, and work as a team. (Though this is disrupted by Thorin's madness later) In the time of the Hobbit, Bilbo is alone, and he likes it that way. His family is broad and stretches to many of the other hobbits mentioned, but they are not bonded like a family. Bilbo's journey (and his Character Arc) is not limited to his bravery, wit, and skill, but also his open-mindedness for others.

From Homely to Adventure

Bilbo starts his adventure around age 50. Even for a hobbit, this is well-aged. His character is already established, he has grown through life, made adult decisions, and would be considered "fully grown." The journey shows he has much more to grow from, and that his life is the Shire could be considered his childhood, while the Journey is his Rite of Passage to adulthood. In some ways, I think, when he returns to the Shire he is no longer a Hobbit. At least, not the same kind of hobbit the others are. His heroic journey has changed him, made him wiser.

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