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THE HOBBIT
J.R.R. Tolkien

Chapters, 1-3

"In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit." What a hook! What is a hobbit anyway? And in what kind of a hole did it live? Was it male or female?

Fortunately Tolkien does not waste any time acquainting us with hobbits, their nature and way of life, even with the holes they live in... think comfortable. And of course in one specific hobbit - Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo is a quient, sit-by-the-fire kind of chap, who likes his home, his food, his drink and his pipe. Then suddenly, his life is thoroughtly upset by the appearance of a wizard and twelve dwarves. (Remember, in Tolkien's Middle Earth, dwarves are not just very short humans, they are separate race, or subspecies of human).

Bilbo is swept off his feet by it all, and soon finds himself leaving his comfortable hobbit hole for (of all things) "an adventure."

Soon he finds himself beset by trolls, befriended by elves, and thoroughly discombnobulated by the whole thing. And this is only the first three chapters.

(I have read further, and will post more later....)

Tolkien has a way of drawing you right into the story. Believe it or not as many times as I've read Lord of the Rings, this is my first go through of The Hobbit and I'm really excited.
I'm a little disappointed in the character of Bilbo. I'm so used to what he becomes that I guess I've never thought about how he got there. I didn't expect him to be so... not timid but ok timid is the best word I can come up with even though it doesn't exactly capture what I'm trying to say.

Just wait, Olivia... as Gandalf says, "There is more to Mr. Baggins than meets the eye." I will be very interested in your comments as the book progresses.

As the story progresses the characteristics of the creatures are becoming clearer. Bilbo can disapear and trolls turn into stone in the sun. Each creature has a unique ability, but they also have human characteristics. Bilbo certainly loves his creature comforts as we humans do. Bilbo is very like Tolkien himself, they both enjoyed a simple quiet life, however, Tolkien, like Bilbo inherited adventurous blood. Although Tolkien has stated that he was not fond of allegory, he did openly acknowledge that there are similarities between hobbits and the English people of his time.

The trolls are interesting characters. The characteristics of the trolls are a combination of mythological creatures from Old English and Anglo Saxon poems. The dialect of the trolls is interesting as well. Tolkien gives the trolls an accent that resembles that of a lower class Englander which can be seen with this quote:

Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don’t look like mutton again tomorrer.

Bilbo gets dragged into this adventure by the magical Gandolf. This type of beginging is typical for a heoric quest story. This reminds me of a book we read here a while back, titled, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", by Joseph Campbell. The hero is reluctant at first, maybe not a typical hero type, but this hero is helped by a being with magical powers, and along the way the reluctant hero begins to believe in himself.

Olivia22 wrote:I'm a little disappointed in the character of Bilbo. I'm so used to what he becomes that I guess I've never thought about how he got there. I didn't expect him to be so... not timid but ok timid is the best word I can come up with even though it doesn't exactly capture what I'm trying to say.

Magical objects appear in these chapters, the main one being the sword. The sword is an object that frequently appears in heroic quest tales. A sword with a name symbolizes heroism. Bilbo's sword has not been named yet, so at this point Bilbo stills feels unworthy of the name hero.

Swords are prevalent in the works of Tolkien. The swords were used for the goblin wars in Middle-Earth before Bilbo’s time. You can read more about swords, and the goblin wars in Tolkien’s, “The Silmarillion”.
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_Silmarillion

When reading "The Hobbit" I can see how Tolkien has used the oral tradition of story telling that he loved so much. The dwarves remind me of "Snow White" and the trolls remind me of "Billy Goat Gruff". I don't think this is surprising since most known fairy tales originated hundreds of years ago. The basis for many Grimm and Anderson fairy tales have roots tied to works such as, "A Thousand and One Nights" and "Vikram and the Vampire".

Cattleman wrote:"In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit." What a hook! What is a hobbit anyway? And in what kind of a hole did it live? Was it male or female?

Imagine a mound of earth, slightly rounded and covered with grass. The door would be small and above the ground, but the Hobbit’s living quarters are under the earth. Windows would have to be carved out, but most fairies, goblins, trolls, dwarves, do not dwell in homes with windows. Tolkien gave Bilbo a more comfortable environment maybe to give a human feel to his lifestyle. Every time I see a septic tank mound I imagine to myself that there may be a creature living under it.

I've always liked how Tolkien builds suspense in the Hobbit, even in scenes that wouldn't normally be that exciting. Drawing the introductions of the dwarves out is a great example, or breaking away from the start of the tale to give piecemeal descriptions of the hobbit hole, or what a hobbit is, or whatnot. Weaving each of these bits lets you get attached to each part and eagerly look for when something more in that particular line will show up, so that even though all you're getting is a description of the scene or character introductions you're hooked.

It's a literary technique that he didn't really use in the Lord of the Rings, opting instead for a more epic feel. The Hobbit really shows off his ability to paint a scene and draw you into it, though!

Sauzanne, I always thought the trolls had a bit of a cockney accent, myself. Not surprising, as Tolkien was a Brit.

The stopover at Elrond's house was interesting (for those who haven't read LOTR, look for him again in those books). Seems that elves do a lot of singing.

Cattleman wrote:Sauzanne, I always thought the trolls had a bit of a cockney accent, myself. Not surprising, as Tolkien was a Brit.

I think Tolkien is trying to say that the trolls are a bit less civilized than the others. This really shows Tolkien's wit.

Bilbo mentions his mother, he says there is a love of adventure on his mother's side of the familiy. So Hobbits come in both sexes.

Cattleman wrote:Seems that elves do a lot of singing.

I love the way Tolkien gives his creatures specialized traits. Elves are very beautiful too.

Olivia22 wrote:I'm a little disappointed in the character of Bilbo. I'm so used to what he becomes that I guess I've never thought about how he got there. I didn't expect him to be so... not timid but ok timid is the best word I can come up with even though it doesn't exactly capture what I'm trying to say.

Especially early on in the story, Bilbo doesn't seem like much of a protagonist. He's quite passive, never taking the initiative while things just keep happening to him. Gandalf marks his door, inviting a horde of dwarves to come visit. Gandalf contracts with the dwarves that Bilbo will serve as their burglar (doesn't seem like a very noble calling) for a mysterious adventure, if I remember correctly without consulting Bilbo in the matter first. On the day of departure, Bilbo first oversleeps, then tries to talk his way out of the adventure, then winds up being rushed out of his house and down the road by an impatient Gandalf "without a hat, a walking stick, or any money, or anything that he usually took when he went out ... without a pocket-handkerchief!"

A common theme in Tolkien's work is the how the protagonist matures and develops over the course of the story. Such a theme is developed in Smith of Wooton Major, Leaf by Niggle, Farmer Giles of Ham (short stories by Tolkien), and Frodo and Sam (and even Smeagol, to an extent) in Lord of the Ring.

Perhaps Bilbo is introduced to us as so passive and aimless at the beginning in order to contrast with his later development through sections of the story in which he must confront dangers and defeat increasingly powerful enemies through wit and perseverance since strength is not one of his, um, strengths.

One could read the story as a video game I suppose. In his encounter with the dwarves, Bilbo is bewildered and 'defeated', winding up obligated to act as the dwarves' "burglar" without having any meaningful understanding of the nature of the adventure or the situation into which Gandalf has inveigled him. As the story progresses, he finds himself in increasingly fraught situations, similar to advancing from one level to the next, more difficult, level in a video game. Before he can move on to face the next situation or enemy, he has to defeat or elude or escape the current one.

Olivia22 wrote:Tolkien has a way of drawing you right into the story. Believe it or not as many times as I've read Lord of the Rings, this is my first go through of The Hobbit and I'm really excited.
I'm a little disappointed in the character of Bilbo. I'm so used to what he becomes that I guess I've never thought about how he got there. I didn't expect him to be so... not timid but ok timid is the best word I can come up with even though it doesn't exactly capture what I'm trying to say.

Yes, I think Bilbo is a bit timid early in the book and appears to be an unlikely hero. But we shouldn't overlook the strength that comes from the Hobbits' roots in the Shire and their quiet lives there. I think this is the foundation they build on and when times get tough, go back too, really it provides them with a spiritual strength. Also, I think we have a built-in expectation common in our western culture that a hero has to be a character of action and we are steeped in that concept so its difficult to see a mild mannered, inactive, unremarkable hobbit as a protoganist or hero. But I think Tolkien sees things differently and demonstrates this in The Hobbit and the LOTR series. Actually, the complaint I have about the LOTR movies is that they are heavily weighted toward action because this is what sells at the box office and the subtler points and character development are lost among all the flashy swashbuckling.