A Hidden Spirit
Is a life without hardship possible for living beings? Can creatures live on without any challenge to learn from? The Hobbit, written by John Tolkien, is a journey not only through a vast and imaginative world, but through one’s own flaws and discovering ways to overcome them. This analysis outlines the conflicts, character traits, themes, motifs, and symbolism of the novel and presents their overall importance.
The main conflict the party must endure throughout the novel is confronting numerous challenges on their journey to eventually find and defeat Smaug, the dragon responsible for destroying their home and taking their gold. Thorin, the mighty leader of the dwarves, speaks of his family’s great miracle and ascent turning to a tragic misfortune. To summarize, Thorin comments on how the dragon’s appearance was …show more content…
Bilbo acquires his sword early in the novel. “heroism in The Hobbit” states: “… he acquires a sword after the encounter with the trolls, a weapon he names Sting when he kills a giant spider in combat. Here Bilbo engages in conventional martial heroism,” (Grace 2). Bilbo’s first demonstration of heroic acts was with his sword in hand. The beginning point of his development starts here. Bilbo views himself differently when slaying down the spiders as stated in the article “coming of age in The Hobbit”, “Tolkien explicitly links his killing of the spider with Bilbo’s growth; after this act, he felt a different person, much fiercer and bolder” (Grace 2). Bilbo now understands a glimpse of what he is capable of and the result is a gain in confidence. If the sword had not been in hand during the event, Bilbo’s reaction could possibly have the opposite effect because of his inability to take control. Sting is an important device that gives Bilbo the ability to unlock the strength he does not believe he
Is a life without hardship possible for living beings? Can creatures live on without any challenge to learn from? The Hobbit, written by John Tolkien, is a journey not only through a vast and imaginative world, but through one’s own flaws and discovering ways to overcome them. This analysis outlines the conflicts, character traits, themes, motifs, and symbolism of the novel and presents their overall importance.
The main conflict the party must endure throughout the novel is confronting numerous challenges on their journey to eventually find and defeat Smaug, the dragon responsible for destroying their home and taking their gold. Thorin, the mighty leader of the dwarves, speaks of his family’s great miracle and ascent turning to a tragic misfortune. To summarize, Thorin comments on how the dragon’s appearance was …show more content…
Bilbo acquires his sword early in the novel. “heroism in The Hobbit” states: “… he acquires a sword after the encounter with the trolls, a weapon he names Sting when he kills a giant spider in combat. Here Bilbo engages in conventional martial heroism,” (Grace 2). Bilbo’s first demonstration of heroic acts was with his sword in hand. The beginning point of his development starts here. Bilbo views himself differently when slaying down the spiders as stated in the article “coming of age in The Hobbit”, “Tolkien explicitly links his killing of the spider with Bilbo’s growth; after this act, he felt a different person, much fiercer and bolder” (Grace 2). Bilbo now understands a glimpse of what he is capable of and the result is a gain in confidence. If the sword had not been in hand during the event, Bilbo’s reaction could possibly have the opposite effect because of his inability to take control. Sting is an important device that gives Bilbo the ability to unlock the strength he does not believe he