Overview Of The Hobbit

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Zachary Mallet

English 2 Honors

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien deconstructed what is commonly known as high fantasy, a sub-genre of fantasy fiction that revolves around an imaginary world. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series are quintessential in defining the sub-genre that Tolkien deconstructed and redefined. This led directly to a resurgence of the genre, and also caused Tolkien to be popularly identified as the father of modern fantasy literature. The stories revolve around the most unlikely of creatures, the hobbit, Tolkien depicts the race of hobbit as a very simple, not inclined to undertake in anything new, or risky enterprises. Hobbits have been farming in the area of shire for hundreds of years; they are quite content with ignoring and being ignored by the world. Hobbits are seen with little importance, they are neither steadfast warriors nor scholars. "Their hearts truly lie is in peace and quaint and good tilled earth, for all hobbits share a love of all things that grow." (Tolkien) There ways are quaint and change comes slowly if it comes at all. The story has many moral points of the weak overcoming the strong very much like the biblical tale of David vs. Goliath. The most unlikely of characters are destined to carry a burden on behalf of the world’s fate with the odds heavily stacked against them; they prevail with an unlikely turn of events nobody expected, the good and weak overcoming the strong and evil.

"The name "Tolkien" (pron.: Tol-keen; equal stress on both syllables) is believed to be of German origin; Toll-kühn: foolishly brave, or stupidly clever - hence the pseudonym "Oxymore" which he occasionally used. His father's side of the family appears to have migrated from Saxony in the 18th century, but over the century and a half before his birth had become thoroughly Anglicised. Certainly his father, Arthur Reuel Tolkien, considered himself nothing if not English. Arthur was a bank clerk, and went to South Africa in the 1890s for better prospects of promotion. There he was joined by his bride, Mabel Suffield, whose family was not only English through and through, but West Midlands since time immemorial."(Doughan).

"My name is TOLKIEN (not -kein). It is a German name (from Saxony), an anglicization of Tollkiehn, i.e. tollkühn. But, except as a guide to spelling, this fact is as fallacious as all facts in the raw. For I am neither 'foolhardy' nor German, whatever some remote ancestors may have been. They migrated to England more than 200 years ago, and became quickly intensely English (not British), though remaining musical – a talent that unfortunately did not descend to me. I am in fact far more of a Suffield (a family deriving from Evesham in Worcestershire), and it is to my mother who taught me (until I obtained a scholarship at the ancient Grammar School in Birmingham) that I owe my tastes for philology, especially of Germanic languages, and for romance. I am indeed in English terms a West-midiander at home only in the counties upon the Welsh Marches; and it is, I believe, as much due to descent as to opportunity that Anglo-Saxon and Western Middle English and alliterative verse have been both a childhood attraction and my main professional sphere."( Tolkien, Letter 165, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien).

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on January 3, 1892, to Arthur Tolkien and Mabel Suffield Tolkien. He only had a few memories of Africa, but the ones he had were vivid, one of which was being bitten by a rather large tarantula in the guarden. That event would later implications with his stories to some extent. On February 15 1896 his father died, in the same year he, his mother, and younger brother all returned to the West Midlands of England, Hamlet of Sarehole in Birmingham.

"The West Midlands in Tolkien's childhood were a complex mixture of the grimly industrial Birmingham conurbation, and the quintessentially rural stereotype of England, Worcestershire and surrounding areas: Severn country, the land of the composers Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Gurney, and more distantly the poet A. E. Housman (it is also just across the border from Wales). Tolkien's life was split between these two: the then very rural hamlet of Sarehole, with its mill, just south of Birmingham; and darkly urban Birmingham itself, where he was eventually sent to King Edward's School. By then the family had moved to King's Heath, where the house backed onto a railway line - young Ronald's developing linguistic imagination was engaged by the sight of coal trucks going to and from South Wales bearing destinations like" Nantyglo"," Penrhiwceiber" and "Senghenydd"."(Doughan)

"I am a West-midlander by blood (and took to early west-midland Middle English as a known tongue as soon as I set eyes on it), but perhaps a fact of my personal history may partly explain why the 'North-western air' appeals to me both as 'home' and as something discovered. I was actually born in Bloemfontein, and so those deeply implanted impressions, underlying memories that are still pictorially available for inspection, of first childhood are for me those of a hot parched country. My first Christmas memory is of blazing sun, drawn curtains and a drooping eucalyptus." (Tolkien Letter 163, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien).

Just as Tolkien won a scholarship and entered Exeter College, Oxford, world war I broke out. Tolkien was not immediately drafted into the war; however he entered a program where it delayed his enlistment until he achieved his completing his degree in 1915. Tolkien served as a signals officer of the Battle of the Somme, Battle of Theipval Ridge and the assault on Schwaben Redoubt. His time in France was an experience of trench warfare. These experiences lead to the inspiration of the intense description of battle scenes in The Lord of the Rings.

Tolkien died on September 2nd 1973, at the age of 81. He was buried in the same grave as Edith, his wife. Tolkien had the name Luthien engraved on Edith’s tombstone, and Beren was engraved on his. In The Lord of the Rings, lore has it that Luthien was the most beautiful of all the children of lluvatar, she sacrificed her immortality for her love of the mortal warrior Beren.

In The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R Tolkien female characters have a great importance and significance in the defining of power, which is a huge theme in the books. Tolkiens female characters have sparked some of the most controversial debates surrounding his works. The world of The Lord of the Rings is presented in largely male oriented and dominated ways. For example more heroic characters like Aragorn and Faramir use there more in the traditional masculine sense but in a manner where limitations are apparent and respect in mutual with a deeper kind of power. Enright has great points as she says:

"Aragorn shows this recognition of an alternative kind of power in his reverence for the Elves, who though brave fighters, are not known for their physical prowess. The stereotypical and purely masculine kind of power, as represented by Boromir for instance, is shown to be weaker morally and spiritually than its non-traditional counterparts, thus allowing Boromir to--fall, while less typically heroic characters, including all the major female characters, stand." (Enright).

Éowyn is a female that find herself in a struggle to find her place in a male-dominated world which she is often in the mist of, because she yearns for an opportunity to prove herself in battle. She is driven by her love for Aragorn that is not mutual. She must find the balance between the masculine and feminine traits that she has. The lack of the female presence in battles with the exception of Éowyn of course and being members of the Fellowship does not mean that the female power and presence lack significance. But on the contrary to that, Tolkien's female characters epitomize his critique of traditional, masculine and worldly power, offering an alternative that can be summed up as the choice of love over pride, reflective of the Christ-like inversion of power rooted in Scripture, and ultimately more powerful than any domination by use of force."(Enright).  

Gollum is in many ways also one of the most complex characters in the entire work. "He is a creature of conflicting desires of good and evil. Unlike Bilbo, Frodo's uncle, the Ring finder, who assumed ownership of the One Ring with pity and compassion, Gollum assumed his ownership by killing his friend Deagol and claimed it as his birthday present. The Ring immediately gained ascendancy over him. Yet, in spite of his evil deeds, Gollum saved Middle-earth. If he had not pursued Frodo, the quest would have failed. Why was Gollum like an agent of karma who was born and lived in a period that positioned him to assume this role? It seems that evil is a necessary part of the eternal equation. Would someone totally corrupted have been placed by the universe in such a position?" (Vachet)

Gollums role is foreshadowed when the ring of one had corrupted and taken control of Bilbo, the fourth owner, slightly he had difficulty parting with the ring. Then later on when Frodo’s reluctance to show the ring to anyone who wanted to see it was more than just caution it went further than that. Gollum guided Frodo and same to Mordor on the treacherous path was because of Gollum’s desire for Shelob, the great spider, to kill Frodo. There is a mixture of good and evil intentions when he bites off Frodo’s finger to gain the ring, but on the other hand destroying in as he falls to death with the ring into the Cracks of Doom. Because Bilbo and Frodo spared Gollum, Gollum was able to destroy the ring by falling into the Crack of Doom while Frodo failed to destroy it. Thus Frodo, who is overpowered by the evil ring, is saved by coincidence.

     "There is a relationship between Gollum and the Tarot card of Death. Death can be considered a change or transformation from one state to another. Michael Stanton, professor of English literature at the University of Vermont, calls Gollum a classic case of split or dual personality, a doppelganger. The split is between that aspect of the poor creature whose original name was Sméagol and who speaks of himself as "I" and the aspect of what he has become, called Gollum, who speaks of himself as "we." The "we" side of his personality is ensnared by the Ring; the "I" side is the reflection of an originally free being."(Vachet).

The theme of power, temptation, and addiction all revolve around the corrupting influence of the One Ring. Gandalf makes many statements about the power and influence of the One Ring, influence is has on the bearer. Gandalf rejects the ring once Frodo offers him the ring before he was even certain that the ring was the true One Ring. "the way of the Ring to my heart is through pity, pity for weakness and the desire of strength to do good." This is strengthened by the faction that Elrond, Galadriel, Aragorn and Faramir turn down the Ring. J.R.R Tolkien intent was to use to ring to reveal character, and not alter it. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men..." (Lord Acton). Absolute power can be attained through the One Ring. Boromir, a prince of Middle Earth, who repeatedly because caught by the rings strange power of temptation, reveals that through this power good, can be accomplished. Boromir acknowledges his weakness as he says to the Council of Elrond "though I do not ask for aid, we need it." Due to his acknowledgement makes him open to the rings influence, the desire to wield it grew stronger due to Minas Tirith’s danger. Then he succumbs to the ring, "his fair and pleasant face…hideously changed" by madness when he attacks Frodo. But it’s apparent that fighting wars to exert power over an enemy seldom leads to peace. No exertion of power can change the spirit it just reveals the true nature of a person. Therefore the ring’s power will most certainly be used for evil, corrupting even the most unlikely of people despite their initial intentions. Later on Sam takes the ring for the right reason and the right motive, to keep it out of the hands of Cirith Ungol the orc, but his own weakness tempts him to keep and wield the Ring; Even going as far as to challenge the Dark Lord himself.

The final and greatest temptation occurs when Frodo is at the Crack of Doom. Frodo knows he must not wield the Ring; twice he tries to give it away once to Gandalf and again to Galadriel, he also knows he must destroy it. The corruption of the ring takes hold of everyone is contacts; it’s changed Frodo’s perception of Bilbo and Sam. When the time comes Frodo must destroy the ring once and for all. This is when he is at his weakest and most vulnerable point he has ever been. He has been beaten, starved, physically weak and not mentally straight. He has left behind weapons and armor because he has no strength to bear them. The last mile is a torturous journey in which he could hardly crawl until Sam must finally carry him up the slope of the mountain. At this point, in his weakness, the ring takes over: "I do not choose now to do what I came to do." Even though his decision will cause a great number of people to be hurt, possible even risk everything, Frodo cannot resist the temptation to keep the ring as his own. And it is there where we learn that it has the ability to prey on the desires of those who are powerless. Wielding power, especially the immense power of the ring, can corrupt even the most wise and well-intentioned. Power will always corrupt, "Power is always dangerous. Power attracts the worst and corrupts the best." by Edward Abbey.