The Hobbit

It's me again! I am so excited to write this blog about The Hobbit today. I just want to start by saying if anyone is reading this and has never read The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien, you need to read it. If you have read it, but it has been awhile, you need to read it again. This was the first time I had ever read The Hobbit, even though I "read" the Lord of the Rings when I was a 6th grader. I say "read," in quotations because I was still very much a child at the time that I read the books and honestly don't have that good of a memory of them. I really wonder if I honestly gave them the proper reading that I would now at that age. As a middle-schooler I was more concerned about drama, which most children are and so my reading habits, while strong at that point were still growing and developing. So, what this random rant that has nothing to do at all with The Hobbit, is saying is that I am basically starting over even with The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Now, on to the story at hand.

I was very intrigued with The Hobbit right from the start. It read very much like a children's book, which I learned later was the entire purpose of the story, it was in fact written for children. The main character and hero of the tale is Mr. Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit if you haven't already figured that out, who lives in a hobbit-hole that is in the ground. (where most holes usually are.) Anyway, the whole story revolves around Bilbo and his great adventure that he has. This is typical for most stories, but of course there is a twist. Being a hobbit, Bilbo is supposed to only enjoy being at home and staying at home. Hobbits don't usually go on adventures or even leave their houses except to enjoy their gardens outside of their homes. (Even though it doesn't really mention this from the book.) Anyway, the book focuses on Bilbo's trip to the Lonely Mountain with group of dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield. Bilbo is actually selected by a wizard named Gandalf to go on the trip with the dwarves, even though he never tells Bilbo this, and sort of manipulates him. Okay, so I think I've given you enough of a summary, if you want to know more you either need to read the book or look up the spark notes. Because I am getting on to what I learned from the book as well as what I found interesting and excited.

If you don't already know, The Hobbit is the prelude to The Lord of the Rings, it tells the beginning of the story, how "the ring" came to Bilbo and ultimately how "the ring" ended up with his younger cousin Frodo Baggins who is the unlikely hero of that Trilogy. Anyway, I took what little I remembered from the books and put that into what I was about to learn in The Hobbit. Needless to say I was completely shocked to discover that Bilbo was not always Bilbo the adventurer. I was surprised to learn that Bilbo was not at all interested or excited about going on this adventure, even though his mother was Belladonna Took. (The Took Family in the hobbit world were known for being strange because they loved going on adventures.) Bilbo was more like the Baggins side and liked his hobbit-hole, until he was basically forced into going on the adventure by Gandalf. Something else I was surprised about was my misunderstanding of how Bilbo came to be the owner of the ring of power. I always thought he had taken it from Gollum, but I was surprised again to learn that he merely found it on the floor of a cave tunnel, while trying to find a way out and escape from goblins. He defeats Gollum in a battle of wits instead.

I found The Hobbit to be nothing like I anticipated. It was better than I expected because it took everything I believed or thought I knew and flipped it upside down. Bilbo wasn't always a hero or a great adventurer, he became that. To me, The Hobbit has a moral, it tells anyone that reads it that you can become more than you are as long as you try hard enough and are willing to overcome the obstacles that will ultimately stand in the way of your goal, because it is those obstacles that will make you want you want to be. I want to say so much more about the story and all of its wonder and excitement, but I am afraid that I will never stop writing if I do.

The basics of The Hobbit are as I said above, but they also serve as an answer to those who want to know and understand more about The Lord of the Rings and how all of the events in those novels came to happen. It is a fascinating and thrilling tale about a hobbit who becomes more than he ever thought he could. He goes from being a scared, fainting, shrieking hobbit at the beginning to a bold, courageous, quick-witted hero and adventurer in the end. Bilbo's tale takes you on a journey that could easily be your own, which is the magic of J.R.R. Tolkien, but it also leads you to want to know more about the things Bilbo discovers and encounters and it eventually makes you desire to read the rest of the tales, which are of course (as I have said multiple times now) The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, which picks up the story of "the ring," its effect and impact on Bilbo's younger cousin Frodo

I end with this, the story was amazing and I learned a lot things. I wish I could share them all, but I really need to stop writing now. Anyway, It was a fun read and I can't wait until I start The Lord of the Rings. Next week is The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. I have read this once before, but I didn't really grasp it then, so my next blog will be interesting. I hope I didn't bore anyone too much. =) Sorry if I did!

Until Next Time.
XOXO,
Julia