Into the Lonely Mountain

This week was JRR Tolkien's "The Hobbit."

           The story fervently follows "The Hero's Journey," ideal of a circular narrative, consisting mostly of innocence being introduced to conflict and met with some form of resolution. Our hero, Bilbo Baggins, starts off in "the known," the shire, and throughout his adventures ventures into the unknown and finally returns home with newfound knowledge and experiences, forever changed by the experiences. The story's massive emphasis on the necessity of a test in order to discover new things about oneself is what drives the story forward; as Bilbo is already an adult, (no coming of age) and already has an established life in a pleasant village, (so not necessarily finding where one belongs or rising above poverty). Instead, Bilbo is seen as a quite, non-adventurous man living an uninteresting life absent of the adventure that he in his youth craved so badly. Gandalf presents the possibility for Bilbo to have the life he wants, but in order to do so he must endure many trials about overcoming his own personal doubts and fears in the style of "The Hero's Journey."

             Despite the fact the definite protagonist of this story is overcoming personal fears and traumas, themes of building character through reliance on others, overcoming personal pride in order to work together and accomplishing a common goal are all very prevalent in the story. Throughout the course of the book, Bilbo must trust and work alongside his companions if he is to finish his quest, and as Bilbo explores beyond his familiar shire, the reader discovers alongside with him; acting as a perfect funnel of information about the massive world of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth. Tolkien is known for building massive worlds and their histories along with their immersive settings and peoples, often take inspiration from histories of multiple lands and peoples. This story is no exception, containing undertones about perseverance and trust in friends that can be interpretable in other parts of ones life. Throughout the many adventures that Bilbo has, the perils that he faces along with Gandalf and party are almost never revolving around the idea of acquiring massive treasures or even necessarily killing the dragon; but often about learning new aspects of their own lives that seemed insignificant before, or building as characters in a chaotic world. Such concepts are more than applicable to the real Earth, and maybe thats why so many fellow nerds around the world love to visit Middle Earth. So lets crack open another book, I hear that Gandalf has another adventure planned.