Blooms Literary Themes - THE HEROS ... - ymerleksi - home

114J.R.R. Tolkien“Thank goodness,” said Bilbo, laughing, and handed himthe tobacco-jar.We will see all of Bilbo’s virtues again in the Hobbits in The Lordof the Rings, but it is worthwhile to pause here and sum up what wehave learned from Tolkien’s first story. Bilbo is not a “natural” hero: hislife up to the beginning of the story has not demanded heroism. Heneeds to be bullied into adventure by Gandalf and at first does littlemore than allow himself to be pushed into dangerous situations bythe Dwarves, who have a tendency to let Bilbo, the outsider, do thedirty work. (The Dwarves are not only united as Dwarves but are allmembers of one extended family.) However, Bilbo does do his bestwhen in these dangerous situations, and with each small and partialsuccess his confidence grows.To a certain extent Gandalf functions as a parental figure,pushing Bilbo to get him started but then stepping back to let Bilbostruggle and learn on his own. After Bilbo’s discovery of the ring andhis success in escaping from Gollum and the Goblins on his own,Gandalf soon removes himself entirely and lets Bilbo gradually takehis place as leader and protector of the Dwarves.In taking on this responsibility, Bilbo gradually grows fond ofhis grumbling, ungrateful companions and exhibits loyalty to themin situations in which they do little to deserve his loyalty. GraduallyBilbo assumes the parental role in place of Gandalf until, as we haveseen, “he had become the real leader in their adventures.”The Dwarves never entirely acknowledge this fact explicitly,however, and when lust for the treasure overcomes them, they soonrebel against Bilbo’s attempts to make a sensible peace. So Bilbo haslittle chance to develop a swelled head or become autocratic. However,he does receive praise from the Elf king, from Gandalf, and eventuallyfrom the Dwarves, and keeps his modest and sensible attitude despiteit. So the characteristic virtues of Bilbo might be summed up ascourage, loyalty, and humility—courage toward dangers and enemies,loyalty and love to friends, humility with regard to his own qualitiesand achievements.These characteristics also apply to the Hobbits we encounter in TheLord of the Rings, but they are found to a greater extent in Sam than inany of the other characters, This may seem surprising, for at the begin-