JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit

No matter the story or the scenery every adventure novel follows the same path. A hero that has yet to be discovered, even by himself. An ordinary man or boy with no distinguishing qualities with an ordinary life until the adventure of a lifetime comes his way. When the adventure comes that the hero refuses to accept, for he believes that he is nothing special or that he only be seen as a burden rather than helpful. When the hero accepts the quest he goes through a series of tests, tests that not only test the hero’s capability, but also the party’s loyalty and trust.

The Hobbit follows the same path as most adventure novels, with the exception that the hero isn’t a young man or teen. When Bilbo begins his journey he is already fifty years old, which is an unusual age for a protagonist to be. The story begins with the narrator telling the audience that the hobbits are a race that values ordinarity and shuns any type of adventure and those that seek it. Gandalf gives Bilbo the opportunity to leave the comforts of home and experience the adventure of a lifetime. When Bilbo accepts the call of adventure he begins his journey of self-discovery and great development, leaving behind his innocence and naivety of the world and experiencing it first hand. During Bilbo’s adventure he under goes a series of test that allow Bilbo to prove his worth and show the audience how much Bilbo has changed since the beginning of his journey. One of the major changes that Bilbo under goes that influences his actions for the rest of the journey is when he kills the giant spider in Mirkwood. The action of killing the spider and naming his sword are two major actions that greatly influence Bilbo. The killing of the spider gives Bilbo a greater understanding of the dwarves and begins to create a bond between him and the dwarves. This causes Bilbo to take their interest into consideration rather than just his own. The naming of Bilbo’s sword also shows the audience Bilbo’s beginning to claim his mantel of a hero.