Comparing Heroes: Bilbo And Sir Gawain

763 Words4 Pages

Mahdi Jaber
Mrs. Schwartz
British Literature
Dec 5 2015
Heroes
“Heroes represent the best of ourselves, respecting that we are human beings. A hero can be anyone from Gandhi to your classroom teacher, anyone who can show courage when faced with a problem. A hero is someone who is willing to help others in his or her best capacity (Martin).” Respectively, anyone can be a hero but heroes are classified as people with aspects including Faith, loyalty, modesty, courtesy, honor, and bravery. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines a hero as “a person who is admired for great or brave acts of fine qualities.” Bilbo and Sir Gawain have many aspects of a hero and they face similar experiences but their experiences also differ in many ways. Bilbo and Gawain’s stories compare and contrast in many ways including their background or experience, their approach, and their resolution but both heroes return back to their origin feeling heroic.

Bilbo’s Background or experience can be …show more content…

In the story “The Hobbit” Bilbo can be seen as the hero when he sacrifices his family’s name to be a part of the quest to get Thorin's gold back Bilbo's first approach is his attempt on stealing the trolls’ treasure. He later is met by the goblins, Gollum, elves, and spiders. Each fear he faces develops Bilbo as a hero, getting him ready for his greatest quest, stealing the treasure from Smaug.. Another example of Bilbo putting others before himself is the treasure he willing to give in order to bring peace to the men, elves, and dwarves. Last, but not least, Bilbo is willing to sacrifice his life for a cause bigger than himself. He risks his life on more than one occasion to save his friends and bring peace between the different races. Other heroes in the story include such men like Gandalf, Beorn, The Lord of the Eagles, Bard, and even Thorin in the