ipl-logo

Foil Characters In The Hobbit

1126 Words5 Pages

The Hobbit Essay Study
Have you ever wondered why authors create certain characters? Each character has a specific task in a hero's journey. Some have the roles of friends, and some are mentors who teach and help the main character develop. Others are enemies whom the main character will battle in order to gain knowledge and strength. There are also characters whose main purpose in the story are to have contrast with the protagonist and help them develop. These characters don't necessarily have to be good or bad. They are called foils. Thorin Oakenshield is a foil in the Hobbit. Even though he’s perspective in the story is still questionable, but he plays one of the most important roles in Bilbo’s development of becoming a hero.
As a foil, …show more content…

With these traits, we are able to figure out how Thorin has changed Bilbo. Thorin’s transformation also highlighted. Bilbo’s heroic personality. Bilbo’s characteristics changed a lot through the whole story, and by comparing the before and after characteristics of Bilbo with Thorin’s , we’re able to figure out a pattern (Reword this). Lots of the good characteristics Bilbo gained during the journey are learned from Thorin. This helps us understand how Thorin guides Bilbo to become a hero. Bilbo starts off with as a boring character, but by comparing Thorin and Bilbo together, we will eventually pay more attention to Bilbo as a character. (Connnection between previous sentence and this)Thorin is the perfect model of an ancient hero. He was born into royalty, he is a subject of a prophecy, his parents are long gone, and he is going on a quest, and since the hobbit is set in a world where there’s magic, we assume Thorin is the hero. As for Bilbo, we do expect him to be a hero because he is the protagonist. So, it’s inevitable that we’re comparing Bilbo to Thorin. By comparing them, we can clearly see how Bilbo is slowly becoming braver and gaining confidence(parallel structure). The changes are also part of the 17 stages and it attracts more attention to Bilbo and to the book itself. Thorin also can be seen as a stepping stone the author gave to Bilbo. Bilbo learns good things from Thorin and uses him to transform into a complete hero. No matter what, without Thorin, Bilbo probably wouldn’t be as much of a hero as he is

Show More
Related
787 Words | 4 Pages

Even though this part of the hero’s journey was portrayed pretty similarly, there is still a bit of a difference. They both used their instincts, but Bilbo was influenced a bit by the dwarves. His Took side had shown while the dwarves were contemplating whether he was fit for the adventure or not. This made him want to prove himself to them. Instincts aren’t normally the cause of the call to adventure, but for some reason, these two very different novels are similar this way.

Read More
763 Words | 4 Pages

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

Read More
564 Words | 3 Pages

Where are you from, fairytale land? BILBO Look, if you don’t know where Thorin is, I need to go find him. KHAN I’ll made you a deal.

Read More
363 Words | 2 Pages

When people go places and step out of their comfort zones, sometimes they come back a different person. In The Hobbit, Bilbo is an ordinary hobbit, but after his adventure, it is apparent that Bilbo is now a hero. Three events that occur that show this transformation are when Bilbo jumps over Gollum, when Bilbo slays a spider, and when Bilbo travels to the Elvenking and Bard in order to make peace. The moment Bilbo leaps over Gollum demonstrates to the reader how Bilbo is beginning to go from hobbit to hero.

Read More
955 Words | 4 Pages

Bilbo’s Heroic Journey Essay In all the stories, tales, and novels there is always a main character, most of the time the main character is a hero or hero-like. A lot of the time the author would use a formula called The Hero’s Journey or The Archetypal Journey, it is a way for writers and authors to keep track and follow step by step in order to successfully form a heroic character in a story. The Heroic Journey was written by Joseph Campbell, he was an American mythologist and writer. Some people do not believe Bilbo Baggins in the novel The Hobbit does not follow the heroic journey, but I think he follows the heroic journey step by step.

Read More
489 Words | 2 Pages

By the time the Battle of the Five Armies commences, Thorin has incurred the contempt and disrespect of many of the book’s characters (and probably most readers). But to Thorin’s credit, he shows tremendous courage in attempting to reclaim his ancestors’ treasure from Smaug. We come to learn that his failings—which become apparent once he is inside the Lonely Mountain—are common to all dwarves, who possess a great desire for gold and a fierce, even arrogant

Read More
1005 Words | 5 Pages

Dustin Hon Mrs. Borihane English Honors 1 15 February 2023 Bilbo’s Archetype What is an archetypal hero? An archetypal hero is a protagonist who endeavors daunting challenges and accomplishing remarkable feats of valor, bravery, and virtue. In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the characterization of Bilbo Baggins both challenges and reinforces the traditional archetype of the hero in various ways.

Read More
414 Words | 2 Pages

Thorin Oakenshield should have a right to take his company on a journey for his ancestor’s claim. Throughout the entire journey, Thorin proves that he is a rightful leader. His family ancestry, skill, and his bravery prove that he has a right to his claim. Thorin comes from a family of Kings under the Mountain. There is his grandfather, Thror and his father, Thráin.

Read More
738 Words | 3 Pages

The Hobbit, a marvelous tale by the accomplished novelist J.R.R. Tolkien, closely follows the outline of the hero’s journey. Hero’s journey is the process where a protagonist in a story often completes in order to complete this quest. This is shown through three separate phases or acts called the departure, initiation, and the return with each act containing different stages of the plot. Because of it’s beautiful understanding of this process, The Hobbit is agreed to be one of the best examples of the hero’s journey use in modern day literature. Each step had an equal role to providing the prodigious anecdote’s importance to people across the world.

Read More
713 Words | 3 Pages

“Don’t be afraid to change. You may lose something good but you may gain something better.” In the Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien presents an unlikely hero, a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. Another important character in the novel is Gandalf, a wizard and an old family friend, forces Bilbo to come out of his comfort zone onto a journey to recover the dwarves name and gold from the evil dragon, Smaug. Bilbo fulfills the archetypal hero’s journey by starting of an in ordinary world ,facing Ordeal, Death, and Rebirth, and The Road Back while illustrating the theme of innovation.

Read More
764 Words | 4 Pages

Bilbo perfectly fits Joseph Campbell’s definition of a hero and his adventure parallels the journey that Campbell formulated many years ago. Bilbo’s actions and journey show that he risks his life for something bigger than himself, making himself a great

Read More
69 Words | 1 Pages

Good vs Evil is a common theme found in many forms of literature, with The Hobbit being no exception. Bilbo and his company are seen as the good in the book, on a journey to defeat an evil dragon, which is a noble mission. Meanwhile, characters like the dreaded Smaug, Gollum, or the brutish orcs, are the adversaries they face along the way, and are generally sinister in their

Read More
2273 Words | 10 Pages

Bilbo risks his own life to save the dwarves many times during the adventure, which in turn gains him the respect he deserves. This new respect that Bilbo has acquires gives him plenty of confidence in himself to get the job done, whatever it may be. This clearly shows that Bilbo's change from being ridiculed and doubted by the dwarves to being very highly respected is a dramatic one and deserves recognition. All Bilbo needed is a chance to prove the dwarves wrong, and that is what he gets when those same dwarves appear on his doorstep that sunny afternoon. Along with Bilbo Baggins becoming a braver and more respected hobbit, he also develops the most important change in the story; he changes from being incompetent to very resourceful.

Read More
450 Words | 2 Pages

In The hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien there is a character named Gollum which is in only a small part of the book but he plays a big role. First it tells how the ring got in the cave which you would not have known if not for Gollum. Second it shows the dwarves and Gandalf that bilbo can get himself out of some situations. Finally it shows adds an interesting aspect to the whole book because it adds the ring. So this adds something to the whole story.

Read More
1270 Words | 6 Pages

Along the way, they overcome many obstacles that threaten their lives and put their trust for one another to the test. Bilbo learns that there is more to him than he realizes and through hard work and dedication, he can accomplish almost anything. Overcoming these problems and learning more about himself helped Bilbo change from an ordinary, self-doubting hobbit into a clever, courage-filled, loyal hero. In the beginning, Bilbo has no desire to go on an adventure of any kind, but he quickly learns about the cleverness he obtains when he is forced to make quick decisions.

Read More

More about Foil Characters In The Hobbit

Related Topics

Open Document