The Hobbit: Bilbo Character Development

Avery George

Professor Baldwin

Honors English

3 February 2023

An In-Depth Analysis of the Character Development of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit At the beginning of The Hobbit Bilbo was a non-adventurous character. Throughout the book we get to see him come out of his shell more and more, but why? There is no denying that almost every character contributed to the development of Bilbo, but some characters help more than others. Throughout the book, Gandalf has believed in Bilbo from the start and helped to make Bilbo believe in himself. On the other side, the Dwarfs have given Bilbo a hard time since the start and made him work for any received title. And finally, Gollum was a big character to show Bilbo what he could become if he bears his

At the beginning of The Hobbit, we meet Gandalf. Gandalf is a potent wizard that is known throughout the land, and he recruits Bilbo to be the burglar in their quest to restore the king under the mountain. At first, Bilbo does not accept this offer because that would be completely and utterly out of his comfort zone. But Gandalf does not give up on Bilbo just yet. Gandalf sees something in Biblo and knows that he has great potential to do amazing things. Chapterer one, “An Un-Expected Party,” states, “This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighborhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected: you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking him.” (pdf 31). This tells the reader that Bilbo Baggins does nothing out of pocket and is a very predictable hobbit. But all of this changes when Gandalf comes and stands outside Bilbo's hobbit hole. In chapter one, “An Un-Expected Party,” also says, “Yes, you have! Twice now. My pardon. I will give it to you. In fact, I will go so far as to send you on this adventure. Very amusing for me, very good for you—and profitable too, very likely, if you ever get over it.” “Sorry! I don’t want any adventures,

Gollum is a potential hobit that was outcasted from his community. He found one of the rings of power and has lived in a cave ever since. The ring belonged to an evil power so the ring has the power to currpot you and potentially make you go crazy. There are other rings of power that all have a certian gift, and this ring has the power to make you turn invisible. We meet Gollum in the dark tunnles under the goblin cave. Gollum is described as a small slimy creature that nobody knows where came from (pdf 83), but judging by the context clues in the novel you can infer that he once was a hobbit. In chapter 5, “Riddles In The Dark,” it states, “Bless us and splash us, my precioussss! I guess it’s a choice feast; at least a tasty morsel it’d make us, gollum!” And when he said Gollumm he made a horrible swallowing noise in his throat. That is how he got his name, though he always called himself ‘my precious’.” (pdf 84). This tells the reader that Gollum has been in isolation for so long that he has turned to insanity. Throughout the rest of the chapter, the reader gets to see how the isolation has really gotten to Gollum, and made him the vile creature that he is now. Gollum and Bilbo end up playing a riddle game and if Gollum wins then he gets to eat Bilbo, but if Bilbo wins then Gollum has to show Bilbo the way out of the tunnel.