Panther Talk: The Hobbit

The Hobbit comes from our textbook list and I could probably make about five or six blogs about this wondeful book but I'll spare you with one really long blog.

Tolkien, J. R. R. (1937). The Hobbit or There and Back Again. United Kingdom: George Allen & Unwin.

Tolkien is by far my favorite author at this point and I find myself immersed in his world each time I pick up a piece of his work. Unfortunately the grade level that I work with and the ability levels of my students do not permit me to use Tolkien’s work in my class. However, I can still read and enjoy on my own.

Several years ago I was sitting in a movie theatre and watched a trailer for the Lord of the Rings. To that point I had only heard of the books and since I wasn’t a big reader the urge never hit me to even give them a glance. Needless to say the movies spurred my interest and over the past ten years I have read the Lord of the Rings at least once per year. I love depth when it comes to films or books and Tolkien definitely provides that. He has created a fantasy world that is so rich in structure that it could pass for reality. After reading Lord of the Rings I immediately went to book store and bought The Hobbit and a few other Tolkien pieces. The similarity in writing style between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is drastic. The tone in The Hobbit is more child-oriented and in books with illustrations the pictures are geared more toward a younger audience.

The Hobbit begins simple enough, Bilbo Baggins is sitting at home when Gandalf the wizard approaches. Gandalf, unbeknownst to Bilbo, is able to set up an adventure that will change the fate of an entire world. As a reader I would strongly urge anyone who hasn’t read The Hobbit to first read The Lord of the Rings. Doing this will allow the reader to draw connections from each story and actually help the reader see the importance of each event within The Hobbit. In The Hobbit Bilbo finds a golden ring in Gollum’s cave that throughout the book is simply a magic ring that aids Bilbo and his party of Dwarves in their quest to retake their fortune from Smaug. However, having read Lord of the Rings allows the reader to see what an impactful discovery this truly was. Bilbo’s reluctance to share the ring and how he used it foreshadows the true power of the ring and how truly important this event was.

Bilbo is the protagonist in this story and there are antagonists littered throughout the tale. Early on the Dwarves serve as antagonists who mess up Bilbo’s quite unassuming life in the Shire. Later own the party runs afoul of Cave Trolls, orcs, spiders, wargs, elves, and eventually Smaug the Dragon. The Hobbit is fantasy throughout as each of the characters has a language of their own and the story even has a shape-shifting man/bear, flying eagles, and birds that communicate with Dwarves. Tolkien uses personification throughout this novel to add a human element and draw the reader further into his world.

The irony of this tale is that at its beginning Bilbo is simply called the burglar and his worth within the party is not highly valued. However, in the end Bilbo has forged friendships with many races of creatures in Middle Earth and his sacrifices forge the way for his friends. I love the way Tolkien uses an omniscient narrator to tell the story.

This is a wonderful story and would be excellent to use in classrooms around the fourth grade level or higher. Classroom activities would be:

*Use the book to compare/contrast realistic and non-realistic fiction.

*Have students write a journal entry stating what character they would be or what race of people would they come from (elf, dwarf, hobbit, etc.)