I finished the Hobbit. It’s so good. It’s amazing. I read these stories. The ones that are supposed to be the best of all time and all that. The ones heralded beyond the rooftops at anyone who even thinks the word fantasy. And the moment when you realize that it lives up to it fully. It’s so well done.
Bilbo as a main character is so enjoyable. He’s an every man hero. He has the smallest expectations for himself and goes along with it all completely overshadowed and simply along for the ride. He has a bad moment during the trolls, but it’s not painful for the audience because the dwarves fall right into it as well. They are all only saved because of Gandalf.
I think that’s where the character of Bilbo comes in and how it carries the story so well. It works with the dwarves. You are annoyed by the dwarves the whole way through. They are annoying and grumbling and fight at every turn, but generally they come through when needed. But that’s what makes it so good. It plays off Bilbo. Who would come up with this as the heroic group to slay a dragon? It makes more sense that Bard does all the work when you think about it.
Imagine if Bilbo was a try hard. The audience would likely hate the dwarves. You have to have something that balances them out. What does Tolkien do? He makes Bilbo a coward. He Scooby and Shaggy’s him where he’s the most lovable coward every, but then something happens. He proves to himself that he has more Took in him than he realized and he’s braver and more capable than he knew. He pulls through.
Imagine a friend of yours is going up to play the piano. You know he’s bad. He just started playing and you heard him practicing. It’s going to be a train wreck. What’s more is that he’s invited his parents and his new girlfriend. New as in three dates new. You can feel the embarrassment building and building ready to punch you in the face like a jealous Mike Tyson.
But imagine that same friend. Gets up right before the concert starts. He clears his throat. The applause dies down. He states that it’s been a lifelong dream of his to play a concert on the piano. He is aware that he is not good. But he invites us to join him on an honest childhood dream he’s had and thanks everyone in the audience for understanding.
Imagine that. You would be free. You’re friend has risen above the embarrassment like a pigeon on jet packs. With every mistake you simply enjoy the time there and at the end you joyously bridge a moment with your fellow audience members in cheering him on.
Bilbo’s own expectations for himself and so low that there’s no expectation for him to accomplish anything. He’s free. There was a show called Spy. A British comedy, and like those are want to do, a man gets in way over his head. He signs up for a test and ends up hired by MI6. He’s an awkward guy. The kind who would apologize to you after you ran into him. But he does say that he’s not a spy and doesn’t know what he’s doing. This moment freed me. I didn’t have to worry any more.
Bilbo does this. And what it means is that it’s a stress free adventure. All we have to worry about is dying. I think that is something different from other fantasy stories. Stories where we live inside the character’s heads so much to where we get the continual string of worries and thoughts and hopes and embarrassment.
It also means that Bilbo’s not in a real position to hate the dwarves. It’s not Aragorn paired up with Thorin and the others. Imagine Thorin trying to throw Aragorn out of the Lonely Mountain after they have a disagreement on the division of treasure. He’d cut Thorin in half and that would be the end of it. All the dwarves in fact. They are grumbly and bumbly but Bilbo’s not in a superior position. They do pull through when the time comes for it. They were ready to go back for him into Moria. They didn’t want to, but even considering it and allowing Gandalf to push them to go back into that black abyss means a lot.
Even when Thorin falls into greed, most of the other dwarves are with Bilbo. And Thorin has his moment of redemption at the end. On his death bed he apologizes and wants to be friends before he dies. It’s a good moment.
When the characters are perfect the story seems easy. The Hobbit reads like a story that anyone could have written. I mean, the characters are there, the story all lines up, it’s simple. It’s so simple because of how well done it is. The story is so well crafted and well thought up.
They journey through the Wilds meeting new people and each meeting sets up the ending. Every point they have sets up an encounter in the future. The fact that the dwarves aren’t the best at adventuring set’s up Bard’s moment to kill Smaug. Think of Game of Thrones where Arya teleports out of nowhere and kills the Night King. Our boy Jon is slow and dumb, but that was supposed to be his moment. When Bard kills Smaug it catches us by surprise, but no one was under any illusion that Thorin was going to be able to kill him. Gandalf isn’t there.
The Goblins showing up. They were already planning a raid when Thorin and the company interrupted it. It makes sense when the army mobilizes to move on the mountain. Beorn and the Eagles show up to save the day makes sense. They were introduced before and there is significant time before everyone arrives at the mountain.
The hatred between Dwarves and Elves can only be mended and set aside by their united hatred for Goblins. It all makes sense. It’s so simply a story and it feels like the most obvious thing in the world.
He’s so good. I am tempted to re-read the trilogy again after this. It’s too good to pass up. His stories stick with you long after their done.