There and Back Again - Essay Example

There and Back Again The stories of J. R. R. Tolkien are tales of wonder that have inspired cult like followings of obsessed readers who desire to enter into the world of Middle Earth. Using mythologies and histories to frame his world, themes of coping with loneliness, a sense of adventure, and the role of evil, he connects to the human condition through characters that are humanoid, but not necessarily human. Loneliness is addressed from multiple angles as Bilbo Baggins starts off in a relatively life, with his becoming a part of group alleviating that loneliness. His isolation from his fellow hobbits comes from being a bit different from the rest of his community because he actually seeks a bigger and more adventurous life. The sense of adventure and the need to pursue the unknown through the concept of the journey becomes an integral part of the storyline. The sense of true evil is subtle in this novel, but is still a part of the overall conflict as the group sets off on their journey. Tolkien relates the events of the journey of a small hero and a group of human like beings who reflect very human experiences through fantasy and story telling. Campbell discusses the issue of mythology in relationship to the monomyth which “will always be the one shape shifting, yet marvelously constant story that we find, together with a challengingly persistent suggestion of more remaining to be experienced than will ever be known or told” (1). Although it is all from the mind of Tolkien, the methods of storytelling seem both from a tradition and from an ancient source. Tolkien discussed the concept of the fairy story as it relates to the creation of new realms and places of old magic, as well as the affect of the history of the universe created in relationship to the telling of the present within the story. He states that “the Cauldron of Story has always been boiling, and to have continually added been added new bits, dainty and undainty” (Droight 480). Faerie is a place, the fairy story about that place. He places the creation of sub-creation within antiquity, which may account for the way in which the writing evokes a sense of old tales that existed before they were taken out of oral tradition and placed within written texts (Droight 480). The story of Bilbo Baggins is within a realm that contains creatures of fairy with a sense of origin in the back ground and the epic nature of a story that began with an oral tradition that was added to in its retelling. A sense of isolation and loneliness can be understood in relationship to the story as it evolves, and is continued in the reflective story of Gollum. From the beginning Bilbo is identified as the offspring of a Took, the Tooks being known for the attraction for being attracted to adventures, an aspect of Bilbo that has not yet been fully developed until this opportunity comes into his life. This aspect does provide for a bit of isolation from his community and begins his story in such a way as to make the reader understand that there is something just a little unique in this character that will begin the rest of his tale. The meeting up with Gandalf begins the ‘call to adventure’ for Bilbo. Bilbo reveals his knowledge of the old wizard through reflecting that he was the instigator of many of the adventures that the Tooks had experienced, making them a bit different than other Hobbits. Bilbo is set apart even from his comrades as they are used to the adventurous life and Bilbo acts as the center of a storm which whirls around him as he follows, innovates, and then isolates within the adventure to perform different actions that result in continuation when the end seemed near. During his encounter with Gollum, he is isolated, picking up the ring, the ‘precious’, in an act that he does not share with the others. Gollum is a reflection of the isolation that Bilbo has experienced, the dark version of a life that has gone off the normal path of Hobbit living and ended in the alienation that comes from being disassociated to one’s community. The story of Gollum is one of duality. While his story is not revealed until later in the series of books, the prequel of The Hobbit is where he is introduced and his inhuman nature reflects the ideas of the consequences of isolation from interactions with a community. In this same way, Bilbo becomes distracted from the life within the community of hobbits by searching for something else, making him unique and not quite fully a part of his immediate community as he begins to integrate into a larger community outside of the shire. According to Croft, Gollum is a single individual who houses two drives, rather than someone whose mind is divided (294). Even though he is focused on his ring, he will eventually be revealed for his duality. This does not become fully understood through only reading The Hobbit, but the origins and the background that is revealed at a later time is present in the interaction that occurs between Bilbo and Gollum down in the caverns. Through taking risks an individual alienates himself from his community and begins to reveal that in his unique choices he has revealed himself as something different from the rest of the community. In creating this sense of isolation and developing the uniqueness of Bilbo from his community, there is an attempt to explore the act of maturation as the individual grows into his sense of self. Lobdell discusses this ascent into his individuation as he undertakes psychoanalysis of Bilbo Baggins. He states that “Men may respond to these events because they are crouched in the symbolic terms of the universal unconscious whereby they express the vital stages of maturation” (Lobdell 30). Just as Campbell has expressed the hero’s journey as stages through which trials are endured, the hero must symbolicallydie in order to be reborn. As Bilbo meets Gollum, he has descended into the caverns in much the same way that it can be seen as the descent into hell from which the individual emerges reborn, having learned something of himself. Gollum also embodies the idea of evil, but is revealed for being pathetic more than present in a form that can act on his evil. According to Lobdell, “The Hobbit examines the nature of evil and the limits of man’s response to it, a fact often overlooked because the tone of The Hobbit identifies it as a fantasy belonging in the nursery” (7). Just as in Beowulf, The Hobbit explores evil through a series of increasingly more terrible monsters. Gollum’s duality is evident in The Hobbit as he is placed as one of the monsters that Bilbo encounters, but as his character moves into the Lord of the Rings series it becomes placed within a larger context. In The Hobbit he is an isolated creature with an obsession which has ruled his life. In the Lord of the Rings he becomes a damned soul through which he is part of a group who has fallen prey to the ring and to the other rings that were produced by Sauron (Lobdell 7). Even thought the story of the ring is not revealed in The Hobbit, there is no doubt that the object is malevolent in nature. It is clear that it has held Gollum in thrall to it and even in the reactions that Bilbo has to it, it has set up its nature as being addictive. It is religion that is the final element between Bilbo and Gollum as he gets away from the murderous intensions by Gollum. According to Lobdell, there is an element of faith that propels Bilbo past Gollum. As he takes a running jump over Gollum in order to get past him, “Faith: the leap in the dark that a man takes. Bilbo, a hobbit, takes it. The anti-climactic conclusion reinforces the Christian interpretation: man is weak and insignificant creature who through faith and God’s help overcomes insurmountable obstacles” (21). In taking this leap, he overcomes the obstacle of evil that has been placed between himself and being free of the cavern. The problem that emerges is that the way in which Bilbo takes possession of the ring begins a discourse on the nature of sin and how it translates into evil. Just as Bilbo is drawn to take the ring, so too was Gollum, therefore it brings into question whether or not Gollum is evil, and if he is, Bilbo having fallen into the identical trap of the ring, might also be interpreted as evil. The problem of evil as it is discussed by Van Inwagen can be expressed through the duality that emerges between Bilbo and Gollum, one at the advanced stages of an addiction with the other in the ‘honeymoon’ stage of that same addiction. Evil is in the interpretation, if looked at from the perspective of how both characters experience the influences. One must ask if the ring is the evil or if it is the responses of the humans who encounter it are inherently evil. If it is the responses, then it is unclear if it is evil or merely weaknesses that exist. Evil becomes subjective and diminished in the light of how circumstances influence its existence. The book The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien was written in a universe in which the principles of the faery world can be observed. The mythology of the book and the style in which it was written harkens back to the time when oral tradition was the primary method of spreading information and stories that have multiple interpretations. Through exploring the concept of isolation and alienation, the risks involved in taking such adventurous journeys are revealed for both their benefits and for the ways in which it creates isolation through the unique properties that come from having experienced such journeys. The nature of evil emerges as the events of the journey begin to challenge the protagonist, each one going deeper and deeper into the psychoanalysis of the nature of the hero that accompanies the story. The problem of evil is explored through defining the way in which it is interpreted through the situations that reflect the nature of the protagonist back to himself. The Hobbit explores these themes through a story that is complex and beautifully crafted, yet still filled with a sense of wonder that can appeal to its intended audience: children. Works Cited Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Novato, Calif: New World Library, 2008. Print. Croft, Janet B. Tolkien and Shakespeare: Essays on Shared Themes and Language. Jefferson, N.C. [u.a.: McFarland & Company, 2007. Print. Droight, Michael D. J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment. New \ York: Taylor and Francis, Inc., 2007. Van, Inwagen P. The Problem of Evil: The Gifford Lectures Delivered in the University of St Andrews in 2003. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print. Lobdell, Jared. A Tolkien Compass: Including J.r.r. Tolkiens Guide to the Names in the Lord of the Rings. La Salle, Ill: Open Court, 1975. Print. Tolkien, J R. R. The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again. New York: Ballantine Books, 1988. Print. Utz, Richard J, and Jesse G. Swan. Postmodern Medievalisms. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2004. Print. Read More