The Hobbit

The reading for this week, under the category of the Heroic Journey, was The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkein. The most memorable aspect of this novel is the mythical creatures. Every part of this novel is filled to the brim of interesting and unusual characters, including hobbits, dwarves, goblins, gollums, and many other talking animals as well as shape-shifting creatures. Each creature has it's own set of interesting characteristics in the way they, talk, act, and think. The main character, the hobbit, for example, is very nervous-minded and is constantly comparing his situation to how it would be more comfortable at home. The wizard, Gandolf, is depicted as wise and stern in his manner, and purely set on his one objective of guiding the troop of dwarves and Bilbo. The goblins are depicted as nasty creatures that rule part of the land, and hunt ferociously. These descriptions are what lead the story, keeping you interested in what creature might appear next along their journey. Particularly the personification of the animals was interesting and something that I enjoyed reading. The eagles were another great example of that personification, because they were described as being able to communicate with the dwarves, hobbit, and wizard. They were seen as strong yet terrifying to all of the other creatures of the land, including the tribe of travelers, as well as the goblins and wolves. This personification of the animals, and their unusual character are a defining part to the fantasy genre as a whole. It seems as though many of these types of stories have dwarves, elves, wizards, goblins, fairies, or talking animals, shape-shifters, or even dogs that can fully stand and serve food on their own. These characters are what gives the genre a mystical and intriguing storyline to follow. Overall, I liked the novel and the fact that it was unlike most of what I've read before (since I haven't read much fantasy), but I found it a bit slow even though it was a short novel.