My Call to Adventure: Reading The Hobbit

Well, it finally happened. I picked up The Hobbit. I’d managed to avoid it for this long, but, much like Gandalf arriving at Bilbo Baggins’ hobbit hole, it was time.

The Hobbit follows Joseph Campbell’s cycle of the Hero’s Journey pretty standardly, despite the fact that J.R.R. Tolkien was a linguist who created Middle Earth’s languages and world before the story, and did not originally intend for it to be published.

For example, Bilbo refuses the call to supernatural aid by denying Gandalf’s request to serve as the group’s burglar, but changing his mind after the rowdy group sets out on their adventure. Another example is the road of trials. The group endures numerous challenges before even facing the goal of their quest, the dragon Smaug, such as being kidnapped by trolls and elves. A byproduct of the road of trials manifests in The Battle of Five Armies. The book ends as the Hero’s Journey does, with Bilbo returning to his original world and free to live life as out-of-the ordinary as he wants.

The Hobbit is so immersive and has reached legendary status because of Tolkien’s attention to detail and the time he devoted to his life’s work.

Even before knowing anything about Tolkien’s personal life, I admire his impeccable detail. A book of over 90,000 words and a movie introduction of over 40 minutes long sure packs in a lot of information. Plus, I’m sure Tolkien had even more to say.

An unexpected part of the book was the humor. As someone with almost no background knowledge of the book, I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was not an explanation of how golf was invented. (If you’re wondering, Bilbo’s great grand-uncle, who was large enough to ride a horse, knocked off the goblin king’s head in the Battle of Greenfields.)

However, the lack of women is worth addressing, and the fact that the movie director had to invent female parts to appeal to the demographic of young girls. Maybe Tolkien doesn’t “get” women. But there isn’t much to say other than story can connect with anyone beyond gender, and The Hobbit was published in 1932, which was not a great time for minorities.

Consumers and especially modern artists can still learn from and appreciate older works, but acknowledge their possible flaws and understand the time period in which they are produced. We can absorb so much from The Hobbit about creating an engaging world, from language, culture, and magical creatures, along with what to improve on in future works.