The Hobbit
The HobbitIntroduction The book I read and analyzed was �The
Hobbit� by J.R.R. Tolkein. I shall discuss the plot and
character development, setting, author�s style and my
opinions about it. Plot Development There are too many
characters in the story and so it is hard to follow and know
each one of them. (There are many dwarves and it�s
confusing.) In the beginning there is an introduction where
the author tells a bit about what is a hobbit and the hobbit�s
(Bilbo) family. It is not very complicated and the author
makes it easy to understand. This introduction gives the
general background, which makes the story easier to
understand, for the plot and its development. The plot
development in the middle is not complicated and easy to
follow. It can even be summarized in a few sentences. The
ending is expected since the author gives hints about it. As in
the introduction when he says that the hobbit would gain
something, this means that he will not die. Then, the reader is
not kept in suspense and does not expect to see what
happens at the end. The last climax (or what is supposed to
be the climax) takes a long time to occur (the last
fight�good (men, elves, dwarves & eagles) vs. evil (wargs
& goblins)) and this reduces its effectiveness. After the
climax there is the long return home. It is quite boring since
there is nothing to expect to and the reader knows that the
hobbit would get home safely. In my opinion it should have
been shorter. Character Development The creation of the
characters is done by their dialogues and monologues,
actions and things noted by the narrator (the author in this
case) himself. An example for dialogue: �All the same, I
should like it all plain and clear, also I should like to know
about risks, out-of-pocket expenses...� (by Bilbo, page 22,
it shows that he is not ready to jump into things so quickly).
An example for a monologue: �Now is the time for our
esteemed Mr. Baggins, who has proved himself...� (by
Thorin, page 210, it shows Thorin�s style). A good example
for action is when Thorin blocked the Gate in the mountain
that shows the reader that the treasure is important to Thorin
and he rather die than giving it away. An example for notes
by the author: �You are familiar with Thorin�s style on
important occasions...� (page 210) the author talks directly
to the reader and helps him understand the text. Each
character has a physical description. The length and content
of the description increase as the character importance to
the plot increases (e.g., the hobbit has very long descriptions
in the story (especially in the introduction) and the Elvenking
has fewer descriptions). The more important characters get
an emotional description too, but it is not well seen, but it
can be extracted from the text by analyzing it. The example I
gave before about Bilbo not rushing into things is a good
example for this too. The central figure is the hobbit, Bilbo.
He is the one that makes many things occur by his mistakes
and luck. The author gives long descriptions of him and
refers to him a lot, he also made him save his companions�
life and without him the plot would not have been the same.
The supporting cast is divided into the more important
characters (such as the dwarves and Gandalf) into less
important and less described ones (such as the elf guards
that caught the party in the woods). It is hard to believe that
the characters can exist in reality since they cannot, and they
are not supposed to since it is a fantasy book. Setting The
story occurs in the imaginary
world�Middle-earth�created by the author, it is
appropriate since creatures that are found in the book (e.g.,
goblins and dwarves) do not exist in our world. Since the
story happens in many places over Middle-earth the author
gives a deep description only in places where important
things to the plot happen but in other places he gives a more
general description. Most places make the reader have a
picture in his brain of them, the author uses the appropriate
words and gives good descriptions. It takes the story about
a year to occur. It starts at the spring and ends in about the
same time the year after. Parts of the story take place in
every time of the day (and night). The mood is of fantasy
world, where everything (like magic and huge treasures) can
appear and happen. Author�s Style The words used in the
book are not very complicated, but there are some words
that are not longer in use, or used just in poets (such as �ere�
in some dialogues). The style in which the dialogues are
written depends on who is talking and when (e.g., when the
Elvenking talked to Thorin he did not treat him with respect
(because elves hated dwarves) and so did Thorin because
he was offended with his captivation). There was no
suspense in the story, because of the author that destroyed it
right at the beginning and with his hints all over the story,
saying that the hobbit and his friends would win and get what
they wanted. At the end it was clear that the good people
are going to win the battle against the evil. The plot is not
very complicated and it can be summarized by one
paragraph or something like this. Critic�s Choice Although I
like fantasy style, I did not really like this book. The book
was the worst fantasy book I ever read, although I know
that the author is considered to be one of the people that
gave the fantasy style a great push. Even though the book is
well written there are some faults that make it boring and
uninteresting (such as the lack of suspense that I already
discussed before). Comparing this book to the �Dragon
Lance� series and especially the first, original ones, by
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman the �Dragon Lance� is
much better. For this book to be more interesting some
changes need to be made, like dropping all the notes that the
author puts in about the characters. These notes that
reduced the suspense made the book very boring and I even
fell asleep once reading it. If you want to read a fantasy
book, you should skip this one and read a book of Margaret
Weis and Tracy Hickman that are better authors. If this
writer (died?) wants to continue writing, let it be, but he
should not expect me to read it.