The book "The Hobbit", by J.R.R Tolkien, tells the tale
of a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins who embarks on a long and dangerous journey
with 13 dwarves and a wizard named Gandalf. Their goal is to kill a dragon, Smaug,
who long ago destroyed the dwarves' kingdom and now lived inside a mountain
with all of the kingdom's riches and treasure. Throughout the book, the crew
encounters various creatures, some friends and many enemies. So far I’ve
found that as the story moves on, Bilbo’s role in the team and confidence
changes and rises, especially shown in a few key events.
When the story first begins, Bilbo
wants nothing of the adventure and simply wants to resume his quiet and
peaceful life. The dwarves think he is useless and mock him by calling him a “little
fellow” and saying he was “more like a grocer than a burglar”. Calling him
these names sets a small fire in him that is enough to make him agree to the
adventure, a move he regrets many times later in the journey. I think this
event in the story showed that all Bilbo needed to give him some confidence and
set his adventurous side free was some motivation and having something to
prove.
The second event that really showed
Bilbo taking a further step with his bravery is when he gets separated from his
friends in the underground tunnels of the Misty Mountains. Bilbo encounters an
evil creature named Gollum, and happens to find Gollum’s invisibility ring, and
escapes from him. Bilbo finally achieves something on his own, and this alone
makes his bravery rise. He can finally show that he may only be a small hobbit,
but he can still survive and do brave things. Also, when he returns to his
companions, they congratulate him and praise him, and although he had the help
of the ring of invisibility, this makes his confidence skyrocket, showing that
all that Bilbo really needed was some recognition and appreciation to kick
start his bravery.
Finally, Bilbo’s bravery and warrior
side comes on full display when he must save his companions from a horde of
giant spiders in the Mirkwood forest. He fights off dozens of spiders and saves
his companions from sure death. This act of bravery shows he can really be of
use to the team. After this victory, Bilbo’s confidence skyrockets, as well as his
leadership role in the group. This display of bravery boosts his confidence
enormously and makes him a valuable asset.
I think these events showed that
sometimes it only takes a few things to completely change a person. Bilbo goes
from being a small hobbit with a quiet life fearing adventure, to a
giant-spider slaying hero, and mostly all it took was some recognition from his
friends, having something to prove, and helping the team in small ways until he
finally he really demonstrated bravery with his slaying of spiders. Not only
did these things boost his confidence and bravery, they also greatly changed his
role in the group. Gandalf the wizard leaves near midway in the journey, and
once Bilbo becomes more confident, he slowly becomes the leader and decision
maker of the group. This shows that it doesn’t take much to change someone to
be a leader who can make their own decisions and change lives.
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