Prompt: Discuss how the work you read for this week reflects or doesn't reflect elements of the classic journey of the hero.
Response:
The book we read for this week was The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien which, unsurprisingly, reflects the classic hero's journey to a "T." This heavy reliance on the Heroic Journey, in addition to blending tried and true mythos from across the ages, is a large part of why this classic story has become so wildly successful. The story starts off in the "ordinary world" segment of the journey, in this case it is a quite shire where hobbits live peacefully. Bilbo Baggins meets a wizard named Gandolf who calls him to adventure with 13 dwarves, however, the small hobbit is so overwhelmed by the rambunctious dwarves that he initially refused his call to adventure, as dictated by the hero's journey set up. At the last moment Gandolf, Bilbo's mentor, changes his mind and Bilbo crosses the first threshold of the hero's journey by desperately running out of the shire to catch up with the dwarves on their mission.
The bulk of the story covers the "test/allies/enemies" portion of the hero's journey testing Bilbo with three trolls, the giant spiders and Gollum while introducing allies such as the Elves, Eagles, Beorn, and Lake town humans and enemies like the the goblins, the wargs, and the wood elves. This is all along the way to the "approach" of the Lonely mountain accumulating into the final ordeal which is a massive five army battle and defeat of the Smaug. Bilbo then receives a small amount of treasure from the dwarves as payment and takes the long way back home. After recovering from his wound in Rivendell, Bilbo finally returns to the Shire with gold and a new perspective on life and adventures. This then completes the Heroic Journey perfectly and finishes the epic tale of The Hobbit.
Notes:
Ordinary World, Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Class, Meeting the mentor, Crossing the Threshold, Tests/Allies/Enemies, Approach, Ordeal/Death&Rebirth, Reward/ Seizing the Sword, The Road Back, Resurrection, Return with Elixir
Hobbit Bilbo Baggins lives quietly in the shire, Gandalf asks Bilbo on an adventure, Overwhelmed by the 13 dwarves Bilbo refuses, Mentor Gandalf convinces him (the hobbit I once knew), Leaves the shire to catch up with the dwarves, Allies=( Elves, Eagles, Beorn, Lake town humans) Enemies= (the goblins, the wargs, and the wood elves) Trials= (3 trolls, the giant spiders and gollum) Tokens= (elvish dagger and magical ring), Approach the lonely mountain cave, Battle of 5 armies, Receives a bit of treasure, Take the long way back, recovers from wound and weariness in Rivendell, Comes back to shire with gold
