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The Hobbit
Having been a fan of the film adaptations for Tolkien’s works, I was some what surprised at parts of the Hobbit novel. The largest difference I saw was in the depiction of the elves. Those in the novel were of a very different nature than the solemn and serious personas of Peter Jackson. One of Tolkien’s most impressive aspects is his skill of world building; he not only tells stories but crafts new cultures. One of the highlights for myself during the class lecture was the discussion of importance of song in culture. This was something I had never thought to apply to literature that world builds. Upon reading The Hobbit I was shocked at the amount and nature of the songs Tolkien created, especially those of the elves. In the novel they seem almost child like, bubbly and joyous; a great contrast from the film. It is also because of aspects of the novel like this that I can detect how it started off as a tale for his children. The tone of the novel is so much lighter than that of the films.
   The idea of the hero’s journey was also a new idea to me, and I now find myself seeing its steps in a number of works and films I had not previously realized fallowed such a staple. Much of the parts of this story seem to scream the steps of the hero’s journey in my view. The first threshold for example is the troll camp, because it is where Bilbo first demonstrates his bravery. The belly of the whale is the goblin caves, where Bilbo is quite literally trapped in the belly of the mountain. It seems Tolkien fallowed these set out steps almost to the letter, yet the novel is still appealing and enjoyable and in no way seems to be hampered by the regulation of event play out.

While reading the novel I found myself not only connecting to Bilbo but also finding parallels between the novel and my own college experience (and its ties to the hero’s journey as a whole). The separation of moving away from home, the call to adventure my acceptance letter, and the first threshold as the first semester. Like Bilbo I find myself making new friends on this journey, and feel the same growing determination to see through to my goal.

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