Perspective in “The Hobbit”

 Perspective in The Hobbit

Introduction
The Hobbit is an excellent, lighthearted adventure novel written for children by JRR Tolkien. However, don’t be fooled by the silly jokes and linear story. The Hobbit is more complex than it seems, where perspective and relative tone underscore major world-building principles. 

Perspective and relative tone 

In-universe, The Hobbit was written by the main character Bilbo Baggins. Within the book, Tolkien presents himself as a translator and narrator of Bilbo’s tale rather than the author. Even without being introduced to Bilbo as a character, his perspective and personality become apparent through the book’s writing style, especially when compared to the Tolkien’s other books. Even though the real life author is the same, The Hobbit does not share the same tone or style as The Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion. The differences in tone and style therefore seem to be purposefully incorporated as an indication of the different in-universe authors’ perspectives. 

For instance, in The Hobbit, if a character is not crucial to the main story or directly introduced to Bilbo himself, they are not mentioned by named. Instead, they are described based on their race or role. One such character was the Elvenking of Mirkwood. Though it is elsewhere established that his name is Thranduil, he is only ever referred to as “the Elvenking” in Bilbo’s tale. As the readers, we can interpret this to mean either that Bilbo did not know his name, or that he did not think it was important to include. Because of the pivotal role the Elvenking plays in aiding the people of Laketown, and eventually defending the Lonely Mountain, it was likely the former. Not mentioning the name of such a character adds an air of mystery and simplicity to the story, implying there is more to the fantasy world in which Bilbo lives in than meets eye. 

In contrast, The Silmarillion includes the names of almost every single character, even if they are only mentioned once or have nothing to do with the over-arching storyline. The simplistic perspective of an adventurer is replaced with the complex, detail-oriented perspective of a scholar. The epic-styled tale also presents continuous symbolism and innumerable outlets for interpretation. The in-universe authors of this book are Elves and Men who are writers, poets, and historians by profession. Because they understand so much of the fantasy world that Bilbo is unaware of, The Silmarillion goes beyond literal descriptions and reaches into the theoretical and ideological aspects of the Lord of the Rings universe.  

Throughout The Hobbit, there is an emphasis on jovial and humorous happenings, and a glossing over of troublesome situations. For example, when Thorin’s company reaches the outskirts of Rivendell, they are greeted by merry elves, singing and teasing the new arrivals. When they reach the house of Elrond they are kindly received and join in a midsummer celebration. This fun, comedic scene in Imladris shares some similarities with the one in The Lord of the Rings, but it is not quite the same. After Frodo awakes and more people arrive, they are kindly received, there is a feast and there is singing (mostly done by Bilbo), but it all has a much more serious, formal tone. 

While some of this seriousness in The Lord of the Rings can be attributed to the gravity of the circumstance, events that should be considered serious in The Hobbit are not always presented as such. Bilbo was very near being killed several times, but all the while his tale retains its comedic tone. For instance, as he was being chased by the spiders in Mirkwood, he called them silly names and sang songs to insult them. Even at the end of the book, the deaths and FIli and Kili were almost entirely overlooked, and we only ever read about the aftermath of Thorin’s fatal standoff. Bilbo’s quest was serious and dangerous, it’s just described in a lighthearted fashion. 

The contrasting tones and perspectives in Tolkien’s books contribute to the fantasy world in which they take place. Including the existence of multiple points of views within the writing reminds the readers that there are different sorts of people in Middle Earth, just like there are different sorts of people in real life. This reminder adds an element of realism and applicability to a fictional universe. Furthermore, the depiction of different perspectives facilitates a reader’s understanding of the underlying messages and themes of the different books. 

When we read The Hobbit, we see the adventure through Bilbo’s eyes. Fitting to the theme of the novel, he is only one small hobbit in a big world — who did great things.