Analyis Help

[pezboy567]

Hey,
I am doing a research paper on this cool book and was wondering if anyone on here is famous and could give me their point of view on a few things from the book.

Like...
What inspired Tolkien to write the hobbit?

Are the different creatures inspired from his life?

Who does the dragon represent?

or anyother opinions
Email me at pezboy567@yahoo.com
Nathan

[Inoldonil]

A)You're not going to find anyone "famous" on this forum.

B)Noone on this forum will help you with your project, and most people on these kinds of forums do not think it right to aid you in what can be considered cheating. (Especially since J.R.R. Tolkien refused to help a reader who asked more or less the same thing).

But I will tell you that everyone here (not that I've been here a while) will tell you that although themes and certain kinds of reflections are evident in J.R.R. Tolkien's works, he despises allegory, and you won't find much of it in The Hobbit. You'll be better off visiting informational websites, but if you can find the Tolkien Sarcasm Page, you should find all you need to know about Tolkien and his grand works. It's very accurate too!

[Eruve]

Hey, Inoldonil, that's not nice! Whatever you do don't rely on the Tolkien Sarcasm Page (of course the title should be your frist tip-off). It's great for a good laugh, though. OTOH, I'm not inclined to do anyone's homework for them, either...

[Inoldonil]

You ruined it Eruve! I know about the Tolkien Sarcasm page. _He_ doesn't. If newspapers don't get the hint by the title, I certainly didn't expect he would. Talk about ironic sarcasm.........

[Gilthalion]

Must remain in control.

Must not flame pezboy567.

Must not send his email address to junkmail lists.

Must not give in to the dark side...

[Ghost of Gilthalion]

Some of these answers may even be correct! If you have studied, or paid the slightest bit of attention, you might actually be able to pass a multiple choice test.


What inspired Tolkien to write the hobbit?

a) Money. During the Great Depression, he had a lot of time on his hands and thought that if he could sell a book, it would be the start of a brilliant literary career.

b) Entertaining his children. This was a children's story that was accidentally left in a publisher's office instead of a translation of Gawain the Green Knight.

c) Maintaining his sanity during World War I. Tolkien served in the trenches and never quite recovered from battle-fatigue or shell shock as it was called in those days. Writing the book was theraputic.

d) He was grading papers. On a paper he was grading, he wrote, for no real reason, "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."


Are the different creatures inspired from his life?

a) Yes. Tolkien often drew inspiration from life around him. The Hobbits were British, the Goblins were Germans, the Dwarves were Jews, and the Elves were French.

b) No. Tolkien was inspired by ancient legends and myths of Northern Europe.

c) Maybe. Tolkien, like all of us, drew his understanding from his own perspective of the world.


Who does the dragon represent?

a) Satan. Tolkien was a religious man who understood the implications of dragons in myth and religion.

b) Tolkien's boss. Tolkien was a specialist in languages and loved word games. The name "Smaug" is from the name of his employer Steven Guam --S. Guam =sguam =smuag =smaug

c) Tolkien's father. Tolkien had a bad relationship with his father, who was an alcoholic and abusive.

d) Capitalists. Tolkien was a devout Marxist who despised the rich industrialists who ravaged the lands about them and kept all the wealth for themselves.


I certainly hoped that this was helpful!

Especially if it helped you understand that you need to do your own work, duh!

[Eruve]

I knew you knew about the TSP, but I don't think it's quite fair to lead a poor student astray this way, so the warning was for pezboy. LOL about the journalist, though; I thought of that gaffe, too!
Besides, I figured Gil. would be along with one of his famous multiple choice answers! They're priceless!

[Morkhon]

I don't get this. Pezboy, unlike some of the people that post for help, sounds like he has read the book. He's just asking for some ideas, not for someone to write his paper for him.

P.S. I don't even know the answer to one of those question Gil, unless someone has knowledge outside of the books about Tolkien they aren't going to know them either.

[pezboy567]

Hey,
Yeah I have read the book but the I am required to have other ppls opinions in the paper I am writing. I thought that having some ppl comment on the book at a fan forum might be a cool resource and I was not CHEATING

[pezboy567]

Oh and just to let you know that I have done some research!
Number 1
B
Number 2
B
Number 3
Dont know about this one yet!

[bmilder]

Hehe sorry about that pb, we get a lot of people who really do want to help them just cheat, but opinions are a different story.. :p

[Eruve]

The answer to #3 on Gil's multiple choice isn't obvious. I'm not so sure the dragon necessarily represents anything, beyond evil, or perhaps an insurmountable challenge. Tolkien, in his preface to LOTR tells us he doesn't like allegory, so I think one can go too far saying such-and-such represents this thing or that. That's JMHO...

BTW, the answer to the first multiple choice question is actually d. You can look up the full story in Humphrey Carpenter's biography.

[pezboy567]

Everywhere I have looked only says that it was written to entertain the children and that when translating Beowulf and Gawin! Please could you give me a little help on your opinion on the following topic I have decided at the time to use as my thesis!

Ok, Tolkien shows how easy it is to get pulled into an adventure, or in our life, something we dont want to do, by telling of the tale of Bilbo Baggins, the protaginist , and his quest to recover the lost treasure from the dragon Smaug!


Any help would be appreciated as I need at least 7 resources. I have 5 including the tolkien trail but I would really love to include one from a tolkien fan!!!!!

Thanks so much and I am sorry for the way I initially went about this!!
Nathan

[Inoldonil]

Sorry about that pez. The first question is actually both B and D! It started on an empty sheet of paper, where he wrote: "In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit" (or something along those lines). It evolved into a story for his children.

The last question is none of the above.

[Michael Martinez]

I won't send you to the Tolkien Sarcasm Page, either.

Tolkien did not start writing The Hobbit with that sentence on the back of the examination paper. He wrote the sentence and forgot about it, and a long time later came across the paper. By then he was in the habit of amusing his children by making up stories for them, so he made up The Hobbit. The story originated as an off-the-cuff oral tale.

At some point the story was written down and ended up in the hands of a family friend. That friend had an assistant who read it and suggested that Tolkien show it to Allen & Unwin. So Tolkien did that, got a contract, and he officially "rewrote" the story, expanding it and giving it the ending we're all familiar with.

There is nothing in The Hobbit which was inspired by his real-life experiences. Some people have suggested that the spiders represent such an experience but Tolkien denied it.

The Dwarves were originally updated versions of Dwarves from Norse/Germanic folklore. There are some elements of Celtic folklore in the story as well (such as the enchanted stream, the hunting Elves, the white hart, etc.).

The dragon doesn't represent any person, real or imagined. It's just a monster set there as the primary enemy in the tale.

[Gilthalion]

To repeat (with emphasis):

" Some of these answers may even be correct!"

[Elanor]

Well, I've been thinking about Smaug, and what he might represent. This sounds like the type of paper where you could come up with your own interpretation. The first time I read the Hobbit I wasn't exactly thinking of symbolic meaning, but I definitely think of Smaug as very evil and crafty. To me he represents childhood fears--as a childrens story this would ring true to all children who have had nightmares about the big thing who breathes heavily in the dark--the monster under the bed, if you know what I mean. If you're really looking for symbolic meaning, some other story elements might have it: the Arkenstone, the Ring, the smoke rings, the black arrow, the crack in the back of the cave that opens up to Goblin tunnels, Beorn, the wolves, Gandalf and his staff, the Eagles, etc etc etc.