Joseph Campbell defined a hero as "someone who has decided to dedicate their time and effort to a greater cause outside of themselves". Heroes are, therefore, required to be more concerned with the welfare of others than their own. However, even though Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit" does not fit this archetypal definition of a hero, he does demonstrate in various ways that he is indeed a hero. However, as the story progresses, Bilbo begins to demonstrate abilities of a typical epic hero such as courage, shrewdness, and strength which cements his character as a hero.
At the beginning of the novel, Bilbo comes across as an egoistic and indolent character that is not expected to save the lives of others and throughout the story, he must, therefore, strive to overcome his flaws and rise up to the occasion by saving the day. Unlike the typical hero in an epic, Baggins does not have the required stability and vigor which he then makes up for by becoming cunning, patient, and committed to his acquaintances.
In a sense, Baggins undergoes a transformation of character as the story progresses; from the anti-hero to a real hero by overcoming some of the flaws he initially possessed such as lack of courage and indolence. It was these flaws that were holding him back from achieving his full potential for which he had to be pushed out of his comfort zone on numerous occasions during his quest with the dwarfs.
The ability to come up with cunning strategies to accomplish a goal or overcome an adversary is one of the qualities that Baggins develops as part of his transformation in the story. The lack of cunning on Bilbo`s part was apparent at the beginning of the story whereby; Bilbo could not recognize that he was being tricked by Gandalf into joining his quest. And it is from this lack of common intelligence that Bagging's character slowly develops who eventually learns how to defuse potentially dangerous situations by using cunning strategies.
One such moment was when Bilbo came across Gollum, a creature whose sole intention was to consume him. Once he came across the beast he devised a plan to buy himself more time before the beast carried out its intentions; he proposed that they engage in a game of riddles with the condition that whoever won got their way. This is an alert moment by Bilbo because over the course of the game he goes on to win by coming up with difficult riddles that Gollum could not solve such as asking the beast to guess what he had in his pockets (Tolkien 78). In the end, Gollum was confused enough to let Bilbo go without harming him.
His cunning can be seen to improve when he comes across Smaug, who unlike Gollum, did not seem to harbor ill intentions and spoke of desirable things such as treasure. It is in this instance that Bilbo recognized he was dealing with an even more dangerous adversary and quickly came up with a plan of how to defeat the dragon. Through flattery and talking using riddles in his speech, he is able to gain the attention of the dragon which enabled him to outmaneuver the dragon by finding out what his weakness was.
Despite the dragon being quite a worthy adversary who had managed to defeat his adversaries for over 150 years Baggins is able to show that his cunning ability had significantly improved since the story began with him getting tricked into joining a quest by Gandalf.
Another quality of a hero hat Bilbo gradually develops in the story is courage; the character, unlike a typical hero, has little courage when the novel begins but it can be observed that as the story progresses he is able to find it within him to become courageous. His journey in discovering and unleashing his inner courage begins with an attempt at stealing from a troll and although this does not end as he hoped because he was caught it took a lot of courage to carry out his intentions.
In the story, we are told that "Bilbo plucked up courage and put his little hand in William's pocket." (Tolkien 36). This signifies that Bilbo was slowly gaining courage and that he could act on it to try and accomplish his goals.
As the story progresses Bilbo begins to develop even more courage in various instances in the story and one of them was when he bumped into the evil spiders of Mirkwood. Having been initially captured by the spiders, Baggins found courage from within himself to free himself and eliminate the threat.
These courageous acts enhanced the character's confidence which spurred him on to continue taking courageous actions such as that of killing the wicked spider guarding them. After eliminating the spider, the author ends by describing that by killing the spider alone, "He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath" (Tolkien 156)
It can be seen that Bilbo is slowly developing heroic qualities having begun the story as an antihero. His acts of courage will lead to his greatest test yet which was his encounter with Smaug during which he showed the utmost courage which enabled him to defeat the dragon by realizing what was the dragon`s weakness.
By overcoming fear Bilbo accepts to challenge the mighty dragon which plays a crucial role in his victory over the dragon. Following this brave act, Bilbo`s status as a hero can be said to have been cemented which signified that he had undergone a transformation from an antihero to a real hero.
Apart from developing new skills that make him a real hero, Bilbo also showed that some of his characteristics of an antihero, could be turned into his biggest strengths and most endearing heroic qualities. Loyalty and selflessness were some of the strong qualities that Bilbo does seem to possess throughout the story; it was apparent he was totally commitment to the welfare of his companions which was one of his important heroic qualities.
Bilbo has on countless occasions demonstrated that his loyalty lies with those depended upon him and was, therefore, not driven by his interests when making major decisions in the story. This quality satisfies the typical definition of a hero according to Joseph Campbell who explained that a hero is mainly driven by the needs of others and not what they stand to gain or lose from a situation.
In the story, Bilbo has proved his loyalty over and over again, one such moment is when he rescued his companions from the evil spiders at Mirkwood. In this instance, Bilbo chose to sacrifice himself by deciding to engage in a rescue attempt which was ultimately successful (Pearce 35). By acting boldly on behalf of his companions Bilbo demonstrated exceptional heroism finally managing to free the dwarves and himself from the spiders.
Another instance when Bilbo demonstrated loyalty towards his companions was when he rescued the dwarves again; this time from being imprisoned for an eternity by the wood elves when they were captured in their cave. It was Bilbo`s loyalty that directed him to muster the courage and cunning to come up with a rescue plan instead of considering abandoning the dwarves (Pearce 38). However, his greatest test of loyalty would come during "the Battle of Five Armies" which would see him hand over the Arkenstone to Bard in what can initially be viewed as an act of betrayal.
Handing over the Arkenstone to Bard was a heroic deed by Bilbo because in doing so, he averted a war that would have ultimately resulted in casualties for all the parties involved and it is with such considerations in mind, that Bilbo decided to hand over the ring to Bard. Being a true hero, his loyalty was with his companions whom he stands to lose in the ensuing battle upon realizing this, Bilbo acted like a hero when he decided to give up the Arkenstone (Pearce 53). Averting a war was Bilbo`s intention as was revealed during his interrogation by Bard when asked whether that was an act of betrayal Bilbo replied "My dear Bard! I am merely trying to avoid trouble for all concerned" (Tolkien 272).
Additionally, when called upon by the Elven-King to stay behind with them fearing Thorin`s wrath if he chose to leave but in spite of this Bilbo still chose to be loyal to his friends by refusing to stay in order to leave with his friends. Bilbo can be heard replying "Thank you very much I am sure, but I don't think I ought to leave my friends like this, after all, we have gone through together" when asked to stay behind (Tolkien 273). Bilbo does not forget that his loyalty lies with his companions and was not afraid of any negative consequences that may arise from this decision. By choosing loyalty over fear Bilbo once again demonstrated that he was indeed a hero.
Conclusion
Bilbo undergoes a transformation in the story from an antihero in the beginning, to a real hero when the story ends. In the beginning, the character does not possess traditional qualities of a hero in an epic however, he gradually develops them naturally as the story progresses. During the quest with the dwarves, Bilbo managed to develop cunning, courage, and loyalty which occasioned the success he experienced during various situations in the quest. It is only towards the end of the story does the reader become aware of the heroic abilities that the character had developed as the story progressed. It can therefore be concluded that Bilbo is indeed an actual hero in the story who could be depended upon to ensure safety and protection to those that were dependent on him.
Works Cited
Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. The hobbit. Hocughton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Pp 36-273.
Pearce, Joseph. Bilbo's Journey: Discovering the Hidden Meaning of The Hobbit. TAN Books, 2012. Pp 34-56.
