Thursday, May 14, 2020

Treatment of Race in the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Hobbit is a novel about a complacent hobbit named Bilbo Baggins accompanying a group of thirteen dwarves - as their burglar - on a journey to regain the dwarves’ treasure from the vast, beastly dragon, Smaug. Along the adventure, Bilbo starts becoming the brave adventurer he was meant to be. While the story is a fun, adventurous tale, the stereotypes and racism of/in the character races could be seen as a reflection of discrimination in the early 1900s and modern days. The way character groups in The Hobbit are mistreated is similar to the way specific groups in society were treated in the early days. Character groups in the Hobbit include Trolls, Dwarves, Elves, Goblins, Hobbits, etc. Trolls are dull-witted, short-tempered and carnivores (three trolls captured the dwarves and tried to eat them. They speak with thick, cockney accents and they revert to stone when exposed to sunlight. Hobbits are about half human height with neither beards nor magic to them. They are lazy a nd fat and they wear no shoes. The Took side are adventurous while the Bagginses are content and happy. Goblins are ugly, filthy-fanged humanoids that capture the Dwarves and Bilbo for trespassing. They are infamous for their ability in making cruel weapons and torture devices. Goblins (also called Orcs) inhabit the Misty Mountains. Dwarves are shorter and stockier that humans and they are greedy and pretty tricky creatures. They are fierce in battle and they distrust elves. Dwarves are mainly positive

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