The Hero’s Journey in the Film: The Hobbit

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Heroes are present in many of the films produced today and these heroes generally follow both Campbell’s “Hero’s journey” and “Heroic Archetypes”. Some of Campbell’s tenets for a hero are that he must be called to a quest, he will face trials and tribulations, face temptation, complete a task, and eventually return home. The hero must also fit an archetype and its quest, fear, dragon, task, and virtue. Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is in fact one of the aforementioned heroes. Bilbo Baggins has always wanted an adventure and one day he is called on a quest to win back the Dwarfish kingdom of Erebor from the dragon, Smaug. Bilbo had not realized at the time of his departure that he was a hero and at first he even refused to go on the quest. Bilbo fits many of the tenets of the departure, initiation, and return of Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” along with one of his archetypes. Joseph Campbell defines a hero as “someone who has given his life to something bigger than himself” and this is what Bilbo Baggins has done by accepting his quest to aid the Dwarves on their journey to the Lonely Mountain.
The first step of Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” is the departure. Bilbo is first called to an adventure that sends him in a new direction. (Warren) Bilbo is sitting in his peaceful home, in the Shire, one day when Gandalf the Grey shows up with a pack of Dwarves to ask Bilbo to be the burglar on their mission to get their kingdom, Erebor, back from a dragon that resides there. Bilbo learns the history of these dwarves and how their kingdom was lost as the Dwarves eat his food and clutter up his home. Bilbo feels bad for the Dwarves, but he is scared to go on a quest from which he may not return therefore, Bilbo refuses th...

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...hers to help him therefore proving Bilbo to be the caregiver. Bilbo proves to himself and others he is more than capable of being the crews burglar and that he actually has a shot of completing this mission successfully. Bilbo still has a long way to go on his journey but thus far he has accomplished many arduous tasks and has proven himself a hero to all.

Works Cited

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Dir. Peter Jackson. By Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo Del Toro, and J.R.R Tolkien. Perf. Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, and Richard Armitage. 2012. DVD.
Warren, Liz. “Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps.” Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps.
Maricopa University, 1999.Web.14 Nov. 2012.
.
Campbell, Joseph. "Heroic Archetypes." The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1968. Print.

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