The Hobbit

Dear Readers,

This evening for my dad's 50th birthday we went to the movie theater and saw "The Hobbit". This work of literary genius has long been one of special import to me because of the amazing influence of my mother. When I was small she decided to read it to me. It was the first book without pictures that she was going to experiment with and in so doing she helped to create the way that I am today. She told me that it was a magic book and that to see the pictures I would have to close my eyes and see in my head the things that she was reading. This helped me in many ways and although small, I remember some of the things about which I dreamed, owing to this work's spectacular quality.

J.R.R Tolkien is a true silver-tongued wordsmith, and I can think of no higher compliment than this. He didn't just write books or stories. He didn't just tell us about how an ordinary person did something that made a difference. He changed the world.

How is it that any of us dare to think more of ourselves than Bilbo Baggins did? How audacious can any man be at the accusation that he be something more than his own diminished character? How can any one person hope by any means to make the world any different, for the better or for the worse? Is it truly acceptable for us to leave our comfort zone and go on an adventure? Why do we even fathom that we could defeat a dragon? There is an unending stream of questions such as these. How can we stare down something so hard and still make the right decisions?

In thinking about The Hobbit, I understand a little more why it is so amazing. Tolkien didn't believe in the gray areas. He didn't believe that someone can waver in character and still hold his own against a troll. He showed us that true bravery comes from mercy rather than wrath. We see also that conflict is a part of life. One should never be the offender, but we must defend that which merits our defense.

People- all of you- we can't just sit idly by and watch as our world darkness. I want to be more like Bilbo Baggins, a little more like Gandalf, and have a touch of Thorin in me.

Thorin Oakenshield, although prideful, knows humility. He admits that he is wrong when he is the offender and he stands by the things he decides to do with unwaivering exactness. He does not compromise when he could, and he always supports and helps his kin.

Gandalf believes so fervently in people. He believes in the good that lies within hobbits, and I want to have more of that. Hobbits might as well be all of us here, living on this planet. We go about our day to day lives and sometimes we forget that there is a big world around us. Are we too scared to go out in it and do something, or are we just waiting for the right person to come and hire us to a crew for an adventure? I hope that I can be that person for someone. I want more than anything to see my friends and family happy and successful in life. That is why Gandalf strikes me so much.

I want to be like Bilbo the most though. He has everything to lose and seemingly nothing to gain from this quest, and yet the noble amazing part of him helps him to break free and do something amazing. How would I react given some situation like this? I would like to think that I could do it. Who knows though, not I. Bilbo is an example of determination to all of us, now and forever. He has true courage in him, and he has a good heart.

In our world of amazing dystopian novels about backstabbing and deceit it is a refreshing experience to have the moral black and white restored once more. When the good fight with the good and the bad with the bad. When those whose common ground has been shrinking working together for the truly greater good, we can see that there really is a distinction. I pondered about this thought tonight and found it a valid point for myself. We love conflict. If we didn't we would not have books or television in the way that we do now. The question then would arise- why? Do we love conflict to watch others suffer, or to know everything? To be the proverbial proprietor of conflict in our own lives? Do we just want to see something uncomfortable without having to feel personally responsible? Or could it be that we want a hero? Could it be that we as a race are constantly in a struggle and the thought of a hero that can overcome something gives us hope? I like to think that it is the latter. It is so with me. I want to see someone get on with life, to move ahead after a tragedy, to overcome something. Why? Simply because I find that in my own life at times I am at a loss for where to go and I need a sounding board. I need a secure foundation and a place to go when all else is turbulent. A dragon will not be my main problem, so I can always go there, to the world created by another, to find solace, to find a beacon, to find hope.

“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” 
― G.K. Chesterton

I love The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and I know that, if we let them, stories can change our lives. The only thing that we have to do is let them.

-Doug