A Comparative Analysis of J.R.R Tolkien's the Hobbit
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JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 16, 2020 A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF J.R.R TOLKIEN’S THE HOBBIT AND IT’S FILM ADAPTATION T. Gokulapriya1, Dr. S. Selvalakshmi 1Ph D Scholar in English Dept, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore, India 2Professor & Head, Department of English , Karpagam Academy of Higher Education ,Coimbatore, India E-mail: [email protected] 1, [email protected] Received: 14 March 2020 Revised and Accepted: 8 July 2020 ABSTRACT: Every human being has the power of imagination, which most people use to think about life and make plans for their future. But, mostly, they do not think beyond the real world. Only a few people like novelists and scientists give more importance to their creativity. In fantasy novels, imaginative power is the key element to unlock a story which is stored in the mind. The author gives soul to the story with his imagination. J.R.R. Tolkien, a well-known twentieth century British writer, has used his incomparable imaginative power to create a new world ‗Middle-Earth‘ and a new creature like hobbit, a fictional character. ―In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit‖ (The Hobbit 3). Tolkien created Middle-Earth and fictional characters inspired by Anglo- Saxon literature when he was working as a professor of English Language and Literature in Merton College, Oxford. I. INTRODUCTION Fantasy has become a major area of profit-making fiction. Tolkien‘s The Hobbit is inscription on behalf of both kids and adult readers. The Hobbit is a fantasy novel influenced by the myths and languages of Northern European literature. The skillful use of Norse tradition has let him give the characters names such as Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Dwalin, Balin, Dain, Nain, Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf; they are extracts from the Old Norse literature and languages. The imaginative power of the author has helped him create the story and preach morals. Tolkien wrote stories and also poems in the early days of his writing career. In the 1930s he began to write what he had been narrating to his children, and it became a book that is now known as The Hobbit. In the 1960s, following the success of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, the publishers had to meet a new demand of the readers for literary fantasy works in the American book market. Many authors got inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien‘s works. His narrative style is natural and straight forward. The Hobbit has been written in straightforward language, and every character in the novel has a unique voice and strength. Even in the midst of dangerous situation the characters exhibit their sense of humor and resort to using songs, which shows Tolkien‘s poetic and aesthetic sense. Adaptation of a film is the transformation of a printed work; sometimes the director of the film takes the written work completely or takes only a few parts of it to make a motion picture; it is a kind of imitative work. From the nineteenth century, novels have been adapted into films in Europe. The Hobbit, written by Tolkien in 1936,wasmade into a film in New Zealand by director Peter Jackson, an extremely talented film maker and a pioneer of new cinema technology. The sequel of the films also won the Oscar Award. The story was divided into three parts for film adaptation, namely The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies. The screen plays of these films were written by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh Philippa Bouens and Guillermo Del Toro. The sequels of the film were released internationally on 12th, December, 2012. These films were nominated for the Academy Award for the Best Visual Effects, the Best Production Design and for the Best Makeup and Hairstyle. The story of The Hobbit is about a hobbit Bilbo Baggins, thirteen Dwarves and Wizard Gandalf who go on an adventure to the land of Middle-Earth. The narrative structure of the fiction consists of various tasks, and the author introduces certain creatures, some of which are helpful to the group and some others troublesome in the wild land. The team starts the adventure with the help of the wizard Gandalf. Through their journey to the lonely mountain, the dwarves and the isolated hero Bilbo Baggins are confronted by some good and evil characters and at last they manage to reach the mountain where dragon Smaug, the antagonist, lives on a huge amount of precious jewels of gold and silver stolen by the dragon from the Dwarf empire of Erebor. Now the treasure is guarded by Smaug, a dragon. The story narrates the way the team recovers the treasure after a lot of struggle. Personal development and good companionship are the central themes of this story. The innocent 3332 JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN- 2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 16, 2020 hobbit Bilbo Baggins develops himself as a brave hero during the adventure. He lives in a comfortable hole where he gets everything and lives a luxurious life, but he gives up everything for the sake of adventure. ―The Bagginess had lived in the neighbourhood of ‗The Hill‘ for time out of mind, and people consider them very respectable not only because most of them are very rich, but also they never had any adventure or did anything unexpected‖ (4). Bilbo Baggins gives more importance to keeping a good relationship with others than to holding on to the treasures with him; only for the sake of the family‘s name, he continues the journey with them to find gold and silver; ―This is a better adventure, if it must end so; and not a mountain of gold can amend it. Yet I am glad that I have shared in your perils – that has more than any Baggins deserves‖ (333). Generally, a hero must be a strong man and be prepared for battle to attain glory; even though Bilbo Baggins is small in size, compared to the dwarves, his contribution makes him a hero in both the novel and the film The Hobbit. The plot of the story projects Bilbo Baggins as a Beowulf, a traditional hero, who struggles against the monster Grendel, his evil mother and fire-breathing dragon to help the king of Danes and his people from the monsters. Similarly, Bilbo Baggins‘ great efforts help his companions gain fame and wealth and save the lives of dwarves from the dragon. He begins the journey as a hero but does not establish himself as a genuine brave man according to the traditional patterns, because he looks for the wizard‘s help to use the magical ring in dangerous situations. As a contemporary male protagonist, he encourages harmony rather than war. He presents himself as a savior rather a soldier providing his share of the treasure to people who are in peril. Even though he is a small creature in the group, his kind heart lets him win over people in the Middle-Earth in an unusual way without having to face hostility in the battles. He has shown compassion and innocence in the course of becoming a responsive hero. Both the novel and the film represent the same theme as to how the hero becomes a brave person by helping others in dangerous situations and portray how the hero gives more importance to people than wealth. All the uniqueness of the novel is clearly represented by the director in the film. The direct portrays the character‘s attitude, aptitude, personality and appearance as seen in the novel. As in the novel, the film portrays the dwarves coming to Bilbo Baggins‘ home without his permission and eating and drinking whatever he has in his home. The dwarves do their work enthusiastically in his home. But Bilbo Baggins gets angry with them for their boorish behavior. To show the dwarves‘ behavior and sense of the hobbit, both the narrator and the director display the scenes naturally. The director portrays Gandalf wearing a high sharp blue hat, a lengthy grey colour veil and gigantic black boots to picturize the description in the novel. Both in the novel and film, Gandalf introduces Bilbo Baggins to the dwarves only as a burglar. But Bilbo Baggins does not expect it. Gandalf advises him and tells him about the great grand uncle of Bilbo Baggins Bullroarer Took, who has charged Goblin of beheading the Goblin‘s head, which become the inspiration for Bilbo Baggins to join the company. It shows that the wizard Gandalf knows everything about the hobbit and also, they have portrayed him as a good and friendly person. Some differences are brought in by the director to raise the curiosity of the audience. The first major difference between the novel and the film is the narrative form of the story. Tolkien inserts his individual voice; as a father he narrates the story to his children (readers) with his aesthetic sense, which is admired by the readers who feel at home while reading the novel. But in the film, the director replaces Tolkien‘s voice into Bilbo Baggins for connecting audience with the story of the hero. For this reason, the film reached millions of audiences and received numerous awards. If the director himself had replaced the narrator, apart from the characters in the film, it would not have inspired such a wide audience. If the director had employed his own voice for narration, the connectivity between the story and the audience would have been less and also the hero might have appeared as an alien in the audience‘s mind.