What Does It Mean to Be a Hero: 'The Hobbit'

What is a hero? I believe a hero is a person who shows very good behaviour and physical qualities. In the book, “The Hobbit” Bilbo is the main character and I believe that he is one of the heroes in the book. For me, Bilbo isn’t who I think of when I hear the word her because most hero’s have some sort of power. However, he does have some sort of power because he is very short and small, his ability to walk quietly and sneak around things was very important during the journey.

Does a person always have to act like a hero to be a hero? I believe a hero does not need to be someone that is very brave and and always kills the enemies. For example, Bilbo wasn’t very brave at the start of the journey, but his excellent behaviour and courage made me define him as a hero. I also think Bilbo only uses his weapon for self defence and would never go and attack someone who didn’t harm him. One example of this is when Bilbo could’ve killed Gollum when he showed him the way out out the cave instead, he chose to jump over Gollum and run out. Another example is when Bilbo chose to not fight in the battle of five armies because he only uses his weapons for self defence.

Bilbo is a courageous person, but he is still not always brave. At the beginning of the book, Bilbo was invited to join a journey but he thought about it a lot about it and was unwilling to go. Eventually, Bilbo show courage and decided to go on the journey with the dwarves and gandalf. After making the decision, Bilbo still regret about his decision to go on a journey throughout the entire journey. These are some examples of times when Bilbo didn’t show a lot of courage:

“I wish I was at home in my nice hole by the fire, with the kettle just beginning to sing. It was not the last time that he wished that!”

“He thought of himself frying bacon and eggs in his own kitchen at home-for he could feel inside that it was high time for some meal or other; but that only made him miserable”

“This is the dreariest and dullest part of all this wretched, tiresome, uncomfortable adventure! I wish I was back in my hobbit-hole by my own warm fireside with the lamp shinning.”

“I wish I was back in the West in my own home; where folk are more reasonable.”

“I wish now only to be in my own arm-chair!”

Can heroes make mistakes or depend on other things and still be a hero? Bilbo is perfect and isn’t the ideal thing that I think of when I hear the word hero. I believe that sometimes his luck protect and saved him. For example, when the dwarves sent Bilbo to investigation the trolls nearby. Unfortunately, he gets caught and start calling the dwarves for help, this gave the trolls information that dwarves were around and when the dwarves can to rescue him, they all got caught. If gandalf didn’t come and helped them, they would’ve all been dead therefore, failing the journey. Another example of how Bilbo’s luck saved him was when Bilbo and Gollum was playing a riddle game. Bilbo was getting frustrated because he did not know the answer to the riddle that Gollum gave him. In a attempt to guess the riddle, Bilbo asks for the time which was the answer to Gollum’s riddle. Also, somehow Gollum was the owner of the ring of invisibility that rules the rest which help Bilbo get out of the cave and it just so happens that the day that Bilbo fell into the cave is the day that Gollum looses the ring or the precious which is what Gollum calls it. 

In conclusion, Bilbo is brave but not always brave and likes to stay at home. He is not entirely sure about his decisions to go on the journey as showed in the book “The Hobbit” and isn’t completely happy about his decisions.