Tests, Enemies, Allies

Here is a photo depicting allies in the archetypal stage, Tests, Enemies, and Allies.

The book I will be concentrating on in this blog post is The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is about a creature called a hobbit who goes on adventure with several dwarves and a wizard named Gandalf. In the end they have a climatic battle with five armies where a treasure is obtained.

Question: What effect does the allies in The Hobbit have on Bilbo?

Before we can answer the question, we must identify the allies. The allies in this book are mainly, the dwaves and Gandalf the wizard. These people play a huge role in Bilbo's own personality.

Bilbo is a follower and a wimp. He immediately follows and idolizes anyone that is more powerful than him. This is what we see in the hobbit.

"Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard that gave

"Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came done till ordered?..." (J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, page 3)

As you see from the quote above, even early in the story, Bilbo latches on to any person who is higher than Bilbo on the pyramid. Bilbo does this to compensate for his weak personality.

The effect the allies and Gandalf have on Bilbo are that they are easily able to persuade him to do what they want him to do. Although it's a slow start for Bilbo in this story, he is able to build on his character by idolizing the dwarves and Gandalf. The personalilties of the dwarves and Gandalf are reflecting in Bilbo several times in the book. This is important because there are several points in the plots where the personality traits of the dwarves and Gandalf are important. Such as, when Bilbo had to save the dwarves, who were trapped by spiders. In this point in the plot, he was able to summon the courage to do this action by harnessing the courage of the dwarves. What Bilbo learned from the allies was very essential and significant to create this story. Without it, the story may of had a darker mood and a different plot.

In all, the latching on to the allies by Bilbo in the book is essential. Without the allies, Bilbo may have become a different type of character resulting in a different plot.