Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who became the key figure in the story The Hobbit: an unexpected journey and played a significant role in The Lord of the rings trilogy. He was an ordinary hobbit who lived in his hole, used to have several tasty meals a day and had a habit of smoking a pipe. However, Bilbo, as every hobbit, has something common with an average human – his character is changeable as well as humans. This essay is devoted to the issue of how Bilbo’s character was changing since the moment he found the ring and until he passed it to his nephew Frodo. Besides, I claim that the ring had negatively influenced Bilbo’s character and his actions.
Gollum and Bilbo were playing the riddle game and in a moment, Gollum found that his ring was lost. Obviously, Gollum guessed that Bilbo took it. One of the features that Bilbo received in this adventure was that he became foxier than before. He put on the ring and followed Gollum to the exit. This was a rather wise decision because Bilbo could never find it alone. However, regardless that Bilbo had the ring and could easily become invisible; he was still a bit helpless outside tunnels. He had difficulties when climbing trees and asked the dwarves for help.
In the next chapter a reader sees that character changes of Bilbo continue. Now he was able not only to take the responsibility of himself but of the others as well. One of the most remarkable episodes that show this newly obtained feature, is when the dwarves were caught by elves. In this situation, Bilbo showed his courage and responsibility. He was risking his own life when researching the place the dwarves were in and saving them. Moreover, he showed that he was not selfish. When he was falling into water after saving the dwarves, Bilbo still was worrying about the dwarves’ feelings. On the contrary, Bilbo still was worrying about food and a pipe.
Until the end of the story the ring did not influence Bilbo’s character much. However, in the first book of The lord of the rings Bilbo is shown as an evil greedy person. On the one hand, he seems to be the same old Bilbo as he used to be before the journey with the dwarves. He used to tell the others his funny and adventurous stories about the journey; he used to entertain the others. On the other hand, it is not difficult to see his greedy eyes when he was putting the ring into the envelope for Frodo. The ring became Bilbo’s owner and not vice versa, as Bilbo thought; the ring only allowed Bilbo own it. The main aim of the ring was to find a person who could become its new master and absorb his soul. Hence, Bilbo was willing to put on the ring very often and kept it in his pocket. Another episode, when the ring showed his power, happened when Frodo already arrived to Rivendell and appeared in front of Bilbo. The old hobbit noticed the ring and his eyes became full of insane desire to own it. In my opinion, this happened because Bilbo had never faced such danger and let the power of the ring inside his soul rather fast. Hence, the power of the ring because the part of Bilbo’s soul.
This essay was devoted to the issue of how Bilbo Baggins’ character was changing during his journey with the dwarves. It showed that Bilbo’s character became stronger; during the journey, he became braver, self confident and showed his independence and responsibility for the others. On the contrary, when Bilbo owned the ring, he became more greedy and eviler. The point is that the ring became the part of Bilbo’s soul and did not want to let it go. In my opinion, this happened because Bilbo Baggins was too kind hearted for the journey.
Resources:
The hobbit: an unexpected journey. Video
The lord of the rings: the fellowship of the ring. Video
