Introduction
Remember, how I said I was not a fantasy fanatic? Well, here’s the proof. I’ve never read or even watched The Hobbit. Embarrassing, I know. I’ve been exposed to it only by word of friends and their fascination for it. Otherwise, that’s pretty much all I knew before diving into the first 3 chapters. Sure enough, I was once again not disappointed. It lives up to the expectations of what everyone raves about. From the first three chapters, I particularly enjoyed the push and pull of adventure in Bilbo—most likely, because I believe I am the same way. My initial answer is almost always a no, but like how Gandalf and the dwarves are, my friends will push me to a yes eventually. The book is so relatable, even in a drastically different world.
Rhetorical Analysis
To be honest, I’ve never felt so included in a book, especially one of this level of fantasy. Most of the times, fantasy books are simply told to you. However, J. R. R. Tolkien tells the story as if the characters were talking to you. In order to do this, I observed his decision to write The Hobbit in a very distinct third-person omniscient viewpoint through his unique usage of interactions and sentence structure. With techniques like these, he effectively engages his audience into the conversation of the story.
The third-person omniscient view is actually one of my favorite point of views to read from. As I’ve learned in my years of schooling, the third-person view uses pronouns, such as he and she, meaning that the perspective is from the outside. In literature, this translates into a narrator that is not part of the story. Furthermore, this narrator can take a limited view or, as in The Hobbit, an omniscient view. An omniscient view allows the narrator to tell the readers of feelings and thoughts of the characters. Doing so gives his audience a deeper connection and understanding of his characters. However, Tolkien does more than write it in that viewpoints, he adds more depth into it with his masterful rhetorical strategies.
One of these strategies is his deliberate interactions with the audience to comment on the actions of his characters. For example, when the dwarves came into unexpected into Bilbo’s house, Tolkien comments on the story line by asking his audience a question regarding the situation: “And what would you do, if an uninvited dwarf came and hung his things up in your hall without a word of explanation?”. Interactions like these, comparable to a motivational speaker, as if he was telling this story to a live audience and expecting his audience to think about it before he speaks again. Like I mentioned, these interactions commenting on the story allows his audience to feel as part of the story. Instead of merely being told the story, the audience is seemingly having a normal conversation.
For the most part, Tolkien keeps his level of the English language quite simple. After all, it is a children’s book. However, there is such complexity in his intentional usage of sentence structure, yet it is just as vernacular, as it is complex. Instead of using strict conventional sentences that seem to just describe and describe, Tolkien uses other methods. From the first line of the book, we see him break formal language rules: “In a hole in the ground…Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.” Here, we could see double prepositions, weird sentence starting, and short phrases thrown together. It almost seems like a run-on sentence. However, this is really the way everyday conversations happen. We go back and clarify in detail immediately, thus using double prepositions and multiple adjectives. We don’t always try to make clear, complete sentences, thus starting our thoughts with “Not”. We also don’t end our thoughts correctly; when talking, we all tend to ramble in longer sentences than need be. Such characteristics of human conversations, implemented here, makes for a natural conversation to happen. More importantly, it allows for effective storytelling.
Humans will be reading this book, so instead of making it seem verbatim, Tolkien makes conscious decisions to write his book as a conversation. An audience, including both children and adults, can appreciate this style choice. No longer are people just mindlessly looking at the text, The Hobbit readers will feel as if they are having their afternoon tea with friends. I’m sure a lot of us, bookworms, can appreciate that!
Writing About Magic - Angela Pham 