It is important to note that one of the elements as I like to call them that makes readers take The Hobbit to heart is that the general theme of the novel is Fun, Adventure, Homely Atmosphere (Coziness), Landscape Description, Treasure Hunt and last but not least Laughter at the Dinner table. These are repeated themes in nearly every chapter; provided that The Hobbit is an easy to read novel and is not complicated as The Lord of The Rings and other Tolkien's works.
Tolkien starts the chapter with describing what are Hobbits, what they do and what they like and what they look like. Then he goes deeper in describing the main character our famous Mr. Baggins, then he goes deeper and sheds some light on Bilbo's family. Shedding some light on family ties is very important because it is one of the bricks that build up and make the readers wonder "Did Hobbits really exist?". Tolkien has stuffed his works with very complicated and sophisticated yet systematic details of genealogies, history and language to name a few. He included so much detail that many readers wonder if these creatures/races/tales did really exist or was it really the imagination of one single person? Such questions are asked frequently in our minds because many believe that a human mind cannot or it is nearly impossible for a human mind to come up with such brilliant imagination and invention. It was easy for Tolkien to create all this because first he had a passion for it, and second he is a Professor of Anglo Saxon, he knows European history and mythology by heart and third because he actually has seen the battlefield and lost most of his friends there which puts him in a very good position to speak from the heart genuinely.
There are some short passages in every chapter that tickle the feelings of the reader making him/her to really live the era or atmosphere of what he is reading. These powerful emotions from the reader are triggered by a sense of relation, they relate to the story especially if someone had a pleasant childhood. Such passages in chapter 1 are:
"By some curios chance one morning long ago in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise and more green, and the hobbits were still numerous and prosperous, and Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after breakfast smoking an enormous long wooden pipe that reached nearly down to his woolly toes (neatly brushed) - Gandalf came by."
This short passage believe it or not has a strong effect even if you are not aware of it. Let us break down this passage and find out what makes it special:
1- A quiet morning when there was less noise and more green:
Who of us nowadays does not want that? This quiet morning in a less noise and more green countryside has become a luxury. This scene where many of us live in the city don't get to experience this. And this is precisely one of the reasons why people travel to tropical islands and such places .. to get a glimpse of what we have lost, and how our ancestors lived long ago. This simple line with a fraction of a second gives the reader an emotion of "I miss that" and "I so much want to live that again" and "I want one of my own". This is as I call it igniting the flame of curiosity in the reader which makes him flip pages.
2- Standing at his door after breakfast smoking an enormous long wooden pipe:
Even if you were not a smoker you would definitely enjoy the smell of pipe smoke. Sitting outside after breakfast smoking a pipe, no one has this luxurious opportunity to do this everyday nowadays enjoying the view of nature. We live in complicated cities where rush hour has eaten our lives and most of us drink coffee in the car rushing to work, we hardly have any time to spend a proper breakfast then sit down to smoke quietly and reflect.
For these two reasons this small passage is very important because it touches the hearts of the reader. It is clear that this is what Tolkien did and he sure enjoyed it, every bit of it dare I say. This is not the only passage in this chapter nor the only one in the novel. There are many such passages that Tolkien wrote differently touching different angles of our hearts every time. This is just one element of what makes a good novel and why readers take it to heart as their favorite.
The next post will continue in the analysis of chapter 1.
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