The Hobbit, Chs 1-5, and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Bk 1, Chs 1-12, Bk 2, Ch 1, Bilbo’s Character vs Frodo’s Character

An interesting comparison can be made between Bilbo, at the beginning of his tale in the Hobbit, and Frodo, at the beginning of his in the Lord of the Rings.  

As discussed in class, Bilbo is an unlikely Hero as he absolutely does not want the adventure presented to him, at the time it was thrust upon him. Tolkien did this to show the drastic change that comes over his main character by the end of his journey. At the beginning of the Lord of the Rings, we find Bilbo now very willing and eager to seek out adventure, even when one doesn’t present itself to him. A very different Bilbo from the one at the beginning of the Hobbit.   

In contrast to Bilbo, and probably as an effect of growing up around the adventure hungry Bilbo, Frodo is more than willing to take on his adventure, though he’s no keen on the danger the ring presents himself and those around him, and does dilly dally around before heading out on his quest. Frodo loves the shire yet admits several times, and Bilbo does too, that he’d have loved to have gone with Bilbo when he left, to have had an adventure with him.  

Frodo then acknowledges that he finds his adventure not as appealing or grand as the one Bilbo had told him, once he’d experienced the perils of adventuring, and wants it to be over and done with after reaching Rivendell. Yet when presented with the question of who’d bare the ring to Mount Doom, Frodo steps up to take the burden upon himself, something I’m not sure Bilbo would have done, if it’d have been posed to him under similar circumstances.  

Bilbo’s more than willing to take on the task when presented to him when it was, probably more from the draw of the ring, to possess it again, then for any other reason, even knowing he’s much happier without it. If he’d been in Frodo’s place, and the chance had been offered to Bilbo, for him to be done with his adventure and be able to go home, Bilbo might have taken it, given how reluctant he was to even go on his adventure and all his lamentations of wishing he was home throughout his tale.