Tolkien and Changes in Perspective

In both The Hobbit and Lord of the rings, Tolkien makes the decision to have a narrator tell the story rather than having a first person perspective from Bilbo or Frodo.  It makes sense for him to have made this choice, because it allows for information to be communicated to the reader without the character having to know it first. This is essential for storytelling in such a complex world.

Additionally though, it allows Tolkien to do something very interesting in shifting the point of view.  In The Hobbit, we spend pretty much the entirety of the story with the narrator describing the places and events that Bilbo is also experiencing, so it feels like we almost see what he sees.  Then, there is a sudden shift with what the narrator is describing as it changes to the village where we see Smaug attacking the Lake men, which allows the reader to see how this unfolds, and how Bard succeeded in defeating the dragon.  This has a much greater impact than just hearing about it after the fact by someone telling a story.

In this week's reading for Lord of the Rings, there was another shift like this.  For the first book, the narrator describes the events that involve Frodo, but after the separation of the Fellowship, we are transferred to the individual paths of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, as well as scenes with Merry and Pippin.  Frodo, like Bilbo, is clearly such a central and relatable character, and t suddenly be progressing in the story without his influence creates a very clear contrast in this part of the story.  It allows the reader to have a wider perspective of what's going on, as well as feel more connected with what the characters are experiencing and feeling, which again would not really be the case if this was all told in a story after the fact.  Tolkien's decision to use a third person narrator is very effective because it allows him to make changes like these that help the story progress so much further and in a much more profound way.