Tolkien’s story , which formed the basis of the film, only looks like a cute children’s fairy tale. In fact, it looks like a lush rosebud. The topmost and lightest petals are really for children. Pull them off, and you will see the middle layer, darker for adults. And the brightest, scarlet, deepest core of the flower is the basis from which the “Lord of the Rings” will be born later . Ethical concepts reign and rule here: honor, sacrifice, duty, conscience.
Between the past and the future
It was easier for Tolkien: he went from a children’s fairy tale to a pretentious epic, from The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings. Director Jackson and the audience had to backtrack, back to the beginning of the events of the first trilogy, then to the fall of the kingdom of the dwarfs, and then to the historical moment when young Mr. Baggins began his Odyssey.
And it’s not just that viewers will have to see old heroes naive and young; they already possess knowledge that the author was deprived of simply because at that time he himself, probably, had no idea how his absolutely classical (at first glance) fairy tale would end. What then to say about the hero! Bilbo returns home victorious. The Hobbit does not realize that the great adventure he went through is just a prologue to a great history and a great war. It seems that now there is only peace and prosperity ahead.
But Jackson’s viewers already know what is hidden in the hobbit’s pocket, and what a terrible souvenir he brought home from his wanderings. The entire trilogy is a prophecy, a prediction of a new terrible war and great disaster, the beginning of the end.
The Big Trouble of the Little Hobbit
Since the “Hobbit” was originally conceived as a fairy tale, the hero’s adventures are built on the discovery of a new world, which is strikingly different from the usual, understandable and safe. Agreeing to an unexpected offer – to become a companion of the gnomes in their search for a lost home and a treasured treasure – Bilbo stepped into an alien world, which opened before him a space of unusual and dangerous wonders.
Since the tale was addressed to children, then Bilbo’s story can be seen as a story of maturation and growing up. What drives the hobbit to adventure? Absolutely childish emotions: fear and curiosity. And, just like children, Mr. Baggins’ curiosity always overpowers fear!
No wonder the grumpy gnomes in relation to the hobbit behave like “adults”: they teach him, grumble at him and criticize him all the time. Before our very eyes, the “Little Grass” turns into a real hero, he “grows” from a man in the street into a warrior. Bilbo grows up doing ethically correct and meaningful things. He leaves his tiny world with bourgeois values - armchairs, napkins, mother’s porcelain plates, but not in order to give up warmth and comfort, but in order to be able to protect him.
Bilbo is a regular couch potato guy, caught in a maelstrom of events that, it seems, have nothing to do with him. In fact, the story of the hobbit is an example of how “the little ones of this world” make his story. Along with the problems of moral maturation, the trilogy raises the question of the importance of the most insignificant, insignificant, inconspicuous person for the development of the whole society, the question of the value of each human life.
Greed and sacrifice
The role of the cursed mascot in The Hobbit trilogy is played by the Arkenstone gem. The Ring of Omnipotence is more terrible and universal, but it is hidden for the time being in the pocket of Mr. Baggins, who considers it simply as a means of becoming invisible for a while. The magic stone that Smaug’s treasure is fraught with is the embodiment of greed, the main misfortune of the gnomes, which takes away the mind and dignity of even the best and noblest.
Bilbo, who fell into the hands of the Arkenston, overcame a terrible temptation. This is probably why he was able to resist the Ring’s charms for so long afterwards. Yesterday’s bourgeois and philistine turned out to be capable not only of military exploits, but also of sacrifice. Bilbo hides the stone, but only to help humans and elves come to an agreement with the dwarves and avoid a terrible war. Bilbo goes, practically, to certain death, returning to the king of the dwarves Thorin, mad with greed, because he cannot be a traitor.
Arkenstone does not help the rivals to reconcile, but they have to unite against the orcs. In this battle, King Thorin died, but was able to defeat not only the enemy – the orc Azog, but also his terrible ailments – greed and arrogance.
Sweet home
The Odyssey of the Dwarfs and the Odyssey of Bilbo are the two main leitmotifs of the trilogy. The terrible, final battle between Good and Evil is still far ahead. The heroes do not care about global concepts of truth or justice: the gnomes just want to return their property and return home. Bilbo and his companions pass by wonderful palaces and fetid caves. The exiled people are moving into the mouth of the terrible dragon. The main thing is to get home, and there the gnomes will find the strength, ways and means to defeat the invader and reclaim their lost homeland.
The hobbit leaves his beloved burrow only to help return home to those who have lost it. So a fairy tale turns into a story about the search for the Promised Land, the mysterious Grail. And at the same time it reminds us of how easy it is to lose in one moment everything that you consider your own: a roof over your head, Arkinston, gold or porcelain plates – in fact, there is no difference. Do not have time to look back – and you are put out the door of your home by a loose dragon, or dear relatives, declaring you dead, put up for auction your tables and chairs.
The meaning of the ending of the trilogy
Evil has been thrown back, but not defeated. But unaware of this, elves, humans and dwarves celebrate victory. Mr. Baggins helped the dwarves return the house and returns to his own. To tie the last Hobbit movie to the beginning of the first Lord of the Rings movie, Legalas sets out to find Aragorn. And here in front of us is the aged Bilbo, he holds the ominous Ring in his hand and hears the voice of Gandalf. We are back again the day that Frodo, Bilbo’s nephew, began his dreadful trek to the blazing Mount Doom to end the curse of the Ring.
The story ended about how important it is to keep your word, how difficult it is to bear obligations and pay debts, how easy it is to go mad with greed, how hard it is to grow up and take responsibility for your actions. It’s time to open the first page of the new epic!
“The Lord of the Rings” Jackson “cut” the living, cutting in imaginable and inconceivable ways to cram into the set screen time. With “The Hobbit” everything turned out the other way around – the writers even had to think out new characters and plot moves (like the love story of Tauriel the elf and Keely the dwarf) in order to stretch this short story and turn it into a nine-hour trilogy.
In addition, not everyone appreciated the innovation – 48 frames per second technology. As a result, The Hobbit
did not win an Oscar and received mixed reviews from critics. But the audience needs “The Hobbit” because it gives integrity to the picture of Middle-earth, painted by the genius of philosophy, mythology and linguistics.
