The Narrator, Who's Telling the Hobbit's Tale? |
 Jun 23 2008, 05:57 AM
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Smart Cookie  Posts: 3,344 Joined: 1:26am September 30, 2006 Location: Somewhere in time and space   |
The Narrator Who's Telling the Hobbit's Tale? Tolkien has created a lot of interesting characters – Bilbo, Gandalf, the dwarves... But there's someone else who probably isn't a real character because, well, it doesn't "do" anything and it doesn't have any "body" either. But if the book didn't have it, there wouldn't be any Hobbit's story at all. It's the narrator – the story teller, the voice which tells us Bilbo's story. As the narrator doesn't act in the story, it tells the story from the third person's point of view. It also knows everything that happens (it doesn't just follow a particular character, but knows what happens to everyone), that is, it's omniscient, it knows everything. It introduces us to Hobbits, explains some customs and traditions of the Middle Earth. But it doesn't just observe and recount what is happening. The story teller has its own opinion about things and it's not impartial (for example, one can tell quite fast that it doesn't like the goblins and that it sympathizes with Bilbo). From time to time, the story teller also addresses the reader, for example, from chapter Barrels Out of Bond (when Bilbo realizes the flaw in his plan to save the dwarves and himself from the Mirkwood elves): I don't suppose you would have done half as well yourselves in his place. So, The Hobbit's narrator is an interesting addition to the book. And I'm curious what you all think about it  To start us off – a few questions. Feel free to answer as many of them as you like and any other questions or thoughts that might occur to you are most welcome! 
-------------------- Images from yumeiro, so_severus, iwant_sprinkles @LJ.
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