(posted for Victoria in order not to break her pseudonym)
On Tuesday, there was a decent amount of discussion about how the relations between Bilbo and the dwarves, elves, and other characters are emphasized as well as written in a positive manner. Whereas his relations with his fellow hobbits are kind of over looked or described in a negative light. As the discussion went I believe that many members of our class found this to be a troublesome issue; however, I firmly believe that this is exactly how people develop when they leave their community. Military children are often referred to as “Third Culture Kids” (TCK), this meaning they spend their developmental years outside of their parents’ culture. Now while, it could be argued that Bilbo did spend his developmental years within the Hobbit Culture, it needs to be taken into consideration that he develops immensely throughout this novel. He goes through this development while surround by people who are not hobbits. There is a filmmaker, Donna Musil, who says that for TCKs, “ The first culture is the parents’ passport country, the second culture is the country in which the kids are culturally living, but the third culture is where the kids belong, and that is, to each other. We don’t fit into a culture defined by geography. It doesn’t matter what countries we’ve lived in, it’s a shared experience. Belonging is the key. TCKs have a hard time with this, and it’s a very big deal.” I find that Bilbo falls into this category quite well. He needed to find somewhere to belong. As I stated before, when he left his home he started this change of identity. I am a TCK, so I personally know that when you leave a place you called home: you change parts of yourself. Thus, every place you live, every group you associate with becomes a part of your identity whether you want it to or not. So, coming back around to my point, Bilbo did just that. He left his home, he needed somewhere to belong, he found that with those of which he shares a common experience. Those people just happen to be not of his own.
4 comments:
This post means quite a lot to me. While I myself am not a TCK, many of my friends are and one of them in particular just left on his own adventure to join the Marines. While reading your post, you reminded me of him and how right before he left, he equated himself to Bilbo going on his big adventure.
Your parallel of Bilbo and TCKs is beautiful and accurate. Bilbo's interactions with the other Hobbits before and after he left was just as important as his interactions with the different races he met along the way; the interactions were just different and not the focus in the book. I think that I originally felt like Bilbo's connection with the other Hobbits was very important because of my own experience and close connection with my blood relatives. However, after sending my friend off and texting with his mother after he left, I have realized how much I consider him a part of my family the way I consider my blood relatives.
I truly appreciate your analysis and perspective. I thought it was destiny that we read The Hobbit right after my friend told me he felt like Bilbo and your post confirmed it! Thank you! :)
Uinen
I also agree that Bilbo was a TCK in his own way. Some of the most interesting things about Bilbo that speak to this point, in my opinion, are the details about how he lived before and after his journey with the dwarves. Yes, we all know he changed significantly afterwards, but what about around the journey?
I think that Tolkien included information regarding Bilbo's blood line as well as his invested interest in studying maps and elves as a way of demonstrating that Bilbo wasn't really where he belonged in the first place. I also argue that he didn't necessarily change that much while he was on his journey. Instead, I believe his new friends and the journey itself finally presented him with the opportunity he needed to become who he truly was. From seeking the approval and the comforts of the Shire (hankies, being respectable, and good food) despite an inner dissatisfaction in existing in that community, to using skills he already possessed in helping the dwarves reach their goal, Bilbo is simply demonstrating his true character - which doesn't do as much changing as his general level of courage and feeling of responsibility.
What I sometimes fail to understand is why Bilbo went back to the shire and remained there despite having made some strong connections to the Dwarves. I wonder what purpose I could put to this, and then I remember that Tolkien wanted a world in which different kinds of people could mix. I believe Bilbo returned home despite himself, because he had something to teach the other Hobbits about accepting "those unlike yourself".
I think this is a really good way to describe Bilbo's relationships and even the "culture" he identifies with. I am not a TCK, but I do think you're right about experiences binding people together. This is also true of personal viewpoints and beliefs: when you meet someone who shares your values, you automatically trust them a little more than you would someone who differs from your viewpoint. It's not that you shun people who disagree with you, but you do stay on guard when talking with them, because you feel the need to question their conclusions.
Beyond commonality found in initial conversations, experience draws people together when they experience exactly the same thing together. That's, I think, what made Bilbo almost more of a Dwarf and an Elf than a Hobbit. He learned to love and appreciate Dwarf culture in The Hobbit, especially after these beings became friends that would die for one another in battle. He also spent so much time with the Elves that he acclimated to their culture and found himself comfortable with them.
This was a super interesting question, especially now that one of my other classes forces me to think about the connection between space and identity. Because of this, I will have to contain myself from using weird jargon and not writing a massive thesis. Although I am also not a TCK, I am familiar with living in different cultures and feeling the strange inner battle of trying to understand where you fit in and why. Humans make intricate connections to different groups and locations for a myriad of reasons and it is challenging to decipher which fits best into one's world view.
Because of this, I find it unsurprising that Bilbo changed for the best away from his own culture, but it is interesting that it happened so late in his life and seemed to be the most influential on his formation (though I guess a lot of it had to do with his own decisions and finding of the ring than the people he was with).
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