Tolkien as a Master Storyteller: Critical Analysis of The Hobbit Jarrett Nichole Bowen College

The literary world of fantasy was forever altered by the fateful publication of J.R.R. Tolkien’s extraordinary children’s novel, entitled The Hobbit, in 1937. Through his unique tapestry of a paternal narrator telling the story in a highly effective way for children, a narrative style that seamlessly interweaves grim, serious content of adventure with moments of humor and lighthearted commentary due to a total control of tone, expansive and thorough world-building, and a deep connection to mythology, Tolkien takes the average children’s fantasy novel and elevates it to an entirely new realm of creativity and a mastery of literary expertise never seen before.

As a written work, The Hobbit fits into the category of children’s literature due to the narrator’s fatherly, informative story-telling voice, Tolkien’s use of simple language that is easily consumable for children, the narrative structure that reads remarkably like an oral tale, and an inclusion of silly humor intended to make the young readers laugh. The novel also fits into this genre due to its status as a Bildungsroman. On page 255 within A Glossary of Literary Terms, M.H. Abrams and Geoffrey Harpham define the German term, Bildungsroman, as a novel in which the...