Bilbo and Marlin

Ebony Brown

English 101- 11A

Dr. Phillips

November 17, 2010

Living Heroically: Bilbo & Marlin

Some people are content with living their lives in a daily routine manner. Others choose to enjoy life and except things that come up spear of the moment. Bilbo Baggins a character in Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Marlin form Evelyn’s Finding Nemo are not spontaneous in the least bit, and seems to become aggravated with unexpected situations. They both share similar lifestyles. They have a fixed way of doing things, and living life on the edge is not part of their life plans. Living their “plain Jane” lives satisfy them both. If adventures would not have force these two characters to leave their comfort zone, they would probably remain content with living their predicting and uninteresting lives.

Each character has a legit reason for conducting themselves so simply. Bilbo’s style of living seems to be passed down from his late ancestors on both is mother’s and father’s side of the family. As Tolkien describes, people considered the Bagginses to be very respectable, not only because they were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected; “you could tell what a Baggins would say on any question without the bother of asking,” (“Hobbit”). It was normal for a hobbit to live an uncomplicated and easygoing life. If a Hobbit was to take part in any kind of adventure they would be looked down upon by their neighboring hobbits. According to Tolkien, the Took family was not considered entirely hobbit-like because members of the family would discreetly sneak off and go have adventures, and because of this they were not as respectable as the Bagginses (“Hobbit”). Even thought Bilbo is a Baggins, his mother’s maiden name is Took. Bilbo would never discreetly sneak off. The Took side of him remains foreign until he is chosen by a wizard to be part a quest. In this quest Bilbo is suppose to be the missing key to the success of the journey, but...