Character Reflection Blog

Based on your reading for your 40 Book Challenge, your blog post will be centered on direct and indirect characterization. Your focus question should be on how elements of a story interact with one another. For example, how does setting affect character or how does conflict drive character development.

I have noticed that the setting affects how Bilbo Baggins acts and talks.  In his peaceful environment of his home, he speaks very politely, and kindly.  He wishes Gandalf "Good Morning!" and invites him over, a stranger over for tea.  Later in the story, we see his language change, when he is in the goblin caves, we see that he tends to not be as so polite and proper.  He even start to make like "Ha! In your face!"  comments.  An example of this, is just after he finds the ring, and makes it out of the cave invisible.  When he hears the dwarves saying that he is for sure dead and there is no way he could have made it he says "And Here's the burglar!"  He hears them talking about how they accidentally dropped him and that it wasn't their fault that they did, and thats when he shouts that.

Earlier I mentioned that Bilbo was nice a cheery when he was in the setting of his nice, quiet, little hobbit hole.  In the book it says "... if you have a pipe about you, then sit down and have a fill of mine!  There's no hurry, we have the whole day about us!"  As you see, he is very relaxed, and cheery.  This reflects the mood of the setting.  Earlier the book describes the hobbits and the lace they live in as having no magic, or very little at that.  It also says that the hobbits do not like going on adventures.  Seeing that they do not like going on adventures, this must mean that they are a laid back bunch, again, reflecting the mood of the setting.

A bit later in the story, he has an encounter with trolls.  The trolls are threatening to cook and eat him but he then says. "Yes, lots."  said Bilbo, before he remembered not to give his friends away. No, none at all, not one. he said immediately after"  Here we see that he starts to learn loyalty to his friends.  Since he has never had to go on giant expeditions or big quests, he has never felt this, and him being on a quest, starts to learn this.