Today the CP English 12, we finally left the tutorial level behind and jumped into The Hobbit. While the novel has always been a favorite of mine, and the movies are pretty entertaining as well, we don't read it in school because of the plot, it's because it represents a seminal element in all literature: The Hero's Journey. In case you hadn't noticed from all the superhero and Star Wars films, almost all "adventure" type stories follow the same pattern. The hero is called to adventure, swept into an unknown world, met with a challenge he/she cannot overcome, only to finally bounce back, save the day, and then rejoin the normal world as a changed person. It's a story that's been told in thousands of ways (as evidenced by Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces" amongst nearly every nation and culture.
The Hobbit hardly the first hero's tale, but one of the earlier examples in the English cannon and a model for most of our contemporary media. It fits the mold as a perfect example...and is such, it's the first face the students encounter on their escapades through British Literature.
The Hobbit hardly the first hero's tale, but one of the earlier examples in the English cannon and a model for most of our contemporary media. It fits the mold as a perfect example...and is such, it's the first face the students encounter on their escapades through British Literature.
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