Abstract

This thesis argues that J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit uses a storyteller-narrator and a child/adult implied reader to guide child readers towards maturity and allow adult readers to reengage with the world of childhood. The storyteller replicates traditional fairytale and epic storytelling, a tradition which simultaneously engages adults and children. The novel's language, intertexts, themes, humor and the reader's encouraged identification with the hobbit, Bilbo, suggest that the implied reader is both an adult and a child. The novel invites the reader to adopt Bilbo's development of a childlike perspective valuing the immaterial over the material. The life-like nature of time in the novel facilitates the reader's engagement with moral questions posed by the text which leads to Recovery: the adult's return to the pure view of childhood. The Christian concept of one's rebecoming a child as essential to a person's spiritual and moral development is shown to have inspired the construction of the novel's child/adult implied reader.

Department

English & Comparative Literature Department

Degree Name

MA in English & Comparative Literature

Graduation Date

2-1-2019

Submission Date

January 2019

First Advisor

Melaney, William

Committee Member 1

Abdel Nasser, Tahia

Committee Member 2

Hawas, May

Extent

70 p.

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Rights

The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval

Not necessary for this item

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