THE ANALYSIS OF CONFLICT IN THE NOVEL

“THE HOBBIT OR THERE AND BACK AGAIN”

Kadek Putra Jaya Kusuma

Non-regular Program English Department

Faculty of Letter Udayana University

Abstract :

Makalah ini berjudul “The Analysis of Conflict in the Novel “The Hobbit or There and Back Again” ”. Makalah ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis konflik di dalam cerita “The Hobbit or There and Back Again”.Analisis difokuskan kepada karakter dan konflik di dalam cerita dan untuk mencari konflik serta bagaimana karakter menyelesaikan setiap permasalahan. Pemeran Utama dari novel ini adalah Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo adalah seorang Hobbit. Hobbit seperti manusia pada umumnya, tingginya setengah lebih pendek dari manusia dan tidak lebih tinggi dari kurcaci. Hobbit sangat suka makanan dan minuman serta Hobbit sangat menikmati diam didalam rumah mereka di Bag End. Sebagian besar Hobbit termasuk Bilbo Baggins tidak memiliki keinginan untuk berpetualang. Sampai pada suatu hari, seorang lelaki tua bernama Gandalf datang pada Bilbo untuk mengajaknya berpetualang. Bilbo menolak ajakan Gandalf dan memilih untuk tetap diam dirumah. Hari berikutnya, 13 kurcaci datang kerumahnya dan membicarakan petualangan. Bilbo merasa tidak mengundang Para Kurcaci untuk datang. Kemudian datang Gandalf yang ternyata adalah salah satu seorang penyihir terhebat dan kembali mengajak Bilbo untuk ikut berpetualang. Disinilah babak baru kehidupan Bilbo dimulai. Di sisi lain, dia hanya ingin diam dirumah tanpa harus pergi kemana-mana, disisi lain pula dia ingin menjadi Hobbit yang berbeda dengan ikut berpetualang bersama Gandalf dan para kurcaci. Bilbo menerima tawaran Gandalf untuk ikut berpetualang dan siap untuk berubah menjadi Hobbit baru yang pemberani dan berbeda.

Konflik didalam literature lebih tertuju kepada perbedaan karakter dan melibatkan kekuatan didalamnya. Konflik bisa terjadi diluar karakter mau pun didalam karakter. Konflik terjadi pada satu, atau dua karakter, bahkan lebih. Konflik menciptakan ketertarikan tersendiri bagi pembaca. Membuat pembaca tertarik untuk terus membaca cerita tersebut.

Kata Kunci : The Hobbit, Novel, Konflik, Karakter, Analisis.

  • 1.    Background

A novel is a long prose narrative that describes fictional characters and events in the form of a sequential story. The genre has historical roots in the fields of medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter, an Italian word used to describe short stories, supplied the present generic English term in the 18th century. There are some points that are very important in novel such as setting, plot of story, character and conflict.

Conflict is an inherent incompatibility between the objectives of two or more characters or forces. Conflict creates tension and interest in a story by adding doubt as to the outcome. A narrative is not limited to a single conflict. While conflicts may not always

resolve in narrative, the resolution of a conflict creates closure, which may or may not occur at a story's end.

Conflict in literature refers to the different drives of the characters or forces involved. Conflict may be internal or external. That is, it may occur within a character's mind or between a character and exterior forces. Conflict is most visible between two or more characters, usually a protagonist and an antagonist or enemy, but can occur in many different forms.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, is a fantasy novel and children's book by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937. J.R.R. Tolkien or John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, (3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.

  • 2.    Problem

The research problem can be formulated as follows:

  • 1.    What is main conflict in “The Hobbit or There And Back Again”?

  • 2.    How is the characters resolve the conflict?

  • 3.    Aims of Study

The aims of this study are:

  • 1.    To find out the main conflict in “The Hobbit or There And Back Again”.

  • 2.    To find out how is the character resolve the conflict.

  • 4.    Method

This study applied a documentation method supported by note taking technique. The data sources were compiled through some chronological works such as carefully reading, selecting, listing, and taking note the selected items based on the topic related. Through reading both the novel entitled “The Hobbit Or There And Back Again”, the general overview of stories and especially the character’s description were collected. Then the next step was finding the sentences containing the information about the character and conflict explanation and description. After the data was collected, those data was then selected in order to find the important items. Another method was done by searching some accurate information in the web. This information was evidence that supports the discussion in this study.

  • 5.    Analysis of Conflict

    • 5.1    Man vs. Self

Bilbo begins this important journey without purpose that the dwarves have. He awakens late and the fact that the dwarves have already left allows him to second guess the commitment he made the night before and revert to his comfort-loving hobbit ways. After he begins his journey with the dwarves, such concerns seem irrelevant. It is significant that the dwarves agree to give Bilbo a share of the treasure they will reclaim, because greed is a “dwarvish” and they are hard to sharing.

Bilbo's waking to find himself entrapped by spiders appears to be almost a correction to such hobbit tendencies, and he exercises real physical courage in freeing himself and killing the spider. It is a bravery he did not know he had within himself, it is unusual enough that he passes out afterwards. The episode of killing the spider marks a turning point for Bilbo Baggins. He is conscious of feeling braver than he ever has before.

  • 5.2    Man vs. Man

Man versus man conflicts in this novel were that of Bilbo (main character) versus Smaug (primary antagonist). The dragon is protecting his treasure that he stole from Thorin’s grandfather. Bilbo is the designated burglar of the treasure. The conflict is that Bilbo must, and has, stolen the treasure. Even though Bilbo only steals one item of treasure, a goblet, the dragon is enraged because of his greed of items he does not need.

  • 5.3    Man vs. Society

The Battle of the Five Armies was fought among the armies of the Dwarves, the Elves, Men of Lake town, Orcs and Trolls out of Hithaeglir, and the Eagles. Each race had a different reason for fighting. The Dwarves wanted the Arkenstone and what treasure was left in the Lonely Mountain after the death of Smaug. The Trolls were fighting for their late king, who was killed by Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin’s dwarf company. The Mirkwood Elves fought for rumored treasure and to defend the men of Laketown, who wanted a share of the treasure for the loss of Esgaroth. The Orcs and Trolls, came just to kill.

  • 6.    Resolution of Conflict

    • 6.1    Bilbo Baggins vs. Himself (Man vs. Self)

Bilbo is a Baggins, the heir of a thoroughly respectable and conventional family, but his mother was a Took, an eccentric clan of hobbits noted for their love of excitement and adventure. When Gandalf enlists Bilbo’s help in Thorin’s quest for the treasure under the mountain, Bilbo begins a process of gradual development, transforming from a cautious homebody at the beginning of the novel to a brave and confident hero at the end. The internal conflict in the story was Bilbo versus himself. He was very uncomfortable about the whole adventure and didn’t want to go to the adventure. But, he begins his journey with Gandalf and the dwarves. He stated this during the adventure, “Far, far away in the West, where things were blue and faint, Bilbo knew there lay his our country of safe and comfortable things, and his little hobbit-hole” (page 61). It seemed as though all of this thinking about not wanting to being there, on the adventure. Even the dwarfs thought that he was holding them back and they wondered why he was even invited. Later on in the story when they fought off the very large spiders in the forest, that were going to kill them all, Bilbo sort of blossomed while fighting them. He felt like he actually was doing something to help and he was proving himself as a valuable person within the group, Thorin and Company. That’s a turning point for Bilbo Baggins. He is conscious of feeling braver than before.

  • 6.2    Bilbo vs. Smaug (man vs. man)

Smaug is a "most especially greedy, strong, and wicked" (page 123) dragon who comes flying out of the North to attack the Lonely Mountain a couple of generations before The Hobbit takes place. He's attracted to this particular dwarf kingdom because it's an especially wealthy one in the days of Thorin's grandfather, Thror. And we all know that dragons love to sit on top of piles of treasure. So Smaug flies in one day, eats pretty much all the dwarves inside their tunnels, and settles down on top of his stolen hoard of gold and silver. Smaug also destroys the nearby human town of Dale (where Bard's ancestor Girion was lord). So Smaug has a lot of blood on his claws.

Bilbo first encounters Smaug when he creeps down the tiny side passage into the Lonely Mountain and steals a golden cup from Smaug's stack while the dragon is sleeping. Even though Smaug isn't doing anything with this treasure, he jealously

guards every tiny bit of it, and he immediately realizes that the cup has been stolen. In retaliation, Smaug tears up the side of the mountain and blocks off the tiny side door. Smaug likes to overreact. And his overreaction gets even worse after his second visit from Bilbo.

Bilbo creeps down the passage a second time to see if he can find some kind of weak point in Smaug's armor. This time, Smaug is awake. Luckily, Bilbo's ring of invisibility gives him some safety. And Smaug wants to find out where Bilbo is from, so he doesn't kill him outright. They fall into conversation. Smaug asks Bilbo's name. Bilbo doesn't want to give Smaug his name for fear of evil spells, but he also doesn't want to refuse Smaug's request for fear of angering the dragon. Bilbo tells Smaug that he isn't here for money, he and his friends have come for revenge. Smaug laughs. He turns over to show off the magnificence of his scales. He thinks no weapon will be able to hurt him. But Smaug is unaware of an unscaled patch on his chest, a weak spot. Bilbo creeps off, and Smaug sends a wave of flame after him. Bilbo barely escapes unburned.

On Smaug's side, he has figured out that Bilbo must have come from Laketown in the company of some dwarves. So Smaug flies out to destroy Lake-town. Bilbo, for his part, has found out that Smaug has a weak point. But he has also accidentally endangers Lake-town. Luckily, a helpful thrush carries this news about the weak point to Bard, the heroic archer of Lake-town who then brings down Smaug. Unfortunately, Smaug's giant body falls right on top of Lake-town.

  • 6.3    The Battle of the Five Armies (Man vs. Society)

The external conflict was a war with the elves, the dwarfs, and the Lake Men versus the wargs and the goblins, and it was called the Battle of Five Armies. It all started because Smaug, the dragon, was killed and his treasure was left in a cave where he lived. It was apparently all the riches that Thorin was supposed to inherit and he was on this adventure to retrieve it. Everyone else in The Company would get a cut of the gold and jewels as well. All of the other groups in the war came to try to take it from Thorin and Company but the dwarfs knew that they had to protect what was theirs. So a fight began and everyone had to choose sides. During the fight the eagles showed up to try to save the day for the non-evil side. Beorn also came disguised as a large bear that frightened the wargs and goblins. Needless to say the dwarfs, elves, and Lake Men won the battle and split up the riches.

  • 7.    Conclusion

The Hobbit is an action adventure tale which takes place in Middle Earth, a fantasy land during the Middle Ages. Most of The Hobbit occurs in the Misty Mountains and Mirkwood, a dark and dangerous forest. The Lonely Mountain and the flatlands around it are also major parts of the story. The Hobbit has a very dark and mysterious mood which is often brightened by the amusing dialogue and actions of the dwarves.

Bilbo Baggins is the main character of this novel. He is backed by a crew of dwarves and the wizard Gandalf most of the time. Bilbo is a very lovable and sentimental character. Gandalf is an extremely powerful white wizard who accompanies Bilbo through the majority of their quest. The wizard is extremely random and unpredictable, making him very human-like. Thirteen dwarves, among whom the leader is Thorin Oakenshield, travel with Bilbo and Gandalf. These dwarves go by the names of Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Dwalin, Balin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur. Thorin, the leader, is very respectable and stubborn in his ways. The group picks up many friends in its journey. Smaug the dragon is the main evil in The Hobbit. The many obstacles and dangers encountered in the group's travel also make hardships for the dwarves and Bilbo. Smaug is a very greedy and powerful dragon who stole the dwarves' ancestors treasures while killing many of the ancient dwarves. Smaug lived upon his pile of gold and silver in the heart of the Lonely Mountain.

There were many conflicts in The Hobbit, but the one that directly or indirectly affected them all was that between the dwarves and their lust for their lost treasure that Smaug had stolen. In order for the dwarves to win back their gold, they had to first reach the Lonely Mountain, where Smaug was hiding with the treasure.

After Bard killed Smaug, the dwarves thought they could take their treasure and leave, but other races wanted the treasure too. Armies gathered, humans, dwarves, and their allies on one side, goblins, and their wild wolves on the other. After days of fighting, the dwarves and humans finally defeated the goblin armies and claimed the treasure to be their own. Bilbo was rewarded with heaping mounds of treasure as pay from the dwarves, but Bilbo kindly declined the offer and took only two small trunks of gold and silver home with him. Bilbo's trip home was much less exciting than his

journey to the Lonely Mountain. The Hobbit is a very adventurous book that is full of excitement.

  • 8.    Bibliography

Kempshall, Paddy, 2012. “The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey : The World of Hobbits”. London: Harper Collins Children’s Books.

Tolkien, J.R.R. , 1937. “The Hobbit Or There And Back Again”.

London : HarperCollinsPublishers

Welleck, Rena and Auten Warren, 1989. “Theory of Literature”. Retrieved from http://www.plu.edu/~jensenmk/271wellek.html 27.12.2012

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