[Bêthberry]

I've been out of commission and just now getting back to these very interesting replies!

Originally Posted by Lal

I think Bilbo is portrayed in a familiar way in The Hobbit, as a grown up, but as the kind of grown up who appeals directly to children. He is gentle, nervous, and is jolly; Bilbo is a 'safe' adult, the kind of character we also see a little of in the kids' characters and presenters we see on TV on a daily basis. For example, presenters on Blue Peter may seem very childish to our adult eyes, getting enthusiastic about making a living room for Barboe and Action Man out of a cornflakes box and a roll of sticky backed plastic. But to a child, they seem friendly and approachable, and despite being obviously grown ups, they are people they feel they can identify with. And of course these presenters go off and do skydiving and the like, having the adventures for the kids who cannot have them, which Bilbo also does. . . .

In another way Bilbo is also a 'kidult', a horrible marketing term to describe adults who love collecting toys, watching cartoons, playing games etc. He has adventures, and he plays riddle games with odd little creatures he finds deep beneath the mountains.

So Bilbo is Mr. Rogers, from Mr. Rogers' Neighbourhood ? Or Kermit? Is trust developed by this kind of serenity or 'safeness'? Are the 'original' children's fairy tales populated by such characters?

And so a contemporary Bilbo would be the sort who plays online computer games?

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

Tolkien's explanation for his not marrying given via Gandalf is that he needed tobe free for adventure, however even when he has had his adventure, Tolkien rejects the solution of marrying him in order to produce an heir. Pehaps at that stage LOTR was still intended to be more of a true sequel to the Hobbit and in order that children could still relate to him, Bilbo had to be kept away from the true adult role.

Originally Posted by Firefoot

"Married" is a very adult status and would probably distance the Hobbit as being a children's or an adventure book. Somehow Bilbo being a married old hobbit running off on an adventure is not quite so appealing. Imagine Mrs. Bilbo running around serving fruit cakes at the unexpected party...

Hmm. In Renaissance times, very young children were often married by their families for dynastic purposes. And there's the teen lovers Romeo and Juliet. Is procreation is the true adult role? Although we have moved beyond the idea that procreation is the only suitable or proper adult female role, do we still have this stereotype that only those who reproduce are properly adult? One of the things that always intrigued me about the role of monastic orders for men and women in the Middle Ages is that there was a culturally acceptable place for people who did not marry.

On the other hand, such a view of adulthood also implies that childhood is an asexual state of being. I'm not sure that modern pyschology (Freud aside) would support this idea.

Originally Posted by Lal

Not even the rumour of all that gold and bling lurking in Bag End would have tempted a Hobbit lass to marry the by now very odd Bilbo.

Oh now, Lal, we all know that covetousness is not a hobbit habit!

Anyhow, it is fascinating how this topic has got off on sexual matters. Are there other markers of childhood or adulthood besides this one?