The Hobbit - Chapter 06 - Out of the Frying-Pan Into the Fire

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Thinlómien

Okay, but even if they tend to do the thing they have to but they don't want to don't they have the same kind of feelings (deep) inside them?

Yes indeed! Children have intense emotional feelings; as the infant develops, emotion is very closely tied in with memory. But the brain develops over years. Have you ever watched an infant come to realise that that those things flapping in front of his face--hands--are a part of his or her body? Development is rapid in the first three to four years, a bit more slowly until age 10, and then, well, it's not quite a grinding halt then. There is also some debate about the specific nature of adolescent brain function, though. I digress!

But my point isn't so much the feelings as it is the particular form of argument and the style , which is expressly suited to a particular understanding of children. It is purposefully designed to help Tolkien's audience identify with the hero, Bilbo. We see Bilbo in many instances as child-like because he is made to appear through the feelings and perceptions which Tolkien attributed to children. Frodo's thought processes are handled very differently in LotR.