Prompt Revision (Jan. 20)

2010, Form B. “You can leave home all you want, but home will never leave you.” —Sonsyrea Tate

Sonsyrea Tate’s statement suggests that “home” may be conceived of as a dwelling, a place, or a state of mind. It may have positive or negative associations, but in either case, it may have a considerable influence on an individual. Choose a novel or play in which a central character leaves home yet finds that home remains significant. Write a well-developed essay in which you analyze the importance of “home” to this character and the reasons for its continuing influence. Explain how the character’s idea of home illuminates the larger meaning of the work. Do not merely summarize the plot.

For a small individual, home often means security, comfort, and predictability. Without these, he feels out of place, exposed to the dangers of the outside world. No doubt, this was how Bilbo Baggins felt as he was carried away from home to begin Tolkein's novel, The Hobbit. Not even a day's journey from his house, he already began wishing for his handkerchief. Utilizing Bilbo's original fear of leaving his "comfort zone," Tolkein emphasizes his message for us that, insignificant as we may appear, each of us has the capacity to use the skills learned inside our own fields to greatly affect the world beyond.

To start the novel, Tolkein immediately describes Bilbo's character, explaining that he comes from a land where the inhabitants ostracize, and even despise, adventurous people. He likes to think of himself as a typical hobbit, practical, so as to avoid unexpected hazards. This serves him well and makes him a valuable asset on the journey, as he is able to arrive at the simplest, most effective solutions to the problems at hand. Hundreds of miles from his own home, Bilbo is still solving problems as if he were in his own home in the Shire.

An inhabitant of a peaceful area, Bilbo bears no grudges or ill-will against anyone the way the dwarves did against the elves and men. As the neutral party in the conflict, Bilbo becomes the perfect mediator between the dwarves and the men and elves. Perhaps he was not received too well for his actions, but his peaceful background gave him the sense not to push for war like the others. He saw past the past grievances and looked to form a compromise that would be beneficial to both camps.

A character's home is often the best place to explore in order to understand his comfort zones and deepest of character qualities. Bilbo was a hobbit of comfort and peace. He ordered his home to be as practical as possible not only for his own needs, but also for guests. Leaving his home may have meant leaving his comfort zone, but true to Sonsyrea Tate's words, home, his most cherished values, never left him.