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  • Essay / The role of food scenes in “The Hobbit”

    “Food is not just a set of products that can be used for statistical or nutritional studies. It is also and at the same time a communication system, a body of images, a protocol of uses, situations and behaviors. I agree with this statement by Barthes because food scenes are one of the most important scenes in a film. Food can be one of the most revealing character traits on screen. This can tell us a lot about the character's personality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayWhen we look at important restaurant scenes, many questions come to our minds. What does the character eat? Do they use utensils or do they immediately start eating with their hands? When and where do these scenes take place? As a tool intrinsically linked to sustenance and nourishment, food is one of the most productive ways to convey character and plot development. They can tell micro-narratives for even a split second and establish premises in a spontaneous, evocative and powerful way. As at the beginning of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", a company of dwarves visits Bilbo Baggins without him knowing the reason for their visit. In the scene, the way Bilbo prepares the food and prepares himself to eat shows that he is indeed well respected by the hobbits of the Shire. He seems really well disciplined and decent. But his guests. On the other hand, his guests eat in an extremely disorderly manner which makes them seem like savages because in effect they have lost their home and have lived as travelers for many years. The way they eat shows their desire to reclaim their homeland and once again live the lavish lives of kings that they once had. And that's what made Bilbo join their adventure, something that seems small but is the most important event in the future of Middle-earth. In JRR Tolkien's writings about Middle-earth, food and diet are also very relevant, especially in the narrative portions involving the Hobbits. , which, of course, are all from The Hobbit and almost all from The Lord of the Rings. In The Lord of the Rings, the essential theology of food remains. Eating is a popular act among Hobbits in particular, although it can also be seen among Elves, Men, Ents and even sometimes Dwarves: food and nourishment bind Hobbits to each other, to strangers that they meet and to the earth itself. Tolkien describes the culture of the Hobbits, particularly their approach to food, as a model of a healthy society. Even to the most casual reader of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, it is obvious that food is vital to Hobbits. We all know that if they get it right, Hobbits enjoy six meals a day, including two dinners. As the Prologue to The Lord of the Rings points out, they "eat and drink often and heartily." Yes, much of their time was spent growing and consuming food. But it also showed that Hobbits were peace-loving people who stayed aloof from the problems of the "bigger world." They were far too busy enjoying their food and beer to rarely care about what was happening in the outside world. This makes the scene at the beginning of The Hobbit even better because it shows that Bilbo went against Hobbit culture and ventured into the outside world to help the dwarves reclaim their home. According to Bower, “..