Portrayal of Race in the Hobbit
HOW IS RACE PORTRAYED IN THE HOBBIT BY J.R.R. TOLKIEN?
J.R.R. Tolkien began writing The Hobbit in 1930 and it was published in 1937.
In 1930s Europe, the political climate was turbulent. The Great Depression of the 1930s crippled the world’s economy. The rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s emphasized its hatred of the Jews as a race and not only the Jewish religion. There were frequent pogroms of Jewish people occurring in Eastern Europe and the rise of Nazism in Germany led to the mass extermination of six million Jews. Writers like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien have criticized Hitler and Nazism in Germany.
Tolkien had very strong political beliefs. He was an anti-communist and criticized Nazism. In preparation for the release of The Hobbit in Germany, his publisher asked him if he was of Aryan origin. He said that he was proud to have many Jewish friends and also went further in denouncing the race-doctrine of Nazi Germany, saying that it was antisemitic, unscientific and destructive. This sort of antisemitism, which was prevalent in the 1930s, influenced Tolkien’s writings of The Hobbit. Firstly, I do not want to limit the definition of antisemitism as overt violence and discrimination of Jewish people. But rather as the claim that Jews are psychologically and biologically different from Christians, which has been an idea prevalent in Europe since the middle ages. Antisemitism is therefore, a set of beliefs and not just an action.
The antisemitism of the 1930s influenced Tolkien’s construction of the different races in The Hobbit. In this essay, I will focus on the similarities between the Dwarvish race and the Jewish people.
“The Dwarves of course are quite obviously – wouldn’t you say that in many ways they remind you of Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic.” – J.R.R Tolkien
In Tolkien’s own words, the Dwarvish race in The Hobbit is constructed to be Semitic. This construction of race was potentially influenced
J.R.R. Tolkien began writing The Hobbit in 1930 and it was published in 1937.
In 1930s Europe, the political climate was turbulent. The Great Depression of the 1930s crippled the world’s economy. The rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s emphasized its hatred of the Jews as a race and not only the Jewish religion. There were frequent pogroms of Jewish people occurring in Eastern Europe and the rise of Nazism in Germany led to the mass extermination of six million Jews. Writers like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien have criticized Hitler and Nazism in Germany.
Tolkien had very strong political beliefs. He was an anti-communist and criticized Nazism. In preparation for the release of The Hobbit in Germany, his publisher asked him if he was of Aryan origin. He said that he was proud to have many Jewish friends and also went further in denouncing the race-doctrine of Nazi Germany, saying that it was antisemitic, unscientific and destructive. This sort of antisemitism, which was prevalent in the 1930s, influenced Tolkien’s writings of The Hobbit. Firstly, I do not want to limit the definition of antisemitism as overt violence and discrimination of Jewish people. But rather as the claim that Jews are psychologically and biologically different from Christians, which has been an idea prevalent in Europe since the middle ages. Antisemitism is therefore, a set of beliefs and not just an action.
The antisemitism of the 1930s influenced Tolkien’s construction of the different races in The Hobbit. In this essay, I will focus on the similarities between the Dwarvish race and the Jewish people.
“The Dwarves of course are quite obviously – wouldn’t you say that in many ways they remind you of Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic.” – J.R.R Tolkien
In Tolkien’s own words, the Dwarvish race in The Hobbit is constructed to be Semitic. This construction of race was potentially influenced
Bibliography: 1. Rateliff, John D., and J. R. R. Tolkien. Page 79-80. The History of the Hobbit :. London: HarperCollins, 2007. N. pag. Print. 4. Tolkien, J. R. R., Humphrey Carpenter, and Christopher Tolkien. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981. Print. 8. Brackmann, Rebecca. "Dwarves Are Not Heroes." Thefreelibrary.com. N.p., 22 Mar. 2010. Web.