Setting og tema i 'The Hobbit' og 'I Kill Giants'

’The Hobbit’ and ’I Kill Giants’ are set in two very different settings. ‘The Hobbit’ is set in a secondary world while ‘I Kill Giants’ is set in our world. Analyze the two text’s use of setting and how the setting helps set up the theme of the texts.

When writing a fantasy text, it is essential to consider what kind of setting the story is going to unfold in. Whether this is on a social, physical, historical, or cultural level- the environment always plays a significant role to the story. In this assignment I will try to analyze how the use of settings relate to the theme ‘Growing up’, and account for how the choice of world, affects our experience as a reader. I Kill Giants is set in our world to underpin that our protagonist is imagining all of these fantastic things in order to hide from the truth about her mother’s disease. Being a young marginalized child, Barbara is using this fantasy of hers as a coping mechanism, fighting giants, and slaying titans. So, while Barbara sees herself as a hero, protecting her town from certain destruction, she defies everyone with or without reason and becomes increasingly isolated within her own home, leaving her sister Karen to struggle between work and playing mother. As Barbara begins her hunt for the Forest Giants, two people enter her life: One being her new schoolmate Sophia, the other being the school psychologist Miss Molle. As they get to know Barbara and her family, it becomes clear that this fixation of giants could be a cover for a girl no longer wanting to be part of reality. In the end she is forced to face the truth, and talk to her ill mother, who she has convinced herself is dead. This meeting opens Barbara’s eyes to reality and makes her realize that this fight of hers was more with herself, than with the giants.This emphasizes the theme that is ‘Growing up’, by showing how a young girl builds a defense in order to neglect the truth- but eventually learns how to face this truth, and deal with her sorrow in a healthy way.The Hobbit is set in a secondary world in order to allow the protagonist to enter the unknown and grow as a person. Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit, living a very monotonous life. He likes everything that is ordinary and can be scheduled, so when a long-bearded wizard tricks him into going on an adventure, he is initially fighting a huge inner conflict- between staying home and losing integrity or going on this quest and making a name of himself. During this adventure, Bilbo grows, and matures, challenging the theme ‘Growing up’ which is usually associated with children coming of age. The choice of setting, unfolding the story in a secondary world, seems like the obvious choice, as the author is creating his own fantastic, intriguing environment, to allow his readers to discover new things, they never thought possible, along with Bilbo.In conclusion the setting, whether that being physical or psychological, and the chosen world makes a huge difference to us as readers, especially when the used genre is fantasy. ‘I Kill Giants’ shows a girls mental journey growing up, while Bilbo in ‘The Hobbit’ has to go on a physical journey in order to grow up.