[Child of the 7th Age]

Cibbwin, Good points!

I was actually saying that half tongue in cheek....to try and stretch out human 'childhood' to the greatest extent possible and see if we could 'equal' the hobbit record of 1/3 of life spent under age. It is true that some 'kids' are financially dependent on their parents for an extended period of time, sometimes because they are in school, or sometimes because their first job doesn't pay them a decent enough wage. Another big divider is marriage -- some folk stay single for a long time, and others get married right out of high school. Others prefer to remain single forever. And then there's the drinking or voting age. There are a thousand different measures of "adulthood." We can't put a definite age on becoming an adult such as the hobbits did, unless you simply want to use the 'legal' age of 18 or 21.

But I honestly don't believe that most of us think of a 20-year old, whether in school or working, as a "child". The other reality is that in our society, there is intense peer pressure to grow up quickly, at least in a social sense. And frequently, taking time out for adventure or self exploration (things that don't have economic value) is discouraged. Tolkien seemed to be saying that it was alright in hobbit society to take a while to find your niche in life, to lose yourself in the present without worrying about the future. Hobbits weren't wild or far travelling so perhaps most of the young ones just enjoyed themselves in the company of friends.

That is a nice idea. It's also very different than historical reality. In ancient and medieval times, in agrarian society, there was little real sense of childhood. Everyone had to work as hard as they could from day one so the family would have enough to eat. So perhaps the hobbit extended childhood is a little piece of idealized "luxury" that even in our day and age we haven't been willing or able to "afford"? And to Tolkien who was rudely jerked out of real 'childhood' by the death of his mother, leaving him an orphan, the period of 33 years when a hobbit could "have fun" might have looked enticing in retrospect!

I am one of the more ancient members of the forum -- definitely the post-33 crowd--so am only marginally qualified to address this in any way! Perhaps some posters in their teens or twenties can give their opinion on how alike or different they see their own experience of 'childhood versus adulthood' in comparison with the hobbits --- perhaps taking Pippin's behavior as a guide and tying it into the book that way.

<font size=1 color=339966>[ 8:29 PM January 29, 2004: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]