Character redemption

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Bag End was an exceptionally desirable abode. Bilbo's father used Took-money from his wife to build it, and apparently could have made himself quite a career as a hobbit home-builder. Still, doesn't seem to merit the amount of animosity between Bilbo and the SBs.

Lobelia and the Sackville-Baggins clan are Tolkien's snide commentary on British social climbers. Even the hyphenated name Sackville-Baggins indicates "putting on airs". Tolkien himself notes the pomposity of the Sackville-Bagginses, and particularly Otho's role, in Letter 214 [undated draft, probably late 1958-early 1959]:

For the nominal headship of the Sackvilles had come to him through his mother Camellia. It was his rather absurd ambition to achieve the rare distinction of being 'head' of two families (he would probably then have called himself Baggins-Sackville-Baggins): a situation which will explain his exasperation with the adventures and disappearances of Bilbo, quite apart from the loss of property involved in the adoption of Frodo.

Lobelia, being the hard-driving and shrewish force behind Otho, would naturally despise both Bilbo (for living) and Frodo (for getting in the way of the ultimate dual headship and the prestige she was certain was due to her).

An interesting thought is that Lobelia became a hero not because she fundamentally changed her attitude (or her peevish nature); rather, due to the circumstances, her native stubbornness and haughtiness cast her as a foil against Sharky and his men, and she became a champion of resistance because she retained her faults.