<P> The Lord of the Rings contains several more supporting scenes, and has a more sophisticated plot structure, following the paths of multiple characters . Tolkien wrote the later story in much less humorous tones and infused it with more complex moral and philosophical themes . The differences between the two stories can cause difficulties when readers, expecting them to be similar, find that they are not . Many of the thematic and stylistic differences arose because Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a story for children, and The Lord of the Rings for the same audience, who had subsequently grown up since its publication . Further, Tolkien's concept of Middle - earth was to continually change and slowly evolve throughout his life and writings . </P> <P> The style and themes of the book have been seen to help stretch young readers' literacy skills, preparing them to approach the works of Dickens and Shakespeare . By contrast, offering advanced younger readers modern teenage - oriented fiction may not exercise their reading skills, while the material may contain themes more suited to adolescents . As one of several books that have been recommended for 11 - to 14 - year - old boys to encourage literacy in that demographic, The Hobbit is promoted as "the original and still the best fantasy ever written ." </P> <P> Several teaching guides and books of study notes have been published to help teachers and students gain the most from the book . The Hobbit introduces literary concepts, notably allegory, to young readers, as the work has been seen to have allegorical aspects reflecting the life and times of the author . Meanwhile, the author himself rejected an allegorical reading of his work . This tension can help introduce readers to readerly and writerly interpretations, to tenets of New Criticism, and critical tools from Freudian analysis, such as sublimation, in approaching literary works . </P> <P> Another approach to critique taken in the classroom has been to propose the insignificance of female characters in the story as sexist . While Bilbo may be seen as a literary symbol of small folk of any gender, a gender - conscious approach can help students establish notions of a "socially symbolic text" where meaning is generated by tendentious readings of a given work . By this interpretation, it is ironic that the first authorized adaptation was a stage production in a girls' school . </P>

Where does the hobbit take place in the book