[Eönwë]

Hmm... this is a very interesting thread indeed.

Frodo, when he comes back to the Shire, is no longer the Frodo we see at beginning of the books. He still shares a lot with Frodo before, and he still is the same person, but he is also changed.

When he comes back from his journey, I think Lalwende is right when he says that he has grown too much. He can't go back to life before because he has changed, even if he appears the same. I think that the reason he that the shire isn't saved for him is that it is no longer the place for him. As the Hobbits of the Shire are the carefree and innocent individuals that we all know, I think that the Shire just wasn't the right place for him any more. Even with the Scouring, the hobbits were still hobbits, and I think that Frodo had changed more than any of them, even Sam, who managed to settle down, at least for a while, before going West.

Frodo, after facing so much hardship has changed, and I think that the Shire can no longer contain him. He is no longer the carefree Shire-hobbit that he once was, and I think, to continue growing the way he has, he needs to leave the simpler Shire-folk and go West with the Elves, most of whom have also experienced a lot of hardship, and are more serious folk. To continue to grow, he needs to live with those that understand what he has gone through, and what was going through at the end of the War of the Ring, and the hobbits of the Shire were too happy and carefree for him.

Frodo probably felt out of place in the shire, because he longer fitted in. He probably felt like he couldn't join in with all the carefree merriment and laughter (and maybe even couldn't take it) of the Shire-Hobbits, and he probably felt that he had to go. Even when the elves are having fun, it is much deeper, and I think that Frodo has become a more spiritual being after the whole ordeal, and is able to relate with the elves more than the hobbits. For example, maybe the light-hearted singing and music of the hobbits was too light-hearted (or maybe even irritating) for him, and he would enjoy the much more powerful beautiful singing of the elves.

Basically, I think in his transformation, Frodo has become more like an elf than a hobbit, and so can no longer fit in the Shire the way he used to, and needs to be with more similar-minded individuals.