Quote:
Originally Posted by Inziladun
Bilbo was certainly the less negatively affected by his experiences, so we see him living in apparent contentment for many years after his return. The Ring's effects on him were very gradual.
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Frodo certainly got the worst of it. I'm paraphrasing but he says something along the lines of "The Shire has been saved, but not for me." Although, I think Bilbo's changed too, he just doesn't seem to care. The end of The Hobbit says Bilbo lost more than his possessions after he returned, he lost his respectability, he just didn't really care. The Bilbo who left Bag End cared about respectability, just the adventurous Tookishness won the internal battle. I also have to think returning to find out he's presumed dead and in the middle of his stuff being auctioned had to be hard on him. I'm not sure how much more he felt The Shire was "home" after that...the only thing that apparently kept him in Bag End for so long was for Frodo to come of age so he can be named his heir.
I wonder if any of the hobbits who left and came back ever felt the same way about The Shire, as they felt before leaving it. Sam departs into the West after Rosie dies. In their later years Merry goes to rejoin Eomer and Pippin goes to Gondor and gets buried next to Aragorn. None of them died nor buried in The Shire.