There and Back Again

[Sardy]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

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.

I think it's not so much that Bilbo "didn't care", as it is that while both he and Frodo were changed by their travels, Bilbo was changed for the better while Frodo was changed in a negative way. Bilbo returned having grown spiritually and emotionally, bringing back with him a wealth of experience and a deep pool of (mostly) positive memories - he could live his life now in the Shire content: his (at first unadmitted) desire for travel and adventure had been appeased, and he was secure in the knowledge that one day he could and would set out again to revisit the wondrous places of his travels. He was able to balance the "small town" comfort of the Shire withe a deep first-hand knowledge that the world is a vast and mysterious place full of wonders...

On the contrary, Frodo's experience was wrought with unbearable responsibility, tragedy, desperation and pain. The Middle-earth that he experienced was not one of wonder so much as danger. His return to the safety and complacency of the Shire, of "home" was tempered and tainted with the knowledge and experience he'd gained: unlike the sense of wonder and longing Bilbo gained, Frodo was filled with a despairing and debilitating knowledge that the world is a cruel and dangerous place, where true evil exists, and the balance of good and peace and safety hang precariously by a thread... As such, he could never truly feel safe or at ease anywhere again. Except perhaps (one would hope) in Valinor.