LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 01 - A Long-Expected Party

[The Saucepan Man]

I also saw a very divided Frodo from my first introduction to him here. (mark12_30)

Good point Helen, and well-supported by the quotes you give, each of which makes a statement about the conflict between Frodo’s outward appearance and his inner feelings. It seems to me that this ties in with the idea of Frodo being marked out right from the outset. On the surface he displays characteristic Hobbit traits: good-humour, cheerfulness, politeness and a love of the Shire. But, internally, there is something deeper going on. He is troubled, indisposed, tired and worried and already taken with the beginnings of wanderlust. There is a similarity with the contrast in the opening chapter of The Hobbit between Bilbo’s stay-at-home nature and his adventurous Tookish side. But, in keeping with the darker theme of the book, Frodo’s inner feelings are darker and deeper.

You are right also, I think, that this hints at the turmoil that Frodo is to undergo. Perhaps it also foreshadows the choice that he ultimately has to make between his beloved Shire and a higher calling in the Undying Lands. The fact that the non-Hobbitish characteristics are the less superficial, and perhaps represent the real Frodo, suggests that his ultimate choice can never really have been in any doubt. But for the Quest, he would surely have ended up in Rivendell or somewhere similar, like Bilbo.