Where Bilbo’s journey was focused on the adventure, and the goal was treasure and glory, Frodo’s journey is essentially his part in a war into which he was drafted. True, he had begun to feel restless and long for an adventure, but when actually experiencing the uncomfortable reality of life on the road, chased and attacked, his idealized view of adventure is erased. When Frodo finally reaches Rivendale, narrowly escaping death, he says to Gandalf, “I hope I shan’t have to go any further. It is very pleasant just to rest. I have had a month of exile and adventure, and I find that has been as much as I want” (The Fellowship, Book 2, chapter 1, 288). This echoes the image of young soldiers longing for war and glory before they knew the horror the were getting themselves into.
As his journey continues, however, he gains courage, and remains true to his orders. “I am commanded to go to the land of Mordor, and therefore I shall go” (The Two Towers, 833). Frodo is doing his part to protect his home from evil, and preserve the simple, happy life in the Shire, even though, and Livingston points out in his article, Frodo’s trauma keeps him from returning fully to his first life.
Frodo’s persistence grows as they near Mordor, and he commits to finishing the mission unto death, saying, “If we can nurse our limbs to bring us to Mount Doom, that is all we can do. More than I can, I begin to feel” (The Two Towers, 816). I was reminded of this when reading Livingston’s article, where he quotes John Rawls account of battle. Rawls shows the weariness and sadness attached to the unceasing perseverance: “it is sad to think one has to go back to it, and back to it, and back to it, until one is hit” (Livingston, 81).
Such is the nature of war, and such nature does Frodo grow into throughout his journey.