I agree with Mr. Underhill on the deeper, mythological meaning of the long journey. We would probably all like shortcuts in life, but find out that they don't take us where we want to go, or need to go, perhaps. We aren't ready for the goal until we've completed the way there.
Frodo would not have had the inner (and outer!) strength for the final, most difficult part of the journey had he not built it up through earlier experiences. (Kind of like athletic training for the soul!)
And at the end of the book, when Gandalf leaves the hobbits, he tells them that their experiences have been trained them to take care of the Shire's problems without him.
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth.. .'
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