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Could someone explain to me what is meant by Pippin and Merry losing their innocence?
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While Merry and Pippin may have heard stories of the outside world, I believe that they were fairly innocent to the concept of pain. They were forced to learn that there is horrible evil in the world and that this evil is not just to be found far away in a fairy-tale land. I did not really think that they were completely "ignorant" as you said, as the people of the Shire still told stories of heroes and bravery, although they preferred to stay at home themselves. They
knew that evil existed and that it was a bad thing, making them not completely ignorant, but they were also naïve in the sense that they never really thought that people such as themselves could be affected by the darkness.
I think that it was more that they lost that naïve perception of complete security that they felt previously when in the Shire.
Also, in the Scouring of the Shire, I think that brought the knowledge that evil could even come to their beautiful, peaceful home. This quiet community was suddenly taken over by evil, causing all of the Hobbits, who knew the stories, to lose their complete trust in their community.
Ignorance I always think of as the lack of knowledge of a particular thing. Innocence, however, is more inexposure to a particular thing or inexperience in a particular situation. I think the Hobbits had some knowledge of evil, not making them completely ignorant, but they just did not have experience with this situation.
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I wish my country (USA) could learn that.
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I am from New York, so you have no idea how much I agree with that statement.