Frodo's fate - has there ever been a similar hero?

Frodo's state of unease after the War of the Ring could be compared to the post traumatic stress disorder suffered by survivors of war, violence, natural disasters, and other stressful situations.

Tolkien himself, and many millions of other persons, have felt similar to Frodo in greater or lesser degrees after returning from war to peace or in similar situations. Tolkien would have believed from his own experience and those of other veterans he knew that it was a rather common and usual fate for heroes - the ones who survived, that is.

So why wouldn't Tolkien honestly write that the fate of heroes who returned from danger and stress was often (in about 25 percent of his hobbit heroes) to never feel mental or emotional peace again? (Without supernatural help which was not available to real people in this life) Perhaps he somewhat bitterly believed that if he had ever read such a truthful statement he might not have volunteered for the war as soon as he did, and thus resolved to be more honest to his readers.

That's really interesting.

I thought perhaps Katniss Everdeen in the Hunger Games is a hero that had a similar fate, with a few differences.

At the start, her life was just pretty ordinary/dull, she was poor and looking after the family. When she got chosen to participate in the Games, she became a hero and a symbol. She fought the war and succeeded. But at the end of the whole series, she's traumatised and broken and kinda depressed understandably having lost her sister. In the epilogue it shows her screaming to nightmares of the Games. However she has a bit of happiness with a new family and children of her own. But she's still very broken.

Thought this was similar to Frodo's - not really a happy ending for either characters, despite the battle being over.

And here is a link to an article supporting the belief that Frodo's fate, though rare in fiction, is similar to that of millions of real life persons.

"The shell shocked hobbit: The First World War and Tolkien's trauma of the Ring"



http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+shell-shocked+hobbit%3A+the+First+World+War+and+Tolkien's+trauma+of...-a0154698400

In addition to post traumatic stress and shell shock, Tolkien also focuses quite a bit on paralyzing fear.
This I'm sure comes from another part of Tolkien's war experiences. For me that terror adds another level of realism to Tolkien's fiction.
For instance;
- Frodo's at the Mirror of Galadriel
- Or Pippin holding the Palantir
- And the general effect of the Nazgul on the soldiers of Gondor

This is well dramatized in the LOTR films. It is not like a horror exploitation movie where having an actress scream is trying to get the audience to scream.
Instead with the LOTR actors affected by fear, it is silent terror.

BB ;-)

it is just in my opinion - imo - 🌈