By the end of the story, Bilbo has changed on his journey from innocence to experience. Although Bilbo doesn't realize it at first, with Gandalf's help, he realizes that he has changed. He became courageous and fearless. He also learned the value of friendship and kindness through his new friends and their journey together that has now changed Bilbo's life and destiny forever. Something he wouldn't have experienced without all these adventures and the people he met. Clearly, the characters in the Hobbit story defined their own purpose by making personal choices and questioning issues such as race, family, and even each other to become something greater than their life.