The idea of such a chapter was, as Tolkien stated, planned from the outset, as part of the overall formal structure of "The Lord of the Rings", though its details were not worked out until much later. The book's central theme is going out on the physical quest to destroy the One Ring, to be balanced by a chapter on returning home on the moral quest to purify the Shire and to take responsibility for oneself. However, the actual addition of Saruman to this part of the story, as the reason why the Shire should need to be scoured, came very late in Tolkien's composition; he considered other identities for the wicked Sharkey before settling on Saruman.