Except that we don't know if he has claimed the Ring to save the Shire - we don't know what his true motives are. But even if he did claim the Ring save the Shire, it makes him an
actor rather than a passive broken figure to whom things are simple happening because he is no longer capable of doing anything about them.
Do I sense a refusal to acknowledge Frodo's 'sin' & therefore an avoidance of the necessity to have to forgive him? I see a lot of attempts to avoid having to forgive him by making excuses for his actions. In order to forgive someone we have to acknowledge, admit, the fact of their offence. If we love someone its easier to come up with excuses & justifications for what they did, in order to avoid the stark reality that
they did wrong. In that way we can avoid feeling let down,
betrayed by them. We can go on believing that they are really the same person we've 'loved' (ie 'idealised') all along. But only when we see them as they really
are, accept the truth about them, & accept the pain that that causes us, can we forgive them - & forgiveness is what they need. And, perhaps just as importantly, we don't want to hurt someone we love. We don't want to tell them they've done wrong.
As I think about it, my feeling increasingly is that one of the things that broke Frodo was that he didn't get what he needed from his friends - true
forgiveness. They all made excuses for him - for the best of reasons - but I think Frodo actually needed someone to say 'You
sinnedf. You failed, you betrayed us (because that's what he felt) but we forgive you. Frodo
knew he had affirmed the Ring's existence. He'd said 'Yes' to evil. And exactly what he'd said Yes to was what confronted him on his return to the Shire. That's why its so important to the story to see Frodo's return to the Shire. Frodo sees his choice laid out before him. By claiming the Ring he became as (morally) culpable as Saruman. Its interesting that he forgives Saruman when all the others are demanding vengeance. He doesn't do that because he's a saint, but because he's a sinner. He looks at Saruman, sees him for what he is, & forgives him. And Frodo needed the same thing, but never actually got it from those around him, because they couldn't bear to think he needed it.
And if I've contradicted any of my earlier statements here its because I'm being forced to think on my feet
