LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 12 - Flight to the Ford

[Boromir88]

Davem wrote:

But has he always been that way, or is it some effect of the Ring on him, some isolating effect? Does it show some perverted sense of being in control, being the one who is responsible for everything?

I think to answer that question you got to compare Frodo's actions to the "actions" (if you want to call them that) of the Ring. You've already said how Frodo wants to blame himself for everything, and thinks he's responsible for everything, which is a valid point. Then we have...

perverted sense of being in control

Isn't that also a "characteristic" of the Ring itself, being in control, it control's what people think, it controls how people act, it even controls the whole fate of Middle-Earth. So it could be some sort of an effect the Ring is having on Frodo. But also, you can think of it as, maybe it takes one like Frodo to be able to wield and use the ring like he did. Maybe, it takes someone, like a Frodo, one that wants to take responsibility for everything. To answer this, we got to look at the two people who actually carried the Ring as a burden to Mount Doom. Frodo and Isildur. We've already established Frodo as that "it's all my fault," and as you put it, a form of "perverted control. So now we ask was Isildur like Frodo? Was Isildur that type of person, who blamed himself for everyone's mistakes? Unfortunately, I don't know enough on Isildur to make a judgement, so I obviously can't go any further.