I always read "the West has failed" as referring to Numenor, which was Denethor's prime concern, Gondor being it's last vestige in his eyes. He lived at a time when the line of Numenor was dwindling and was not, unlike Gandalf, concerned about the fate of lesser men. Anger would have been his response, if someone else had failed him. Despair is the response of those who have themselves failed, (even if perhaps they fail alongside others of like purpose).
He was the lord of Gondor, and
he had lost... his realm (in his view via the palantir), and one by one, both his sons. By his own decisions. Despair and guilt over Faramir's injury drove him to look in the stone, and weakened him. He blamed himself. "Stir not the bitter cup which I have mixed for myself" he said over the death of Boromir.
Is it noble to take responsibility for a realm, and to foot the blame if things go ill, or a kind of arrogance, taking credit for the actions of others and circumstances beyond ones control?
Meglomania does not describe Denethor, for that sort feels destined and deserving of greatness and will justify anything to that end. Manifest Destiny. Yet Denethor told Boromir..
Quote:
How many hundreds of years does it take to make a steward a king, if the king comes not? - Boromir
In places of less royalty, a few years perhaps. In Gondor ten thousand would not suffice. - Denethor
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Still during his madness he refused the claim of Aragorn, calling him "this Ranger of the North" come to supplant him.
Had he not already gone over the edge, would he have refused a solid claim? I say no. This contradiction is a change for him, and that change in him was madness.
[ November 27, 2001: Message edited by: Marileangorifurnimaluim ]