[Essex]

Dave,

I can only repeat that if he succeeded then we have Tolkien saying we fallen creatures can save ourselves & have no need of any outside intervention

and

He succeeds up to a point, & gets farther than any of us would have done, but in the end he fails. He doesn't destroy the Ring.

Let’s see what his task actually WAS. Elrond’s last words to Frodo are:

The Ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom. On him alone is any charge laid: neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver it to any servant of the Enemy nor indeed to let any handle it, save members of the Company and the Council, and only then in gravest need.

Yes, the Quest was to destroy the Ring. Does it say anywhere, you Frodo, must throw the Ring into the Cracks of Doom. No (not anywhere I can see). Frodo did not fail, because the Quest was for the Ring to be destroyed. It was. Frodo did his work by getting the Ring to the Cracks of Doom. Then Redemption, because of Frodo’s (and Sam’s at the end) Mercy towards Gollum took over. (This is the outside intervention you mentioned, Dave. It does not mean he failed, it just assisted Frodo in getting the job done)

In my opinion, Frodo's success or failure is NOT complex. The Quest was to destroy the Ring. The Ring was destroyed. Just because he himself did not through the ring in the Fire is not failure. Indeed, in a previous post, it has been mentioned that Tolkien himself stated in a Letter that no-one could have thrown the ring into the fire at Mount Doom. So it was impossible for Frodo to do this on his own, he required assistance and got it because of his Mercy.

Frodo knows it, & he blames himself for it, because at the end, back in the Shire, he still believes he should have succeeded.

I Agree. Frodo thinks he HAS failed, but he is incorrect, due to his great modesty. This is what makes his leaving even more of a bitter pill to swallow. I say that Frodo has modesty because I’m struggling to find Frodo’s pride that Tolkien himself has spoken about (?) I can see that Sam himself is sad that the people of the Shire do not see Frodo as a hero, but I do not see Frodo being bothered by this.