Good question--one we could all ask ourselves.
First of all, in at least one sense Frodo didn't fail. As far as I know, Tolkien wrote that nobody--no mortal at least--could have taken the Ring to Mt. Doom and destroyed it. It was only for Frodo to do all he could and get it to the mountain. The rest had to be managed by a higher power, since there was nobody else to do it. Nobody with any intelligence and imagination could have borne the Ring so far and yet remained uncorrupted by it. Even Sam couldn't, though mercifully its effect on him was minimal. So, Frodo did amazingly well to get as far as he did.
The Ring did prevail in the short term, part of the reason (one must assume) that Frodo continued to be haunted by it long after it was destroyed. It inspired a posessiveness and covetousness--perhaps a hardness--that may have lain mostly dormant in Frodo's nature. Worse, it fed his fears, leading him into a black despair to which anything must have seemed preferable. Sam, by the end, wasn't exactly hopeful, but he focused on the minute-to-minute struggle and used activity to save him from total despair. Frodo was too weak by that time to force his thoughts away from the Ring.
On another level, Frodo wasn't exactly the perfect Ringbearer to send. He was already, to some extent, under the Ring's influence as Gandalf and Elrond must have known. He had a willful streak that must have worried them. His intelligence, imagination, and education, too, were liabilities. The Ring and Sauron loved to play on anyone that trusted too much in their own strength, wisdom, or judgement or that sought their own advancement. Frodo was more prone to these things than many hobbits; he'd been more analytical and critical than many. He had enough imagination to guess at the Ring's possibilities and power--which would have only made the prospect of bearing it more frightening and alluring.
On the other hand, Frodo seems to have been chosen for the job. Could someone like Sam have recognized and fought off the Ring's influence long enough to get to Mordor? Been able to get help from Faramir and Gollum? He was wise, but not necessarily thoughtful in that way and discretion wasn't always his strength. Maybe he could have, and the task was given to Frodo to teach Frodo humility. We don't always understand why some of us seem to be assigned certain roles in life and others aren't. Suffice it to say, Frodo and Sam--together--managed to get the Ring far enough that higher powers could overrule events in their favor. That's faith, all anyone really had to go on in the matter anyway.
|