User blog:RHawk/Why does Frodo take credit for destroying the ring?

Everyone takes it for granted that Frodo was the one who destroyed the ring. Should he take credit for it though? Please educate me.

No doubt, Frodo is a creature of immense courage and commitment (and in some ways, Sam is even more courageous but that's a topic for a different blog). He endures much hardship and almost dies multiple times, but never loses his commitment. He takes credit for taking the ring all the way to Mount Doom with the intention to destroy it. Yet, along the way little by little the ring is working its black magic on him, corrupting him as time goes. By the time he reaches the Cracks he has fully given in to the corrupting power of "power" and decides to keep the ring rather than throwing it in. No matter how much Sam, his closest friend insists, at the end it is the ring he listens to, not Sam, which shows he has clearly gone to the wrong side, even if temporarily. That the ring is destroyed is not of his direct doing. The ring falls into the fires of Doom by accident as Frodo and Gollum  fight over it. It is NOT thrown into the fires by intention. It is NOT destroyed intentionally by Frodo or anyone.

My take from this is Tolkien had a lesson: That power is immensely corrupting, and not even our hero is immune from it. But the fans, in their (well-deserved) love of Frodo overlook his important shortcoming and give him full credit for destroying the ring. Tolkien could have made Frodo be a more heroic figure by boldly and unshakeably throwing the ring into the fire without hesitation. The fact that he hesitates and caves in diminishes his standing as a heroic figure and Tolkien meant to do that as a very important lesson. It was more important to Tolkien to teach us that lesson that it was to make Frodo an unblemished hero.

Please educate me and show me how this conclusion is wrong. Looking forward to a good discussion!