Pivoting on my thoughts from the thread about the 9 companions, I'd just like to say this:

I think that the breaking of the fellowship may have been predicted but to an extend, inteded. Each character was significant to the unfolding of the story, and having the fellowship break, not only did it demonstrate each characters determination and love for one another, but it also meant that each character could play their part in the destruction of the ring. In a way they all saved Middle Earth. Don't you agree?