Analysis Of Michael Gow Will Be The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost

Set in the Australian summer of 1967, Michael Gow’s Away is an elaborate play which explores the ideas of self- discovery and change. Through the war affected nation, three families, each from different social classes, depart on an iconic Australian holiday to the beach. In the play, Gow utilises the characters to demonstrate that going away physically is intrinsically linked to their mental developments. With the help of references to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer night’s Dream, Away uses Gwen and Coral to show the significant psychological changes made by the characters during holidays to the coast. Tom throughout the play acts as a catalyst for the change in other characters and is associated with Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Gwen endured many hardships during her adolescent years, prior to meeting Jim and experienced even more with Jim. At the age of eighteen, Gwen felt pressured by her parents to live a life she did not want to, and so, she made the decision to pack her bags and leave. After Jim and Gwen met, the couple experienced even more suffering together, losing their jobs, being without a home and struggling to find the money to pay for a decent meal, they were constantly afraid their lives would fall apart within a second, and they would be left with nothing. However, the couple persisted and endured the poverty in order to build a solid foundation for their family. Gwen has left Meg completely oblivious as to what she had to suffer, yet is infuriated by Meg’s unappreciative behaviour, hence why Gwen behaves so offensively and harsh towards her daughter, and so, when Meg questions what her mother has ever done for her, Gwen snaps. “Sacrificed! Gone without. Gone through hardship so what happened to us will never happen to you. So you’ll never know what we saw - never, never, never.” (Gwen, act three, scene two). Despite her negative attitudes towards her daughter, and all the criticism she gives, Gwen only wants the best for Meg and to provide her with the opportunity to become the best woman she possibly can. Meg is lucky, however, to have a father such as Jim. Jim

Michael Gow’s play “Away” presents Coral as a character that is in urgent need to undergo profound change. At the introduction of the play, Coral is introduced to the audience as an emotionally unstable and isolated character. Through the use of stage directions, “Coral doesn’t respond”, it is clear that Coral is in her own distinctive world and alienated from society unable to deal with the real world. However, at the conclusion of the play, Coral is presented to be no longer absorbed in her own grief by being able to finally accept her son’s death and express her emotions with her husband,

Robert Frosts “The Road Not Taken” is more symbolic of a choice one must make in their life in attempt to foresee the outcome before reaching the end, than it is about choosing the right path in the woods.

The analysis of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost has been up for debate since the poem release in 1916. It is known to be one of the most frequently misinterpreted poems of all time, and even Robert Frost himself has said the poem is “tricky” to comprehend (The). When analyzing this poem many readers tend to focus only on the last lines of the poem and get caught in a trap of selective-interpretation. Quite a few people after reading Robert Frost’s poem firmly conclude that this poem is about non-conformity and individualism, however, that is not the case. Robert Frost’s poem is meant to be analyzed line by line for a complete interpretation. Readers can conclude that the poem represents making choices in life, but that is not the

In the Robert Frost poem ‘’The Road Not Taken’’ there is a pervasive and in many ways intrinsic sense of journey throughout. In such, the poem explores an aspect associated with human decision, or indecision, relative to the oxymoron, that choices with the least the difference should bear the most indifference, but realistically, carry the most difficulty. This is conveyed through the use of several pivotal techniques. Where the first such instance is the use of an extended metaphor, where the poem as a whole becomes a literary embodiment of something more, the journey of life. The second technique used is the writing style of first person. Where in using this, the reader can depict a clear train of thought from the walker and understand

In Michael Gows text, “Away” we are introduced to the idea of deep self-discovery through overcoming life-defining obstacles. For the protagonist Tom, he struggles to accept his approaching death; this is seen through his attempts to keep his inevitable fate from his parents “they want me to think I’m going to be as right as rain. They mustn’t find out”. Through this, Gow conveys the protagonist’s parents as ‘they’ repetitively, which furthermore depicts the growing separation in their relationships due to his illness. By conquering this difficulty, Tom is able to attain self-discovery in realizing his role as the mender, which is indicated at the beginning of the play. It is his approaching death, “cancer of the blood”, which provides him with greater vision in recognizing the preciousness of life. We are able to have a look at Tom’s therapeutic nature through his complicated relationship with Coral. The meta-play they put on, “Strangers by the Shore,” is an analogy of the healing of the soul. Coral’s transition from, “come with me… into the darkness” into the healing light of, “I’m walking, I’m walking, I’m walking, I’m walking” is demonstrative of Tom’s ability to bring other characters to a greater discovery. In this act, he himself comes to understand the importance of his remaining time.

Moreover in “Away”, Gow explores how personal connections of individuals’ and their self-discovery can influence and challenge each other’s perspective of themselves and the world. This is shown through the relationship of Tom and Coral as Tom’s acknowledgement of his impending death enables healing for Coral who is emotionally disconnected from reality due to her son’s premature death. The play ‘Stranger on The Shore’ acts as an analogy of the healing of the soul where Coral is afraid to walk; metaphorically she is unable to accept her son’s death and advance further, however, Tom helps her to return to the real world. This is apparent in the stage direction: “he lifts her and holds her as she takes a step forward, then another, then another”. The stage direction makes it apparent to the audience how Tom is leading Coral towards her self-discovery by familiarising her to the nature of mortality, which

The tide was coming in and there was only a narrow strip of firm beach between the water and the white, stumbling stuff near the palm terrace. Ralph chose the firm strip as a path because he needed to think, and only here could he allow his feet to move without having to watch them. Suddenly, pacing by the water, he was overcome with astonishment. He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one 's waking life was spent watching one 's feet. He stopped, facing the strip; and remembering that first enthusiastic exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood, he smiled jeeringly. He turned then and walked back toward the platform with the sun in his face. The time had come for the assembly and as he walked into the concealing splendors of the sunlight he went carefully over the points of his speech. There must be no mistake about this assembly, no chasing imaginary. . . .

Notwithstanding their partner’s contempt of reading and writing, both the father in “The Boat,” and the narrator in “The Yellow Wallpaper,” continue to search for reprieve through their respective books and diary.

How can an author effectively convey a universal message to the broadest audience possible? Simple. The author must simply create a completely impartial narrator, devoid of sex, status, or age. The Road Not Taken is a poem told by an impartial narrator who has come to a crossroads in his/her life. The crossroads is represented by a forked path that leads through a forest. The setting is also impartial; the forest is anytime and anywhere the reader desires it to be. The narrator is forced to make a life-decision, thus changing the course of his/her life forever. Symbolism and imagery are used effectively to reinforce the main theme of the poem.

I don’t know why, but somehow the image of the white sands between her toes, the large palm trees hanging overhead, the cool ocean breeze, the whole tropical dream, always manages to make a smile on her face. This paradise, I imagine, must be the complete opposite at home, what with being the middle child of a younger brother, Jonathan, and an older step brother, Chandlier, two cats, two dogs, a bunny, and two tropical animals called sugar gliders. This girl, who I thought I could read like an open book, proved to be very surprising and one of the friendliest people I know.

As she burrowed her face into his chest, she inhaled his familiar scent of perspiration and spicy bay rum. Shifting around, she nestled her back into Asa’s solid chest and shoulder. When he wrapped his arms around her, and she could feel the rhythmic beating from his heart. Moored work boats filled the glassy, calm harbor, many of them on their way to the Northeast after a winter in the South and the Caribbean. Since land and sea were in a constant tussle for wind in Nell’s coastal town, it was unsettling to her when it died. When Asa began to caress her arm, a haunting penny

Within the text ‘Away’ central figures are able to exhibit this concept through varying connections with others, particularly Tom. The use of intertextuality of a play ‘The Stanger on the shore’ contributes to the shaping of Corals character as this is the catalyst of for her self-discovery as through her connection with sailor, played by Tom she is able to reconnect with her emotions and influence healing. The use of the play also allows Tom to express to coral the need to accept the loss of her son and live her life again. This is depicted metaphorically through the dialogue of the Sailor “you don’t belong here. You must return to your own people” As within the play this was seen as literal detail, metaphorically it encouraged coral to accept the loss of her son and heal.

Marina grows and changes from her fragmented shell as she observes and builds relationships with those at the boarding school. The use of contrast emphasises Marina’s growth in trust with those around her. “I’m starting to feel mildly safe. That’s dangerous, I’d better be careful.” Her change is evident as she later writes, “I suppose I do trust them a bit, yet when I came to this place I was so determined never to trust anyone.”