Interpretation In Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken”, can be easily misunderstood, and perhaps for decades it was. Scholar Frank Lentricchia believed that in this poem, the message is that people don’t get a choice in life to pick one path rather than the other, because their lives are already mapped out for us. However, Mark Richardson had a different idea. He thought that it’s not that we don’t get a choice in life, it is that we don’t realize how the choice affects us until later in life. Although these two ideas sound reasonable, what Robert Frost really meant in this piece of writing was not that people choose between two paths, but instead they must forge their own.

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

“The Road Not Taken” is a poem about how it is important to make a choice in life. In the beginning of the poem, the man is hating that he had to be stuck with the road he chose instead of being able to take both paths. The man tried to look farther down the paths that he could’ve chosen to go down, but the man was only able to see to the point that the road curved and was no longer visible. Stanza # 2, the man indicated that he took the road he felt looked better and could’ve been better because

His choice will make changes in his life that he will not be able to take back and he will never again be at that same starting point. The last use of symbolism in the poem is "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference."  These lines say to me that the writer has led a satisfying life.  That he did chose wisely and although it wasn't necessarily an easy life, it was fulfilling for him and he is proud of the choices he made.

In the poem it state, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both…” [Green Day (1, 2)] This piece of text displays how the narrator is faced with a hard decision and regrets not being able to take both paths. In the text it also states, “ … to where it bent in the undergrowth… it was grassy and wanted tear… I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference,” [Robert Frost (5, 8, 19, 20)] These lines from the text help to show how the narrator looks through all his options, and then takes the lesser taken option. This choice was likely made due to the narrator thinking that he/she might not like the choice that other people made, and will end up regretting it, so after taking the lesser chosen path, the narrator is pleased with his/her decision.

In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, Frost shows the everyday human struggle to make a choice that could change the course of one’s life. In his poem, a person has the choice to take one road or the other. One road is worn out from many people taking it, and the other is barely touched, for fewer have taken that road. Throughout the poem, the speaker learns that just because so many other people have done one thing, or walked one way, does not mean everyone has to. Sometimes you just have to go your own way.

The exclamation point after line 13 conveys excitement, but that excitement is severed by his admission in the following lines. ?way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back?(3.14,15). In the final stanza, lines 16-20 the tone of the poem changes completely. This is the only stanza that begins with a new sentence, indicating that it is a stronger break from the previous ideas. The speaker puts himself in a future situation discussing his life. What he states here seems to contradict what he has said earlier. From his future prospective he says that the paths where different and that he did not choose the one most traveled by. Perhaps he will in the future actually believe this and he only wishes that he could choose in the present ?the one less traveled by.?(5.20)

In the final stanza, lines 16-20 the tone of the poem changes completely. This is the only stanza that begins with a new sentence, indicating that it is a stronger break from the previous ideas. The speaker puts himself in a future situation discussing his life. What he states here seems to contradict what he has said earlier. From his future prospective he says that the paths where different and that he did not choose the one most traveled by. Perhaps he will in the future actually believe this and he only wishes that he could choose in the present "the one less traveled by."(20)

This is a perfect metaphor for the many crossroads that people face in day to day life and how, depending on character, we choose our way. Also, just because one is walking the same path as someone else doesn’t mean there footsteps will land in the same places. Figuratively speaking, the trail is always wider than our bodies so there is always room for one to put their own spin on anything. Even if the trail you are walking has been trampled on, you can still make it your own “road less travelled” and that will make “all the difference”.

Each stanza describes the dilemma the speaker is feeling from the anxiousness of having to decide which path to take. The first stanza describes his desire to not have to make a choice. The second stanza dwells on the differences in the paths. By the time of the third

By choosing the harder path, the speaker declares his rebellion against the popular opinion as represented by the other road. He decides not to conform to society and takes up a less popular choice. When considering his choices the speaker shows the typical human reaction. He considers taking both paths at first. He says, “Oh I kept the first for another day”, but later confesses he “doubted if [he] should ever come back” (13-15). Thus the poem’s significance lies in the speakers making a decision by choosing a road and moving on with his life. The act of choosing the road represents his uniqueness and the fact that he is always moving forward, even without stopping.

Could he be referring to his own death and a decesion that he may have made that makes him feel more confident about his salvation? Another thing the author is saying is that he wanted to take both roads, but he knew he couldn't. So what he really wanted was the best of both worlds, meaning he wanted to take both roads. There is a common saying about not being able to have the best of both worlds, and it applies very well in this situation; "you can't have your cake and eat it too." He eventually ends up making up his mind; he chooses the road that was "...grassy and wanted wear" (5). Many people before him had taken the road he did not select, and it is possible that we can look at that road as being the easy way out. We can tell that not may people have taken the road in which he has selected, because it still has a lot of grass growing there; this road could symbolize the long-term success of doing what is right and not what is easy. It would have been easiest for him to take the same road as everybody, but instead he wanted to be different from the people around him. In the poem the author says, "I doubted if I should ever come back" (5 ); could this be because he likes the road he choose? We have all made choices in our lives that made us so happy that we did not want to go back to our old ways; is that what the author feels? I believe the main point the author is trying to get across in this poem is

Frost shows the readers that it is hard to choose something without knowing what will be the result, thus he wants to try both of the options to decide on something, when he says “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/ And sorry I could not travel both”. Whole poem is constructed of this metaphor, and every line refers to something in life. In the last part where Frost says, “I took the one less traveled by” he implies the idea that people wish to be different from others, thus they are prone to choose the option which had not been chosen by many other people. Instead of saying that he was having hard time deciding on a thing to do, Frost chose to use the metaphor of a road, which forced the readers to use their imagination to understand the real meaning behind what he

“The Road Not Taken” is a poem that involves a common dilemma faced in every single life. Robert Frost wrote the poem trying to explain to his friend Edward Thomas that he took the best decision in his life taking the road least travel. His friend misunderstood Frost intentions and after read the poem, he took the other road in his life and it made all the difference. Instead of travel to America and be a great professor, Thomas felt the sensation of be an unsuccessful writer and a non-patriotic citizen which help him to take the decision of enlist during the war. After taking the other road in his life, he finishes with his life during the war. The poem creates a connection with the reader because the situation presented emphasizes the life of any person. Every person is forced to decide a path and the decision made it, will always make a difference. The result of a person's character or life is related in the decisions made it during his or her life. In “The Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost uses different types of conflicts, character versus self, character versus nature, character versus society, to show how the path taken in life makes all the difference.