Life Choices as Represented in Robert Frost's 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.

In reading Frost’s poem in its entirety, I have concluded that “The Road Not Taken” is a symbolic representation of the choices we make in life. This particular narration symbolically led the speaker down a fulfilling road; however, getting to that conclusion is not so simple of a process. The uncertainty of how the outcome of one decision over the other will unfold brings the speaker through a contemplating process of eradication.

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.

Imagery and personification are used to describe contradiction in the process of making a decision between the two paths. Since he cannot take both roads, the speaker looks down the road but cannot see beyond the undergrowth, which expresses the fact that no one knows what the future will bring. Much of the imagery in the poem is visual to describe the path to show the speaker's indecisiveness of choosing a certain path. He wants to choose the path that is less traveled so he chooses the path that is " having perhaps the better claim" (7), which is the path that is "grassy and wanted wear"(8), a personification to describe that road is not stepped by other people. However, he realizes that there is no appreciable difference between the two paths because "both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black."(11,12) The contradiction with the serious tone shows perplexity that the

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

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.

?The Road Not Taken? (1916) tells of someone faced with two of life?s decisions however only one can be chosen. Whichever road is taken will be final and will determine the direction that their life takes. Frost drives this poem by a calm and collective narrative, spoken by the traveler of the diverged roads. Who is speaking with himself trying to convince himself of which road is the better choice. Frost wrote this poem using standard, modern language.

One of Robert Frost’s most well know works: “The Road Not Taken”, is arguably one of the most controversial and misunderstood poems. By just reading the title, it seems fairly simple to assume that the poem is about making choices. When the speaker is presented the two roads he must make a choice as to which path he will take for he: “Could not travel both” (Line 2). As the speaker looks down both paths as far as he can, he deciphers back and forth from believing that the paths are equal to one path is better over the other. The speaker eventually decides which path to take and he states that his choice: “Has made all the difference” (Line 20). The title and plot lead people to believe that the central theme is about choices and the importance

Robert Frost’s poem,”The Road not taken” was first published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1915 and included a year later in the little volume entitled Mountail Interval.It is among Frost’s best, most riveting, and most complex and is still quoted by inspirational speakers, writers, commercials, and everyday people. The poem is about making a decision when confronted with two possible choices. Life is not simple; a man is never faced with a choice that just has one narrow path. In “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost uses symbolism through nature to analyze one’s decision-making through life; and the narrator hopes that his choices will not haunt him for the rest of his life. In this paper, I would like to interpret the decision making analysis

The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost starts out with the speaker facing a dilemma. He must make a decision about which path to take. Frost utilizes metaphor and tone to develop his theme about having to make decisions in life, whether they be something as major as choosing a career to pursue or something as simple as choosing what movie to see or what to have for dinner. The speaker states, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

Somewhere during your middle school or possibly even high school course you heard one of your literature teachers proclaim with a robust attitude, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- / I took the one less traveled by, / and that has made all the difference” (Frost 1132). These iconic lines are ones that we have all grown up hearing when faced with a tough decision, yet few people have taken the chance to look even deeper into the grandeur that is Frost’s poetry. By his use of imagery, rhyme sequence, and other literary elements, Frost has managed to make this iconic poem relatable to each and every person with its rich philosophical

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” both portray weighing of choices in life. The former is about youth and experiencing life and the latter is about old age, or more probably, an old spirit wearied by life. In both poems the speaker is in a critical situation where he has to choose between two paths in life. In “The Road Not taken” the speaker chooses the unconventional approach to the decision making process, thus showing his uniqueness and challenging mentality while in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” the speaker seeks a life without any pain and struggle but at the end, he has to comply with social obligation, which reflects his responsibility towards the society.

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

“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.