Life is a Highway

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.

The speaker decides on a path. In lines 16-20, Frost writes “I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. As I mentioned earlier, the speaker sighs in line 16, wishing he could have taken both roads. He opted to choose the grassy road that wanted wear (line 9). The speaker reflects back on this decision, noting that his choice has made all the difference in his life. To me, this last line reflects contentment and gratification in his earlier life choice.

On the last two lines, an extended metaphor was used, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way”, “I doubted if I should ever come back”. These last two lines of the third stanza, heightens the attention of readers that he hopes that he could try the other path as the traveller knows ‘how one road can lead to another’. Also, the traveller is having doubts as it is impossible to retrace steps as other choices or decisions can lead to other options in life. The third stanza raises the awareness to readers as he decided to stick with the decision that he made but still with a bit of regrets.

Life is difficult because no one can be sure if the choice they make will actually lead the outcome they wished for. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, one of the most recognizable poems in American literature, speaks to choices people face in their life. The speaker has to make a right choice for him, that will lead to the outcome of being what he really wants to be. "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost uses symbolism, imagery, personification, and metaphor, to explain its theme that choices made by the one's strong wish of what one really wants to be, will ultimately lead to the desired outcome.

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

Frost presents the traveler's choice of paths as a metaphor for the difficult decisions a person must make in life. The divergent paths are the choices to be made at various points along the way. Regardless of how he tries, the traveler cannot see beyond where the path is "bent in the undergrowth" (5). Likewise, nobody can predict what effect one choice will have on his life. The traveler sees the two paths as very similar or "just as fair" (6). As much as the traveler would like to return to the diverging roads, he realizes that he will not get another chance to travel the other path. With maturity comes a resignation that a choice has affected a person's life and there is no going back. He also tries to make the best of his decision by saying that it has "made all the difference." (20).

Robert Frost went from an unstable farmer aspiring to be a poet to a celebrated American poet and four-time Pulitzer Prize winner. In his poem “The Road Not Taken”, he writes about the hard choices that people have to make in their lives. Robert uses extended metaphors and symbolism to show the uncertainty and psychological chaos people feel while making hard choices.

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.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both." (Frost 1) - in life, there are many "paths" or choices; ways one can go in life. He explains that many people go one way, perhaps because others went that same way. "Then took the other, as just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear" (Frost 1) In this, Frost is explaining that many people went one way while he wanted to travel the less worn one, because it might hold beautiful views – good experiences that no one else had gotten the chance to learn from. Life, he explains through this metaphor of travel, is full of choices. And going down one path may change ones life. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and I- I took the one less traveled by; and it has made all the difference." (Frost 1) Robert Frost continues to teach an important life lesson to readers around the world through this extended metaphor

Sometimes in our lives we are faced to make momentous decisions. We either made a propitious selection or repent about our decisions and how our lives could have ended up if we had chosen a different path. "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is a poem about how one traveler will choose a road that will change his whole life. The decisions we make in life should be chosen carefully because there is no going back. In his poem, he makes you think about how choices can define your life for the better or the worst, it’s all about how you look on life. He uses a lot of imagery as well as tone.

During class, we discussed Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. At face value, the story seems as simple as choosing a walking path. In reality it is a metaphor for all the choices we make in life and find ourselves justifying later as the best

Robert Frost’s famous poem “The Road Not Taken” centers on the concept of choice. Through the use of the central symbol, the poem expresses both the uncertainty of making a choice and the expectations of the choice made between seemingly equal options. The tone of the poem shifts throughout to show the decision-making process and the regret of choosing wrongly. While the poem gently ironizes the human response to decision making, it is also filled with the anticipation of remorse.

In life, we encounter many decisions, and there are times where we have to let fate take the lead. Every day, we face diverging roads to choose from and as humans, we’re forced to make a decision about which road to take. What is decided may more or less be based on our personal beliefs, priorities, mood, and so on. Decisions and actions are what shape our future, for everything in our life is a reflection of a choice we have made. ‘’The Road Not Taken’’ by Robert Frost is a profound poem which relates to this concept.

Thesis: In the poem “A Road Not Taken”, Robert Frost shares how sometimes in life one has to make decisions rather they’re good or bad. However there are consequences following one’s decisions and choices. One can use their second chance by looking forward and choosing to take the right paths in life.