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. Frost perfectly portrays this message by using two paths as a symbol of ‘’distinct roads’’ which will either lead him to a successful life or one of regret and dismay. Frost’s use of metaphors, archetypes, various tones, and imagery in the poem provides a valuable wisdom that we should never let other people’s choices shape our lives.
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Robert Frost’s tone in the poem is both introspective and vacillating, but there is a change towards the end of the poem. We learn that there are two paths to take, but the traveller, who we assume is Robert Frost, is uncertain of which one to take. In the second stanza, two verses- “Then took the other, as just as fair / And having perhaps the better claim,” enable us to clearly see that this is a decision in which Frost is putting a lot of thought into. With his contemplative tone, we can apprehend that this is really a life decision; not just a choice between two paths. Towards the end of the poem, there is a drastic change of the indecisive tone to a tone of regret. This ironic tone is inescapable. In the excerpt: “I shall be telling this with a sigh/ Somewhere ages and ages hence,” the poet anticipates his own future insincerity. He expresses a sign of regret, meaning he took the wrong decision. After reading this, we came to realize that not all decisions have to be clearly thought out or over
In “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, we are given a piece of art that simply will leave you clueless unless, you understand the pain and frustration the man is going through; when choosing what route he feels will give him the most joy. In the poem a man is walking through the woods and he comes upon a fork. He who wants to take both roads chooses the route that he feels is traveled less on. Little does he know that both road have been equally traveled on. He who travels on the route that has fresher leaves lies to himself, by convincing himself that he will come back and take the other route. Though it was a very stressful and a hard decision for the man to make, many people are put into very similar situations like in John Updike’s A and P and as well as in James Joyce’s Eveline. Both Sammy and Eveline find it troubling to make a decision that will change their life completely.
Frost wrote this poem about how a person took a walk and had to choose one path or the other. Both paths seemed equally worn and leafy. However when looking back later the narrator begins to think that maybe he chose the path less traveled.
Though he may want to try it out, he comes to terms with the fact that there is no turning back and that: “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back” (Lines 14,15). With these lines, Frost uses the tone of regret and shows that it is the speaker’s original choice that led him to his own new road. To carry on that tone of regret, in the sixteenth line the speaker states that he: “Shall be telling this with a sigh” (Line 16). By saying this, the speaker unintentionally shows that he is nostalgic on the decision of his path. If he were to be told which path to take, he may not have been in the position of regret. While the speaker was unsure of his road in the beginning, he also ended up being unsure of if he could take the other path later on. Yet again, Frost shows that the speaker had to be self reliant in his decisions, showing that he is alone in the world.
When a choice is given, making a decision whether it is a small or hard decision, it can change a person. Robert Frost uses extended metaphors to reveal the theme of making decisions when the moment of choice is given, it could potentially change a person’s life and lead them to new and different experiences throughout his poem “The Road Not Taken.” The two different roads are referred as contemplating choices that people have to make. The different roads are distinguished as “...just as fair,/And having perhaps the better claim” (6-7). Fairness is used in the poem to acknowledge that both roads are similar and may have the same or different conflicts.
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.
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 poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost describes the dilemma in decision making, generally in life each individual has countless decisions to make and those decisions lead to new challenges, dilemmas and opportunities. In Frost’s poem, the careful traveler observes the differences of each path, one is bent and covered in undergrowth (Frost 5) and the other is grassy and unworn (Frost 8). In the end he knows he can only choose one of the paths, after much mental debate he picks the road less traveled and is well aware that he will likely never return to experience the other. By examining Frost 's "The Road Not Taken," we get a deeper understanding of
Robert Frost’s accentuated metaphors enhance the essence of the poem, expanding the immediate scope of a man who contemplates between choosing two roads upon his course. The speaker first encounters “two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (1) at the beginning, introducing the metaphorical significance of the woods’ representation of the speaker’s life. In addition, the fork in the road is a metaphor for a choice; the speaker has approached a point in his journey where he can go no further without making a decision that leads him down one path and does not allow him to experience the unchosen path. When the speaker “look[s] down one as far as [he] could,” he expresses that no one knows that the future will bring as he can’t look beyond “the undergrowth”
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
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.
Robert Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken” describes a traveler faced with a choice of which one of two roads to travel. He knows not where either road might lead. In order to continue on his journey, he can pick only one road. He scrutinizes both roads for the possibilities of where they may take him in his travels. Frost's traveler realizes that regret is inevitable. Regardless of his choice, he knows that he will miss the experiences he might have encountered on the road not taken.
In the first line, Frost introduces the elements of his primary metaphor: the diverging roads. The speaker expresses his regret that "[he] could not travel both" (line 2). The choice is not easily made since "long I stood" (line 3) before coming to a decision. In an attempt to make a choice, the traveler examines the path "as far as [he] could" (line 4), but his vision is limited because the path bends and is covered "in the undergrowth" (line 5). Thus, indicating that although he would have liked to acquire more information, he is prevented from doing so because of the nature of his environment. In lines 6-8, the speaker is still unable to decide between the two paths since "the other, [is] just as fair" (line 6). He indicates that the second path is a more attractive choice since "it was grassy and wanted wear" (line 8). Nevertheless, by the end of the stanza, he remains ambivalent, even after comparing the two paths, for each was "really about the same" (line 10). Neither path has been traveled lately. In the third stanza, the speaker makes his decision, trying to persuade himself that he will eventually "come back" (line 15) to satisfy his desire and curiosity to travel both paths. However, deep down, he admits to himself that
Frost states, “And sorry I could not travel both / And be one traveler, long I stood / And looked down one as far as I could” (Frost 808), which expresses his desire to know the outcome of both roads and the ability to know all the possible outcomes. Frost continues the poem by describing both roads as having been worn about the same, as is described by “no step had trodden black” (Frost 808). In the end, despite being faced with two similar and equal options in the moment, Frost will look back on his decision and assign importance to the fact that he chose one road over the other. This poem taught me to have no regrets throughout my life. Also, to not worry over choices I make in life, if I am happy, because, in the words of Frost, “I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference” (Frost
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? (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.