The Gravity of Our Decisions Expressed in The Road not Taken by Robert Frost

Frost uses several techniques in his poem, but perhaps the most significant is his use of the metaphor. First, he describes “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (1). The roads represent the different choices that people have to make in life and how there isn’t always one choice to be made. Each path is an important decision which he must make, so he has to choose carefully when examining each path. When he “looked down one as far as (he) could to where it bent in the undergrowth” (4-5), this represents him not being able to predict and see the future. The forest represents the unknown, and he cannot see or predict his unknown future. One may think that his choice

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

As an illustration, in the text, it reads, “And both that morning equally lay/ In leaves no step had trodden black.” (Document D). In summary, Frost is literally saying that two choices present themselves but neither one seem to be unsatisfactory, causing the decision making process to be more difficult. The evidence highlights that, ultimately, the nature of the decision is that there is no “right path” - just the path that is chosen and the other path, and this is what Frost was trying to explain. The poem is more so a journey that many generations have misunderstood due to the metaphor that readers desperately overanalyze, which still happens today in many of Frost’s

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.

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.

In the last paragraph Frost says “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.” When he uses repeated images he is describing a re-telling of his life’s journey. He explains ages and ages which shows years that have passes he will talk about the two roads in the woods, which were the two paths that he could have taken. He chose to take the one less traveled by, which could have been a harder path but the one he thought was best for him. His last line is more of a philosophical than an actual description. He says “I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Meaning

In this poem, I believe the theme is that you have to jump at an opportunity when you get it, or you may never get that opportunity again. Moving on to the tone of the poem, I believe that it is wistful, and that the speaker might be looking back on his days, and realizing that he taking the other road might have made all of the difference in his life. There is very good diction in this poem, as some words express Frost’s feeling more than other’s would’ve. For example, in the line “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,” (1), Frost really emphasizes the two roads separating from each other. In another line “In leaves no step had trodden black” (12), trodden is a more appropriate than another word such as crushed or pulverized, because it is the past form of trod, or to step in something, and gives an image of human feet stepping on the freshly fallen leaves.

?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.

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.

Frost’s interpretation of the statement, “Yet knowing how way leads one to way, I doubted if I should ever come back”, suggests that in life, we won’t get that second chance to go back and change what has happened, but learn from what has happened by moving forward and following that second road which will lead him to where he will need to be.

When it comes to make a decision many times we take our time to think of the pros and cons for each point of that decision. Frost stood while looking at both roads and was trying to envision what may be of each road. When he finally decides to make his personal decision on which road to take he describes it as follows, “And having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear” (Frost 7-8). The road he took appealed to him the most after observing and deliberating it. He also says “And be one traveler…”

“One of Robert Frost’s most popular poems, “The Road Not Taken,” is a deep allegory for the struggle of choice in everyday life. According to Johnson, the poem portrays a choice to be made between roads by a person out walking in the woods. The person would like to travel both paths, so he tells himself he will discover one and then come back and explore the other one another day. Frost, states that the choices about ones future are challenging to make, and predictions toward an outcome are often mysterious. He introduces two roads diverging in the woods, alluding to the point in life when a choice of many must be made.

Frost wrote another great poem called “The Road Not Taken” that also deals with deciding between two possibilities. This poem is set in the woods during what seems like the fall time. A person has come to a fork in the road that they are walking on and they must make the decision on which path to follow knowing that they can’t travel both. The person examines both paths equally and finds that one appears to be less traveled than the other, so he decides to take the one less traveled. He states that he kept the first path for another day though he doubts he will return (Frost). This decision between two roads may seem irrelevant because the two roads will always be there and he can always return but if you allow the road to be a metaphor for his life then the poem is more relatable. For instance, this scenario is highly applicable to many decisions that you may be faced with in life. This person didn’t just make a decision quickly, he took into consideration what each road had to offer then made a decision based on what he felt was the best for himself. His decision between these two roads is a

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