The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost

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Equating life with a journey is one of those most popular metaphors throughout literature. Going through a physical journey is full of twists and turns, much like personal exploration that leads to finding a person’s identity. In “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, there is a definitive feeling that can be interpreted as remorse and nostalgia. Frequently, in literature regarding journeys, authors tend to use characters and objects as metaphors in order to show the reader that they are looking back, perhaps either at their life as a whole or defining moments. However, in this poem, Frost indicates that the speaker is standing at the figurative fork in the road and intends to one day look back on his life’s choices.
The two roads in the first stanza are symbolic of two choices that could make themselves present in your life. The fork that Frost discusses means these choices cannot intersect and in the literal sense, this point in your life means that something must happen or a decision must be reached. As with any decision in your life, you cannot always see the toll it will take on your life down the line. It is simply impossible to understand every good and bad thing that came with a single choice. This is apparent in the verse, “And looked down as far as I could”, meaning that everyone has an idea in their minds of how an important decision could change their life, but it is impossible to understand all the repercussions that come with any choice. The speaker in the

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