The Road Not Taken

In “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost leaves a major theme of making choices. The poem is about a man traveling and he comes across a fork-in-the-road. He must make a decision on which way he will keep traveling. One way seems familiar to him. It is by far the safer and easier route to go down. But that does come with a price. The road has been used a lot and may be more difficult to travel down even though it seems easier. He ends up choosing the road less traveled. It did not seem as convenient at the time but he states that it helped him in the long run. Not only does “The Road Not Taken,” have a theme about choices, but it also holds a theme about choosing the road less taken. Taking chances and choosing the road less traveled can have many benefits in the long run.

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

The poem “The Road Not Taken” is a piece of literature written by the American poet Robert Frost. Its genre is poetry. It is considered poetry because of its structure. It has a distinct numbered group of lines in verse normally called stanza.

When it comes to making a decision, people tend to go through a series of questions before leading to what they believe is the best choice. We tend to turn the opposite way when it comes to doing something that is out of our comfort zone. When being faced with the choice of taking one that is not the majority recommendation, we turn our back to avoid it. In the Road Not Taken, Robert Frost conveys the importance of taking into consideration all the possibilities and outcomes as well as staying open minded along the way. His purpose is to show at times the answer to some of our problems won't be as clear as we would like them to be. At times like these, its best to just step back and re-evaluate what your goal outcome is and what's the best step forward to bring you there.

and choices. One can use their second chance by looking forward and choosing to take

It takes a lot to find the real meaning in a book or piece of text; or does it? Sometimes finding the thesis of a piece of text is as easy as just reading the text once or maybe twice. For example, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost has a lot more meaning than the literal meaning.

Many people live their lives oblivious to the consequences of their actions and choices. Some people compare their actions with others before making decisions. Some people reminisce about their decisions and how their choices made them who they are today. In his poems, “Fire and Ice” and “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost describes the outcomes and consequences of choices and decisions. These two poems illustrate the same concepts, yet they are vastly different from each other. In the poem, “Fire and Ice,” Frost describes two paths to the end of the world. In “The Road Not Taken,” Frost addresses the choices a certain individual needs to make.

All of Summer in a Day is a tale from the far off future, when humanity has colonized Venus. Once every seven years for only about two hours, taking place in a class room of young children, most of which don’t remember the sun or the gentle yellow glow it gives off due to living in underground bunkers their whole lives. One child, Margo, recently moved to Venus from Earth, remembers the Sun and tries to explain it to her fellow class mates who believe she is lying. On the day the Sun is to come out, the children finally get tired of hearing Margo’s ‘Lies’ and lock her in a closet to punish her while the Teacher is out. Later the Teacher arrives back in the room and, not realizing Margo is not with them, takes them outside for the ‘Summer’. When the children come back in due to the heavy rain coming back, they realize what they have done to Margo and let her back out of the closet. All of Summer in a Day reveals that while one may seem different and strange,

Whether a reader take it metaphorically or just in plain text, the speaker in each poem has to make an ultimate decision that could potentially change his life. The speakers are left with tough choices and the possibility of regretting the decision they made is likely, but they continue on with the choice they made. The poems show readers that life is full of choices and roads; they’re often difficult decisions to make and could either make or break you.

Robert Frost’s, “The Road Not Taken”, addresses challenges every human must face. The poem describes a man in the woods who has come upon two trails. The man is faced with a decision. The poem explains that the paths look very similar, but each leads to a different outcome. The poem is a direct represents facing or two choices. Choices define people. Frost sheds light on the difficulty and curiosity that comes with making decisions and how people will allow pre-determined regret to affect the choices they make. (Secondary source)

The speaker is torn between two choices in life but takes the harder choice and it has changed his or her life forever. Many people face this situation everyday and choose the easy way and never challenge themselves. What this poem’s imagery does for the reader is give them an example of this situation and how a difficult choice is sometimes best to be taken.

In my ninth grade, I came across Robert Frost’s work of the Road not Taken. Although I have been an avid reader of several other literary works such as Shakespeare, Ernest Hemmingway, George Orwell, Joseph Conrad, Frost’s work has been of great influence in my life so far. In the book, the author combines creative and technical writing styles to bring forth the understanding of how difficult situations could be challenging in making significant decisions (Frost and Untermeyer 62). Additionally, the book is influencing in educating individuals on the need for proper choices when making crucial decisions in life. From the onset, the author pits humans against two different paths where they need to make difficult choices that are characteristic of presenting dilemma. The character in the book chose to travel the road less used. However, Frost is keen not to reveal to the audience whether the character made the right choice or not although the he acknowledges that, the choice had a significant impact on the man’s life.

Much of his poetry is concerned with the interaction between humans and nature. Frost regarded nature as a beautiful but dangerous force, worthy of admiration, but full of danger. The underlying philosophy of Frost's poetry is rooted in traditional New England individualism, and his work shows his strong empathy for the values of early American society (Encarta,1).

The title ‘The Road Not Taken’ suggests there is no “right” path, only the chosen path and the other path. It will always be the path “not taken” and hold the mysterious unknown – always leaving the speaker wondering what has been irrevocably lost. The poem explores making choices and the theme of individualism. The purpose of the poem was to provide assurance that there will never be a right or wrong choice. To understand these ideas further, we must open the doors to Robert Frost’s life and what, or in this case who, inspired his poem.

One of the significant features of Frost’s poetry is its dramatic quality. Poems like ‘Home Burial’, ‘The Death of the Hired man’ and ‘West Running Brook’ are witnesses to Frost’s capacity in representing conversations in verse form. All these poems are based on the conversation between the husband and the wife. During their conversation there are lot of controversies