Robert Frost is an American poet from San Francisco, California. He is a four time Pulitzer Prize winner and is known for depicting the everyday rural New England environment. He has written poems such as “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening,” “The Road Not Taken,”, and “The Oven Bird.” In the poem “The Road Not Taken” Frost uses Contradiction, metaphor, and Symbolism to depict a fork in the road representing choices and pathways in life. Frost does this to emphasize the indecisiveness of people and to show that decisions can have great importance. Frost also wrote this to help a close friend decide whether or not to go to war. In the poem “The Road Not Taken” Frost uses contradiction to show the decision of which path to take was …show more content…
One of these examples of contradiction is the conditions of the paths. The traveler sees two paths that diverge from one another in a grassy wooded area. One of these paths is more worn and trodden than the other implying that it has been traveled more heavily than the other. Upon coning closer to the two paths the traveler notices that both paths are actually worn just about the same. Which means that each path has probably been traveled by about the same number of people. Even though the paths are worn the same the traveler still the one less traveled by (Ellis 5). These two things clearly are contradictory. A related example of contradiction in this poem is that of what the traveler will tell people whenever the time comes. The traveler will tell the people that he took the path less traveled by even though he knows that he has not. This is not so much of contradiction as much as it is of lying, but it does have contradictory aspects. Another example of contradiction in this poem is the possibility of revisiting the paths. As Frost decides which path to take Frost takes into consideration the possibility of revisiting the paths. Frost knows that it is possible to wander back to these paths and have the …show more content…
There are a few examples of symbolism in this poem that are noticeable. The first example of symbolism in this poem is the fork in the road. The fork in the road is meant to symbolize an important decision in life (Montiero). There is always a decision to be made when at a fork in the road and because of this Frost uses this common fork on a forest road to symbolize something much larger than which path to take. This fork in the road does not simply symbolize a decision of which road a traveler should take to get to the set destination faster, instead it symbolizes a decision of the utmost Importance. A second example of symbolism in “The Road Not Taken” are the two diverging pathways in the woods. These pathways represent roads in life or paths in life. A path is meant to take a person somewhere. A path is part of a journey and in this case Frost uses these pathways to symbolize the paths that we take on the journey of life. These two examples of symbolism go hand in hand in this poem. An important decision in life and the pathways of life to choose from (Tammera 3). Frost’s friend that was contemplating whether to go to war or not was facing a situation just like this one. Thomas came upon a very tough decision or the fork in the story, and had to choose a
There are many different ways to interpret a poem. While completing an analysis of Robert Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken” there were some key factors to be considered that provide a better insight of how the poem was developed and what was the hidden meaning behind the words. The key factors found in the analysis are symbolism, indistinctness, and irony. There are many different ways to express symbolism, and many ways to interpret it. The most significant use of symbolism was in the very first line of the poem, which describes a fork in the road in where the author must choose which path to take.
Robert Frost was a famous poet and educator born in San Francisco in 1874 who made an impact on the literature known today. After high school, he attended college where he studied literature and poetry. During college, Frost began writing his own poems and in 1894, he had successfully published his first poem. Despite his many accomplishments, Frost faced a major downfall that could not be fulfilled by his success. One might expect that publishing his first poem might be a time of pride and joy, however, Frost was fighting his own battles of depression and mental illness.
In reading Frost’s poem in its entirety, I have concluded that “The Road Not Taken” is a symbolic representation of the choices we make in life. This particular narration symbolically led the speaker down a fulfilling road; however, getting to that conclusion is not so simple of a process. The uncertainty of how the outcome of one decision over the other will unfold brings the speaker through a contemplating process of eradication.
Since Frost has written a plethora of scholarly writings, I will narrow it down to only discussing two poems: “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” In both poems, Frost creates a calming setting that is overwhelmed with symbolism. The setting that creates the symbolism is vital in developing the whole story and meaning behind the poem. The setting in both poems allows the reader to connect with real world experiences.
Not only are metaphors utilized throughout the poem, but a literary device known as Imagery is as well. Imagery is alternative as important a device for it allows for the reader to have a clear picture of what the character in the poem is visualizing. Furthermore, it also helps covey the theme the author is aiming to represent to the reader. Imagery is made known in stanza two line three, which states, “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (Myer, 1091). Here the author is using imagery to inform the readers the traveler is coming up with a reason for why one path could be more favorable over the other. The reader analyzes this line of imagery to obtain a clearer representation of the traveler’s decision-making process. Another line where the author uses imagery is in stanza two line five, which states, “Had worn them really about the same” (Myer, 1091). Here the author is using imagery to inform the reader that the paths are “worn” down, which informs the reader that both of his choices have been equally chosen by people before him. These examples help the reader begin to form the theme of self-justification in decision-making. After analyzing the metaphors and the imagery Frost uses in this poem, the reader can conclude so far that the theme the poet is conveying
Robert Frost is one of the well-known American poets out of all time. Amid many of his famous poems, The Road Not Taken and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening are two poems that both portray weighing of choices in life but facing different situations. They both convey ethical moral of life decision making.
a "yellow wood" (1) when "two roads diverged" (1), that he had to make a
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
How can an author effectively convey a universal message to the broadest audience possible? Simple. The author must simply create a completely impartial narrator, devoid of sex, status, or age. The Road Not Taken is a poem told by an impartial narrator who has come to a crossroads in his/her life. The crossroads is represented by a forked path that leads through a forest. The setting is also impartial; the forest is anytime and anywhere the reader desires it to be. The narrator is forced to make a life-decision, thus changing the course of his/her life forever. Symbolism and imagery are used effectively to reinforce the main theme of the poem.
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.
Throughout the poem, Frost’s use of tone holds a large impact on the meaning of the poem. If the tone of the poem is misinterpreted, the entire mood of the poem is altered. The tone is recognized before the poem even begins: through the title “The Road Not Taken,” Frost imposes the idea that the speaker makes a decision and second guesses himself or herself. In addition to the title, the speaker says in the first
I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sigh
“The Road Not Taken” is a very popular poem written by the renowned poet Robert Frost. This poem tells a story of a man caught between two diverged roads and uncertain on which path he should take. These two roads are quite obviously metaphors for the different paths you can take in life, but what is less obvious is which path the narrator should take, and which he should leave behind. Throughout the poem the narrator is constantly second guessing himself on which of the two roads he should take. He reassures himself by saying that one of the roads seemed more grassy than the other and also seemed less traveled upon. But shortly after he reveals that in actuality the two roads were both quite the same. In the end he finally makes a decision but shows much regret after making it. This poem may not be much of a fairytale but Robert Frost does have a theme behind this story, which is to make the best of your opportunities. Since you can obviously not be able to see the
The road not taken delineates man's choice. After vacillating between the two "fair" roads, he finally decides to take the road "less traveled by"; knowing he cannot see where it will lead. Traveling down the second road, the speaker still yearns to travel both paths- he "keeps the first for another day." As the narrator proceeds down the unworn path, he realizes there will be no way he can ever return to the deviation to experience the other route. The speakers utters:
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