What path would you choose? You’re out one day hiking, and you arrive at a split in the road. The left path is clear, but, the right path looks more adventurous with the overgrown plants. This similar situation is demonstrated in Robert Frost’s Allegorical poem “The Road Less Traveled.” However Frost figuratively compares the decision to a life decision. Robert Frost demonstrates that mankind cannot determine their own fate but in fact influence it in “The Road Not Taken,” by the use of an extended metaphor, imagery, and symbolism.
“The Road Not Taken” is often interpreted as a persona contemplating a decision of traveling one of two paths that lie in front of him, in which he chooses the path less traveled, or so it may seem. Although, the
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A metaphor, being a comparison of different things to understand a bigger concept, is demonstrated in this poem as an extended metaphor, due to the fact that the metaphor is spread throughout the entire poem. Frost’s persona encountering a fork in the road is instantly recognized as the personas first issue. As stated “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, - and sorry I could not travel both,” (1-2) we see that the speaker is encountering two diverging roads in a woods, and he can only choose one to travel. This issue being the literal meaning, however, figuratively the decision between which road to travel also represents a life decision. Paths in woods and are ancient metaphors for a lifeline. To be more specific the fork in the road is also a ancient metaphor for a decision. Acknowledging that fact the reader can conclude that the speaker is figuratively making a life decision. The path that the speaker chooses in life is executed, and concludes through choice and chance; you need both to make any decision. This is comparable to an everyday situation. You cannot see the outcome in any decision in life until you make a decision and take that chance of following through with it. Frost use of the extended metaphor shows that your fate cannot begin until you choose your path and start your journey or in other words your
The poem is set in the fall when the leaves are changing colors and beginning to cover the ground. The speaker of the poem is faced with an unfamiliar fork in the road and is forced to decide which direction he or she must go. As the speaker is deliberating, he is “sorry” he cannot just travel both and it appears to be because the speaker has a fear of picking the wrong one (Frost 2). Although he “looked down one as far as I could” there was no seeing the end (4). Just like in a life, it is possible to have an idea of what will happen and there is no telling which choices will turn out beneficial and which will not. The speaker knows that although the paths are similar the outcome of picking the wrong one could be life changing. Even though he is upset he must trust in himself to know which one would be best for him in the long run.
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” (rpt. In Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 10th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2009] 725 presents itself with a traveler that is dissatisfied with the decision that he has to make. A situation of life sometime requires a decision to be made between two things that will have a huge impact in the end. The consequences are not always what we expect.
Everyone is a traveler, carefully choosing which roads to follow on the map of life. There is never a straight path that leaves one with but a single direction in which to head. Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken'; can be interpreted in many different ways. The shade of light in which the reader sees the poem depends upon her past, present, and the attitude with which she looks toward her future. In any case however, this poem clearly demonstrates Frost’s belief that it is the road that one chooses that makes him the man he is.
In “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, he utilizes metaphors to emphasize the importance of making a decision. Frost includes hidden meanings in his metaphors. “The two roads diverged…then took the other just after having perhaps better claim.” In this quote, Frost talks about many people deciding to take an opportunity because it has a better benefit for them just like the road did for him. It also means that taking one road can affect the outcome of one’s life. Another metaphor is, “And one looked down one as far as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth” This is a metaphor because it is talking about how the road is life, how one can only look so far ahead and how we can’t predict/ see how our decisions will turn out. “Oh I kept the
In “The Road Not Taken” Frost emphasizes that every person is a traveler choosing the roads to follow on the map of their continuous journey-life. There is never a straight path that leads a person one sole direction in which to head. Regardless of the original message that Robert Frost had intended to convey, “The Road Not Taken” has left me with many different interpretations. Throughout this poem, it is obvious that decisions are not easy to make and each decision will lead you down a different path.
The Road Not Taken Often we have to make a decision that will affect our lives. Sometimes these choices are easy; frequently these decisions are similar to choosing between a rock and a hard place. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost{1} is a poem that presents a problem. While out on a walk, the path splits and the author must decide which path (or road) to follow.
Ben Jimmy 2/15/2016 Essay 1 The Uncertainty of Choices That Are Made Robert Frost was an American poet born on March 26, 1874 in San Francisco, California. Frost’s work had frequently employed settings from the rural life in New England in the early twentieth century and he had use them to examine difficult social and philosophical themes. The Road Not Taken is one of Frost’s most widely recognized poems. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost is a well-thought, written and constructed poem that demonstrates the importance and significance of the decisions that one makes throughout the course life. The poem is characterized as a monologue about a man's problems when he is choosing to take the right path in life.
The first metaphor Frost uses in this poem can actually be found in the first line: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” The two roads splitting in the woods is a metaphor for a choice you must make when presented with two different options. Wherever the speaker’s life has taken him so far, he has come to the point where he must make an important decision to go any further (Schmoop). The second metaphor Frost uses can be found in lines four and five: “And looked down one as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth.” Looking down the road is a metaphor for the future; when making a decision, we can only predict so much. Just like how the speaker can only see the path in the woods for so far we can only see the consequences of our decision in the near future. A third metaphor can be found in lines 13 through 15: “ Oh, I kept the first for another day! / Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back.” Here, it’s clear the speaker wanted to take both roads; however, he realizes that he will probably never be able to come back to this crossroads. This is a metaphor for a decision that changes everything; a decision you have made where you have reached a point of no
In the poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost he talks a lot about paths and taking one way over another way but both are evenly taken as they are untaken. This poem is not literally talking about real paths in some cases it may but most of the time it is about life chooses, these could as simple as which shirt to wear to school or as important as should we have kids. These are all decisions and there are two way one may be better, worse or just as good as the other path but you choose the one you believe is right. In the poem Frost says “Long I stood and looked down one as fat as I could to where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other as just as fair.” This would relate to a bigger decision in life you look at both option analyzing pros and cons of each path to make your final decision.
In our lives we all make thousands of choices. The impact of a single choice however may not always be so obvious. In the poem, ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost, he talks of the decision on which trail to take when the yellow wood diverged into two. Most notably the end he states, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--- I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference.”
In life, we will face numerous decisions. Some are minor, such as what you want to eat for dinner or if you want to go to the movies. Sometimes these decisions can be life altering and can impact your entire life. In Robert Frost’s Poem “The Road Not Taken”, it explores this dilemma of being forced to choose between two paths in life and its impact on your life.
“The Road Not Taken” examines the struggles people run into when they come to a place in their life where a life altering decisions has to be made. The man who is described in this poem is traveling when he comes upon “two roads diverged” (1). He then has to choose which path he will take to continue on his journey. After standing at the diversion for a while, he knows he has to make a final decision. One path was worn down and “bent in the undergrowth” (5), so he took the other path, which was described as “perhaps the better claim/ Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (6-7). The man of the poem begins to ponder about a time when he will be telling his story of the path he took. Although we are not sure if the man regrets his decision or is relieved, he lets us know taking the road less traveled “has made all the difference” (20).
This is a wonderful poem with many different themes and ideas. One of the biggest themes is not being afraid to take a chance. Some of the other themes include, not following the crowd, trying new things, and standing for something. This poem stated that the author "took the one (road) less traveled by, and that has made all the difference" so the author is telling the reader that we too should not be afraid to take another path.
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 Road Not Taken: a Study Guide." Cummings Study Guides. Michael Cummings, n.d. Web. 3 Apr 2011. .