The Choice Of Road In The Road Not Taken

Jasietsono Josephine Kuotsu

Reg no. 12356032

Dr H. Kalpana

ENGL 501: American Poetry

30 Sep 2013

Why does the choice of roads in “The Road Not Taken” makes so much difference to the speaker years later? What might the two roads represent?

The two roads in the poem “The Road Not Taken” are metaphorical representation of the choices we have in life. We are blessed to have choice in life and the free will to decide and these decisions make a big difference, it can be either positive or negative. This is a big challenge to any individual, it puts a person in dilemma where one need to make decision between identical choice and that decision may change the fate of the person forever. In the last stanza of the poem the poet recall with a sigh:

I took the one less travelled by

And that has made all the differences. (19-20)

The last stanza is a controversial topic as it can be interpreted in two ways. It may be a sigh of joy and relief or a sigh of regret. The road that the speaker did not take and the possibilities it held will always remain in the realm of speculation. We learn that the poet intend to come back to the road not taken but deep down he was also aware that it not be possible to do so.

In life we all regret and speculate on the choice and decision we make. When things go wrong it is natural that the past flashback to the moment where we had to take that ultimate decision. We are left with nothing but regret in life for that wrong decision. But it can be the other way too. We look back to the past with a sigh of relief for taking that very hard decision as now it has make a big difference, for the better.

The narrator says that he will recall in his old age about the decision he made on that fateful day, a d...

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...se, consider the pros and cons and move ahead with the decision because there is no turning back.

The two roads also present the idea of free will. We all have the power to take the decisions in life. At times certain decisions are manipulated and forced upon us but many at times we have the liberty to take any decision. So in the poem two roads are presented before the narrator and he is given full liberty to make a decision. Frost here introduces the implications involved in the process of decision-making.

Works Cited

1. Houdary, Bibhash. “Nagaland University: Anthology of Poetry”. Chennai: Macmillan

India Limited. 2008. Print.

2. Perrine, Lawrence. “Sound and Sense: An Introduction to Poetry”. New York: Harcourt,

Brace and Company, Inc. 1956. Print.