The Road Not Taken Analysis

“The Road Not Taken” is a poetic masterpiece centered on the concept of choice. The hardship of generating choices is portrayed by the well-spoken writer, Robert Frost. The narrator arrives at a split in the road while wandering through a “yellow wood” and faces a dilemma as to what road to take in order to move forward in his life. He scrutinises both the paths in deep thought, and comes to the conclusion that both are equally alluring and well-worn. I wonder what the difference is between the two paths, but as far as I’m concerned, not even the narrator is able to distinguish the difference. Frost is “sorry that I could not travel both” showing his uncertainty in which path out of the two that he must choose. I find the importance of decision making stressful because the resolution will affect my life in ways that I can only imagine. But indecision is one of the beauties of life – the best choices we make are simply the outcome of careful thought. Upon closer inspection, he decides to choose the road that appeared to be “just as fair… and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear”. He feels like it will make all the difference in life, so he chooses the path not many have already taken, the road “less-travelled”. I consider Frost to be an independent man for this reason – he chose the road that seemed unusual and less popular and I admire his courage for doing so. Then he realises that upon an additional look, “Though as for that the passing there had worn them really about the same”, that the two tracks are not at all different than what Frost previously believed, contradicting himself. Following Frost’s decision to pursue one of the roads, he continues to distrust his choice and wants to save “the ...

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...ence”. I discovered that this symbolises the influence of possibilities in life. Even if two paths appear similar, they contain subtle differences which set their outcome apart. It is the nature of humans, with our instinctive curiosity and regret that makes it complicated for a human to be entirely content with the route he or she chooses to follow in life. The simple reality that the narrator will never know what could have been or what he may have missed out on will leave him constantly wondering of the road not taken. The narrator made me think about society because every human in existence can relate to this poem – it sheds light on human thought and indecision, and the lost opportunities that go along with choices. Regardless of whether Frost followed the right road or if he regrets his decisions, we will never know if it was for the best. It is this mystery t