The Significance of The Road Not Taken
My father introduced me to "The Road Not Taken" when I was a young teenager because he figured that I was beginning a period of my life where I would be forced to make many important decisions, and he saw this poem as a source of guidance through those decisions. This poem carries truth and edification in its words. It forms a beautiful analogy of life and all its complications. After my father finished reciting the poem, I never gave a second thought that day to Robert Frost or his poetry. It was weeks, possibly months, before I resumed thought on "The Road Not Taken." It was not until one year ago that I actually read it. Nevertheless, I did remember that poem, and no matter how many times I put it aside to contemplate other things, it was always waiting for my return. Through all of my high school years, it tagged along beside me, reminding me that change is good, reminding me that risk is what life is all about.
The first stanza of this poem introduces the concept of change and maturing. In the first line, the narrator is walking through a "yellow wood," indicating that it is most likely autumn. A nice descriptive detail, but is that all it is? Autumn is the season of change between summer and winter. That is the common definition, yet it can also mean a time of maturity or decline, and standing at a fork in the road of life, the author was prone to either of these. The process of maturing, however, is what is going to be enveloped in this poem. He is being forced to examine each road and make a mature decision about which one to take.
He starts his decision-making process by looking down one road as far as he could. However, he could only see as far ...
... middle of paper ...
...hat is what makes the difference.
That is why this poem makes such a difference. It sends a powerful message of self-respect. It holds the power to influence a person not to be influenced. Is this a contradiction? Perhaps, but it is the truth. When I came to a fork in my road, I was influenced by this poem to believe in myself and take the road "less traveled by" (19). The analogy is that no life is a straight shot. Everyone faces a fork in the road and must make a decision, possibly an irreversible decision, and the only way to look back on a decision like that with a sigh of relief is to make the decision based on what you believe to be right. That may not be what society thinks is right, what your friends think is right, or even what your family thinks is right, but taking the path based on independent will is what makes "all the difference" (20).
When there is a fight in the market place, Capulet rushes to fight for his honor, “my sword I say, old Montague is come...” Capulet denies Paris’ request to marry Juliet “ and too soon marred are those so early made,” acting for his own good because he wants Juliet to produce many offspring to carry on the Capulets bloodline, since she is his only surviving child. When at the ball Capulet demands Tybalt to let Romeo be,” content thee, gentle coz, let him alone,” but this just fuels Tybalts anger towards Romeo, which eventually ends up in Tybalt causing his own death. Capulet believes he is giving his child the best when he announces her engagement to Paris” she shall be married to this noble earl,” and believes Paris will make a good husband for Juliet. When Juliet refuses Capulet thinks it best to threaten her, “I will drag thee,” but this just makes Juliet turn to more drastic measures.
Either thou or I, or both, must go with him.” (III, I, 127 – 131)
In act three scene one it says this about the fight, "Tybalt insults Romeo, but Romeo, who has just returned from his wedding, remains calm. Mercutio, on the other hand, is furious with Tybalt, and they begin to fight. As Romeo tries to separate them, Tybalt stabs Mercutio, who later dies." Romeo feels this sudden rage. Romeo then, "Romeo
The Holocaust was one of the most horrifying crimes against humanity. "Hitler, in an attempt to establish the pure Aryan race, decided that Jews, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma (Gypsies), and homosexuals amongst others were to be eliminated from the German population. One of his main methods of exterminating these “undesirables” was through the use of concentration and death camps. In January of 1941, Adolf Hitler and his top officials decided to make their “final solution” a reality. Their goal was to eliminate the Jews and the “impure” from the entire German population. Auschwitz was not only the largest concentration camp that carried out Hitler's “final solution,” but it was also the most extensive. It was comprised of three separate camps that encompassed approximately 25 square miles. Although millions of people came to Auschwitz, it is doubted that more than 120,000-150,000 ever lived there at any one time. (Encyclopedia of the Holocaust)
Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 and his sudden control over Germany sparked a new age of reform within the new “Nazi-state” (Hunt 848). As Nazism became a major aspect of everyday life in Germany, Hitler plotted against his enemies and those he blamed for Germany’s defeat in World War I: the Jewish race. In his biography, Mein Kampf, Hitler discusses the artistic, social, and technological superiority of Germany (“Aryans”), why he believes the Aryans are the ultimate dominant human race, and he makes many anti-Semitic remarks against the Jews. (Lualdi 224). In 1935, the “Nuremberg Laws” were enacted to deny Jewish Germans of their citizenship; this ultimately led Hitler to carry out his “Final Solution,” in which he hoped to fully exterminate the Jewish race from all of Europe (Hunt 864). After gathering the Jews from their “ghettos” and forcing them into concentration camps all across Europe, Hitler and his Nazi advocates began one of the most destructive and horrifying genocides in history, known today as the Holocaust. Only after being introduced to the conditions of these concentration camps, the hatred and abuse put towards the Jewish, and the gruesome lifestyle they were trapped into living can one understand why the Holocaust affected so many as it did. What exactly were the conditions of these camps, and how did a few lucky survivors prevail while their friends and families perished?
Tybalt was hoping that Romeo would be present. Mercutio, however, started to joke around which slightly aggravated Tybalt. When Romeo turned up, Tybalt directly challenged him to a fight:
Mercutio and Benvolio encountered Tybalt on the street of Verona and soon enough the newly wed Romeo came. Tybalt then provokes a fight with Romeo, " 'Romeo the love I bear thee can afford no better term than this: Thou art a villain', said Tybalt." Shakespeare's play (3, 1, 61-62, 119). Romeo, on the other hand, turned down Tybalt's invitation with a response of, " 'Villain I am none. Therefore, farewell. I see thou knowest me not.' " (3, 1, 65-66, 119). Mercutio was greatly disappointed with Romeo so he just accepted Tybalt's challenge, which caused his death. Mercutio died cursing the Capulets and Montagues. Romeo felt the pain of Mercutio's lost. He craved for revenge over Tybalt so he slain him from his return. The lost of a best friend pushed Romeo to kill Tybalt. He never realized that it would end up that way, that he will lose him. It was the moment that he felt the importance of Mercutio in his life.
The Holocaust was a time in history that was brutal, sickening, and ruthless. The Holocaust refers to, “The systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators.” (ushmm.org) The Nazi’s came to rule in January of 1933 in Germany. They supposed that the German’s were “ethnically greater” and the Jews considered “mediocre” were a threat and problem to the German society. The German’s did not only target the Jews, they targeted Gypsies, Slavic people, Russians, the disabled, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. If those people were captured but not killed yet, they were sent away to concentration camps. Concentration camps were introduced as harsh, uncleanness living camps and a very important feature of the regime. After Adolf Hitler became leader in January of 1933, he developed the first concentration camps in Germany (ushmm.org).
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.
Robert Frost was born in 1874 and died in 1963. During his years of living Frost, wrote 105 poems including; The Road Not Taken, Mending Wall, Stars, and A Time to Talk (Best Famous Robert Frost Poems) and many more. While Frost was in his early and late twenties he attended school at Dartmouth University, only to return home and have unsatisfactory jobs, and Harvard University, where he had to drop out after two years due to health concerns. He married Elinor White on December 19, 1895, together they had four children but only two were able to live into adulthood. In 1912, Frost and Elinor decided to move their family to England, where Frost met Edward Thomas. It has been said, that Frost and Thomas would
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 the poem, “The Road Not Taken”, the speaker has to make a big decision in his life. This poem talks about a person who comes across an intersection or a fork in the road and he has to choose which way to follow. The road is a metaphor of the choices we make in life. As the speaker ponders his choices, he feels strongly that whatever “road” he takes will be for good. So he must weigh his decision well in order to come up with the best choice and not end up regretting it. The speaker considers his thought wisely. He says, “And looked down as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth”, by giving it a proper thought he weighs his choices well and in the end, chooses to follow the road “less traveled”. “The Road Not Taken” signifies a difficult choice in a person’s life that could offer him an easy or hard way out. There is no assurance of what lies ahead; if there will be success or sorrows. But a person has to take risk making up his mind about which way to choose because this is the first step of head...
The first extermination camp was located in Chelmno, Poland, where gas vans were used to kill the camps’ victims. Gas vans had been introduced in Poland in 1939, Noakes maintains, and had initially been used to murder Russian POWs. The gassing of Polish Jews began in 1941 after the Nazis had forcefully gathered the majority of them into ghettoes around Lodz and Warthegau. The process was of crude design: Jews (and other ‘subhuman’ subjects) were rounded up and told they were to be sent to a labor camp. Before this, however, they were to strip naked and bathe. After stripping, the victims were herded and locked into a gas van. The ‘driver’ started the engine, and the exhaust from the vehicle flooded into the van, killing the victims inside. According to Noakes, “a recent estima...
Above all, 'The Road Not Taken'; can truly be interpreted through much symbolism as a clear-sighted representation of two fair choices. The two roads in the poem, although, 'diverging,'; lead in different directions. At the beginning they appear to be somewhat similar, but is apparent that miles away they will grow farther and farther away from each other. Similar to many choices faced in life. It is impossible to foresee the consequences of most major decisions we make and it is often necessary to make these decisions based on a little more than examining which choice 'wanted wear.'; In
In the poem “The Road Not Taken”, author Robert Frost uses the simple image of a road to represent a person’s journey through life. A well-established poet, Frost does a proficient job of transforming a seemingly common road to one of great importance, which along the way helps one identify who they really are. This poem is one of self-discovery. Frost incorporates strong elements of poetry such as theme, symbolism, rhyme scheme, diction, imagery, and tone to help create one of his most well known pieces about the human experience.