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What does “the road not taken” suggest about the choices we make in life
“the road not taken
“the road not taken
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“The Road Not Taken” is quite possibly the least understood poem in American literary history. The poem was inspired by the Robert Frost’s, the author, critic Edward Thomas and his regret, every time they would go for a walk in the forest, for each cross road they came to. Robert Frost sent the poem to Thomas in April of 1915 with no other pretense simply sending it to him without any form of clarifying text. This began a long stream of correspondence between the two men as Thomas tried in vain to determine a meaning from Frost’s poem calling it “Staggering”; however, he was missing Frost’s intention. Frost eventually led Thomas to a distinguished conclusion on the meaning of the poem and therefore submitted it into great literary history as one of the 20th century’s greatest poems. Robert Frost himself was already an established poet at the time of its release. Being born in 1874 and living until 1963 “The Road Not …show more content…
In terms of the human life this directly correlates to the many decisions to be made by an individual during the duration of their lifetime. In addition, it reflects the possible consequences of accepting one path and following another as the character in the poem waits and looks as far down the path in order to perceive which would be the best choice and have the best outcome, just as many do in everyday life The poem then goes on to compare the two paths as though contemplating which to path to take while journeying through the woods. The poem goes on to say that both paths looked nice and were worn about the same. This outlines many of the difficulties of life. When presented to two seemingly positive outcomes, which is the best to take and what will have the optimal ending? This portion of the poem shows this lifelong struggle with a simple analogy; therefore, showing a lifelong struggle that many deal with as they try their
Poetry is a form of art in which an exclusive arrangement and choice of words help bring about a desired emotional effect. Robert Frost said that a poem is formed when “an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” His popular poem, "The Road Not Taken," like any other poem, has as many interpretations as it has readers. Using rhetorical analysis, one can break down the meaning(s) of this seemingly simple poem.
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.
“Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” Robert Frost is one of the worlds most renowned and beloved American poets whose work was enthused through the use of American colloquial speech, he wrote poems about rural life that captivated everyone’s mind. Frost was born in San Francisco on the 26th of March 1874, at the tender age of eleven after his father’s death the family moved to New England. Some of his most important poems include: “The Road Not Taken”, “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening”, and “Fire and Ice” are examples of ways Frost utilized nature to depict that he was indeed a contemplative human being. Frost employs the theme nature to determine his
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 speaker is at spot in the road where it is splitting, he can see that both paths are equally worn. The speaker then goes through a dilemma, where he doesn’t know which path is the better one to take, the speaker know that he has to pick one of them and there is no turning back once he (Frost Early Poems). How the reader interprets the speaker’s point of view is based on each stanza, the organization and form of the poem, and the use of a metaphor with the poem and the path of life.
When reading “The Road Not Taken,” by Robert Frost, I found that it was personal, especially to the author. The fact that it was written in first person form helped me to conclude that it was probably about the author. I think the reasoning behind his writing of this poem was because in life, you have many obstacles to overcome and many choices and decisions to make, which opens a path that leads the way to your future. Since those things relate to Frost, I think it motivated him to write this poem on a personal basis, like a short autobiography on his life. It motivated him because he could then tell others about his life and give advice and guidance to the people that read his poetry.
Life itself is built upon layers of decisions, substantial or miniscule, that become intertwined in an attempt to define who we are. I believe that the choices we make will ultimately work to construct our future, whether it is the way in which I perceive the world around me, or what I choose to believe. In “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost manages to further illustrate these points in order to convey deeper meaning within the text.
Choices are the main theme of this poem. The speaker realizes the choice he is about to make is going to affect his future. The point of this poem is that the speaker will not know his future until it happens. Nature and roads are said to be symbols that are very important to the speaker. It helps the reader understand why he choose the path he took. The fork at the road represents the speaker’s life. The title “The Road Not Taken” means that not all choices that one comes to are going to be easy and not all are going to be the right choice, but one has to make them at some point in life. When it comes to difficult situations like this it its not always best to take the one more traveled but the one best for them, but choose wisely.
Choices are never easy, facing hundreds upon thousands of them in our lifetime, man has to make decisions based upon these choices. Some decisions are clear while others are sometimes not clear and more difficult to make. The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is a prime example of these choices in life. This poem is a first person narrative that is seen by most people as being told by Frost. The poem opens up with the narrator encountering a point in the woods that has a trail diverge into two separate paths. In the poem Frost presents the idea of man facing the difficult predilection of a moment and a lifetime. I believe this idea in the poem is embodied in the fork in the road, the decision between the two paths, and the decision to select the road not taken.
The poem entitled “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is perhaps one of the most well-known poems to date. Frost’s poem explores the different paths and choices individuals are presented with throughout their life, which can later influence their lives significantly more than originally anticipated. Specifically, Frost describes a fork in the road at which the narrator must choose between two very different paths with varying outcomes. “The Road Not Taken” emphasizes the importance of taking the less traveled road through Frost’s usage of a wide range of literary devices. “The Road Not Taken” suggests that individuals should fully experience the process of making a choice before reaching a decision as that one single choice may later have
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
The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost is a poem about decisions and how they can impact someone’s life. However, many other literary devices are used in the poem in order to make the theme more obvious to its readers. This poem is often confused as focusing on how the narrator takes the road less traveled, when it is actually meant to focus on the choice that the narrator denies, or the road not taken. Frost mentions the doubt and worry that comes along with decision-making, but how perseverance can make it worthwhile. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost introduces a theme of making life decisions, while using symbolism and tone as tools to show his readers that the right choice is not always the easy one.
The main theme of the poem that Frost attempts to convey is how important the decisions that one makes can be, and how they affect one’s future. In lines 2-3, he expresses the emotions of doubt and confusion by saying, “And sorry I could not travel/ And be one traveler, long I stood”, which explains how the speaker contemplated their decision of which road to take. In the closing, line 20 of the poem further reestablishes the theme when it states, “that has made all the difference”, meaning that making the decision of which road to take for themselves is the important key for a successful future. Frost helps to express this theme by using symbolism to portray a road as one’s journey of life. Using symbolism, Frost suggests that the speaker of this poem is taking the harder of the two roads presented before them, because the road the speaker chooses, “leaves no step had trodden black” (12...
The poem uses symbolism most profoundly to bring life choices into perspective. The roads themselves symbolize choice and the journey that choice brings. People have the right to choose the direction their lives take. The