Literary Analysis - the Road Not Taken Essay - 703 Words

  The Road Not Taken† Robert Frosts poem â€Å"The Road Not Taken† describes a traveler faced with a choice of which one of two roads to travel. He knows not where either road might lead. In order to continue on his journey, he can pick only one road. He scrutinizes both roads for the possibilities of where they may take him in his travels. Frosts traveler realizes that regret is inevitable. Regardless of his choice, he knows that he will miss the experiences he might have encountered on the road not taken. Images in the poem reflect the difficulties of the choice the traveler faces. The difficulty is shown in the passage long I stood (3)†¦show more content†¦He predicts that he will always remember this moment of choice and will be telling it with a sigh (16) when he is old. His choice will have made all the difference (20) and affected his whole journey. Frost creates a tone of inevitability that no matter what the choice, there will always be regret. Frost presents the travelers choice of paths as a metaphor for the difficult decisions a person must make in life. The divergent paths are the choices to be made at various points along the way. Regardless of how he tries, the traveler cannot see beyond where the path is bent in the undergrowth (5). Likewise, nobody can predict what effect one choice will have on his life. The traveler sees the two paths as very similar or just as fair (6). As much as the traveler would like to return to the diverging roads, he realizes that he will not get another chance to travel the other path. With maturity comes a resignation that a choice has affected a persons life and there is no going back. He also tries to make the best of his decision by saying that it has made all the difference. (20). In The Road Not Taken, images of the bright woods and wide open opportunity to choose are contrasted with the indecision and regret of only being able to travel one path. Word choice and a slight sorrowful tone reinforce the theme of regret. Frost presents divergent roads as a metaphor for the choices a person must make in life. The travelers rueful resignation thatShow MoreRelatedA Literary Analysis Of Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken889 Words   |  4 PagesRobert Frost’s The Road Not Taken: A Literary Analysis The works of Robert Frost have many identifiable primary ideas that have been studied for generations. Some of these are the New England dialect, a firm grasp on the use of nature and most important in this analysis, decision making and self reliance. 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