Critical Appreciation Of The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost

A particularly prominent challenge of the human experience is that of decision making, as, in practice, the process is often far more complex than initially considered. This theme is explored in the poem “The Road Not Taken”, which was written in 1916 by the renowned American poet Robert Frost. He was born in March 26, 1874 and passed away in January 29, 1963 – during his life he received four Pulitzer Prizes, which, in America, is regarded as the highest national honour in literary achievements. Frost also has many other successful pieces; he generally provokes deeper thought under social and philosophical domains. In relation to ‘The Road Not Taken’, this is indeed the case. The poem is simply constructed, however, beneath the surface lies

At first glance the theme is seemingly obvious, but, after delving deeper into the piece, there is an indirect theme that is entertained. The poem also portrays the common human emotion of regret, which is due to the individual not being able to take every opportunity that lays before them – not always knowing the answers to the ‘what if’ questions. One rather appealing feature of the poem is the use of the sustained metaphor, which encourages readers to gain a further understanding of the points the poet is making – this is most evident as Frost creates a double perspective on the concept of decision making, while allowing readers to understand his views using this language

This, in a sense, reinforces the point that the challenge of decision making is a common human experience, and this in itself is perhaps a more significant point than worrying about which path to follow. As the poem continues, Frost restates the difficulty in the decision that must be made: “And both that morning equally lay / in leaves no step had trodden black.” When the speaker assesses the paths for this particular decision, he notices that both of them look to be “untravelled”. This could suggest that this is the first time that the speaker has, personally, had to make a decision about this certain experience in life. Even though others may have come before him and made their own decisions, as an individual, he still has to forge his own way; it really has no bearing what choices others may have made - in this sense, both paths will “equally