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Significance of symbolism in literature
Significance of symbolism in literature
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Life Lessons Given By Robert Frost
Almost everyone has come upon a fork in a path, and not been positive which way to go. The path we choose is very important; it gets us to where we are today, whether it was the right or wrong decision. For every path we take in life, there is a path not taken. The wonders of what that path could have held are almost unbearable at times. The biggest question we have in life is if we should take the worn down path everyone else takes, or the path less traveled. Years later how are we going to feel about the path we had chosen so long ago? This common occurrence in life is portrayed very effectively in Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.”
Do you ever want to just be alone at times, and escape the hectic world
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The first is the decision of a young man choosing a path of life that altered it forever, while the second is about an older more experienced man reluctantly continuing on in life even though he had stopped at the perfect spot. Both speakers have to make a decision that could in turn change their lives forever. In “The Road Not taken” the speaker makes the decision choosing the least common route, this shows how different and independent he is. While in “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” the speaker has to resort back to his obligations, this shows his self discipline and …show more content…
They are the same in the fact that they seem to be simple but if you give them a closer examination you find a hidden meaning. In “Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening” there is symbolism in the phrase “Between the woods and the frozen lake”. The woods are a symbol of life while the frozen lake signifies death. Another example of symbolism is death being compared to sleep. Symbolism in "The Road not Taken" is when making a decision in life is compared to the fork in the road that the speaker comes upon.
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” show the readers similar struggles of life. “The Road Not Taken” is about taking control of one’s life and living it aside from how others live theirs. While “Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening” shows the desire for rest. Sometimes people regret the possibilities of the road not chosen, sometimes people feel proud about the road that they
The Road Not Taken takes place in the morning of an autumn day in a forest. A young man comes up on a fork in the road. He has to make a decision on which path to take. One seems to be a heavily traversed road, whereas the other appears to be hidden in grass and altogether less traveled. Basically, Frost has set
Choices in life can be as simple as deciding where to go out to eat or what to wear and as difficult as deciding which college to enroll in and who to marry. The most strenuous part is not knowing if you made the right decision because even the simplest choices can shape the future. There are no guarantees in life so every decision counts. Second guessing is as natural to humans as breathing, which makes the decision making process that much harder because it is more than just picking something and sticking with it, there is always the curiosity of what if? Even when faced with the most difficult decisions one must live with the choices they have made, which is very similar to what the speaker of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is forced to deal with.
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.
The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost has a literal meaning from the speaker, or traveler, of the road he did not take, but the deeper meaning certainly shows how decisions alter your life. Notably, sorrow and regret is the tone of this poem, demonstrated in the very first stanza: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; (1-5) The poem takes place in autumn, when a traveler, who is narrating the poem, walks upon two paths in the yellow wood. The speaker says he is “sorry I could not travel both”, meaning that he feels sorrowful about not being able to take both roads.
At the end of the poem, the regret hangs over the travelers’ head. He realizes that at the end of his life, “somewhere ages and ages hence” (line 17), He will have regrets about having never gone back and traveling down the road he did not take. Yet he remains proud of his decision, and he recognizes that it was this path that he chose that made him turn out the way he did. “I took the road less traveled by and that has made all the difference” (line 19-20). To this man, what really made the difference is that he did what he wanted, even if it meant taking the road less traveled.
In his celebrated poem "The Road Not Taken," Robert Frost describes the decision one makes when reaching a fork in the road. Some interpret Frost as suggesting regret on the part of the traveler as to not choosing the path he forgoes, for in doing so he has lost something significant. Others believe he is grateful for the selection, as it has made him the man he is. The diverging roads are symbolic of the choices society is faced with every day of life. Choosing one course will lead the traveler in one direction, while the other will likely move away, toward a completely different journey. How does one know which is the right path; is there a right path? The answer lies within each individual upon reflection of personal choices during the course of life's unfolding, as well as the attitude in which one looks to the future.
Stumbling across two separate paths in the woods, one that is worn and the other not quite so much, Frost is left with a challenging decision as to which path to follow. At first glance, they both appear to be relatively similar, but after a moment of contemplation, he decides to take the path less traveled.
Robert Frost interpreted most of the decisions we make in life into this twenty-line poem of a man choosing which path to take in a "yellow wood". Everyday I make a decision to do a certain task, take that certain walk, or to sit at home and do absolutely nothing. Being one person, I can never know for sure what the exact outcome might be if I were to choose the other decision. For instance, I take a leisurely walk every night and I sacrifice my time to do something else. Although this may not always account to me personally, I do sometimes think what the other choice may have brought me. And often times, I complete the task with a sense of relief, a "sigh" perhaps, that the choice I made turned to be a well-made decision. Though most people rarely look into the sacrifice of decision making the way Robert Frost does, it is indeed a highly examined way too understand "a path less traveled by".
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken”. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 7Th Ed. Nina
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.
Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” provide us contrasting and sometimes similar glimpses of life. “The Road Not Taken” is about taking control and living life. “Stopping by Woods on Snowy Evening” entails the desire for rest, perhaps due to the speaker’s feelings of weariness from facing life’s struggles. The poet also explains the tough choices people stand before when traveling the road of life. Sometimes people regret the possibilities of the road not chosen, sometimes people feel proud about the road they have chosen.
In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, Frost shows the everyday human struggle to make a choice that could change the course of one’s life. In his poem, a person has the choice to take one road or the other. One road is worn out from many people taking it, and the other is barely touched, for fewer have taken that road. Throughout the poem, the speaker learns that just because so many other people have done one thing, or walked one way, does not mean everyone has to. Sometimes you just have to go your own way.
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.