Road Not Taken Individuality

Similar to millions of high school students, 30 years ago I was assigned to read Robert Frost’s famous poem, The Road Not Taken and concluded the poem emphasized individuality and the power of choice. As a result, I have frequently shared, arguably the most well know passage of the poem with my children to encourage them to take their own path in life. Therefore, I would surmise both of my children can begrudgingly recite the last two lines of the poem “I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference” (Frost, 1915/2012, pg. 624). Subsequently, I am sure they will be gleefully amused to discover, after additional research I have concluded Frost’s celebrated poem is more complex and has a significantly deeper meaning beyond the encouragement of individuality and having the fortitude to travel your own path (Orr, 2015).

To begin with, the title of the poem, The Road Not Taken, in part contradicts the final and most well-known passage of the poem “I took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference” (Frost, 1915/2012, pg.

624). The title of the poem clearly emphasizes the road that was not used, rather than focusing on the road that was selected less. Which is an important distinction given that one statement accentuates the choice the traveler did not make versus the other emphasizing the selection of a less travelled path. Hence, the contradiction of the title and the end of the poem convolutes the primary point of the poem and allows readers to draw different conclusions regarding the overarching thought Frost was attempting to

convey.

Second, rather than utilize a word, such as path or trail to infer a route that naturally yields to the natural terrain and is therefore taken by travelers (Orr, 2015). Frost distinctively and deliberately used the word “road” throughout the poem to purposely imply the use of something made by humans. Thus, implying traveling a designated trail that has been initially blazed by others. Therefore, a reader could easily assert Frost is far from effusively encouraging individualism, independence, and unconventionality. Additionally, the intersection of humanity and nature raises the specter of conflict, given that roads are created by humankind’s force of will and are not compelled to comply with the normal rules of nature and the contours of the earth. Consequently, the poem’s vacillation between the clarion call of rugged individualism and the quiet compromise of inauspiciously following a trail blazed by others results in a beautifully intertwined riddle to be unwound differently by each reader (Robinson, 2016).