Similarities Between The Road Not Taken And The Count Of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo Compared to The Road Not Taken: A Deeper Meaning

In The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost, and the Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, there are many key elements leading to one common theme. They both present a decision between two different paths that will affect the future. These pieces of literature share the theme of choices.

One key element that shows the lesson in The Road Not Taken is symbolism. The speaker says, “two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both”(Frost). In this phrase, the fork in the road symbolizes options. The two different paths symbolize the major decisions that we have to make in our life. You can only pick one, and the one that you pick decides the rest of your life. This symbolism relates to the theme choices.

Another main element that demonstrates the theme of options in The Road Not Taken is an imagery. The speaker says,”the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the

better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear.”(Frost) This is an imagery that compares to the commonly used, “the grass is greener on the other side.” One side, as described by the quote, is more appeasing to the speaker, and he is lured to it rather than the path that is take more often. On this path, after he travels it, the grass will be greener than it will be if he travels the other easier more familiar path. This imagery compares to the theme of choices because the speaker has to make a critical decision which will affect his further life.
The last element that exhibits the theme in The Road Not Taken is details. The speaker says that the less traveled way,”in leaves no step had trodden black… I took the one less traveled by”(Frost) These details describe the lesser traveled passage as inviting and better than the other one because the leaves were natural and not trampled. The outcome of traveling that way rather than the other was much more gratifying. He picks this path because though it was the less traveled path, it had a better reward at the end. He selects this trail because it allures him to come and claim what is at the end. This connects to the lesson of choices because the speaker could have chosen the easier trail, but instead, he took the more difficult route with the greater claim at the end.
An element that presents the theme in The Count of Monte Cristo is imagery.

When Dantes figures out who incriminated him to where he ended up in jail (Danglars, Fernand, and Villefort), he,”formed a terrible resolution and swore a fearful oath.”(Alexandre Dumas 58) Later on in the story, after Dantes escapes jail, he finds a lot of,”shining gold coins… unpolished gold ingots...diamonds, pearls, and rubies,” buried in the cave he found due to the note Abbe Faria gave him (Alexandre Dumas 93). This imagery connects to the theme of choices because even though he found all that treasure, which he could have lived on for a lifetime, he decided to still go down the path of vengeance, though not as easy, for him, it had a superior claim after it was completed. He could at that point, have just given up his quest for vengeance and enjoyed a lavish life full of amazing luxuries. Instead he keeps on the harder path because on the other side, after he has taken revenge, he sees a satisfying, fulfilled

life.
In these two works of literature, The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas, and The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost, the path taken determines the future and fulfills the person. Edmond Dantes, like the speaker in The Road Not Taken, decides instead of taking the easier route, to take the more difficult path that has a greater, more fulfilling reward at the end. Dantes picks the path that appeals to him (vengeance), even though he could have picked an easy rich life. Similarly, the speaker in The Road Not Taken, picks the less traveled, less known, and probably harder way to go because it had a better claim at the end of the travel. They both relate to the theme choices because each character has to make an important choice that will determine how their future goes.