The Impact of Choices in The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

Humans are constantly faced with decisions and these decisions are an integral part of life. However, not all decisions are life changing. Thus, important choices must be carefully considered due to the everlasting impact that they could have on an individual. Many pieces of literature try to convey a message of making the ‘right choice’, which is usually aligned with the norm of society. The poems, “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “The Road Not Taken” by the American poet, Robert Frost illustrate the importance of decision making. “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” illustrates the impact of the wrong choice being made on the personas life to an extent that he/she does not feel like living anymore. This is depicted through his mental state when he wanders into a dark forest that is miles away from his village. On the other hand, “The Road Not Taken” depicts the difficulty in breaking the norm and making a choice that is different from others. The choice that this persona has to make is symbolically portrayed through a fork in the roads while he/she is in the woods. In both poems, the emotional impact that choices have left on the persona and Frost through the use of imagery, is conveying that people who follow the challenging and unconventional path have a higher chance of self-fulfillment.

Making the right choice is a constant dilemma that people are faced with everyday. The importance of making the ‘right choice’ is very important due to the emotional impact that can arise from making the ‘wrong choice’. However, the difficulty lies with determining what the correct choice is. Most people associate the correct choice to be the commonly followed path that everyone else is following as well. In “Stopping...

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...le to take risks due to the unknown but potential benefits that can happen if a person acts differently. Consequently, in both poems Frost, is trying to portray the message that if a person follows their dreams they can live without regrets.

Overall, both poems illustrate the hardships that arise with making decisions. These hardships are illustrated by Robert Frost, through the emotional state of the persona in “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening”, and the use of imagery in “The Road Not Taken”. However, in both poems Robert Frost is trying to tell the audience to be unique individuals. In result, both poems try to provide an insight on how to make decisions. Therefore, when choices are presented to individuals they should strive to choose what will be the best for them regardless of how hard the choice is or who else has done the same.