The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost is a poem about decisions and how they can impact someone’s life. However, many other literary devices are used in the poem in order to make the theme more obvious to its readers. This poem is often confused as focusing on how the narrator takes the road less traveled, when it is actually meant to focus on the choice that the narrator denies, or the road not taken. Frost mentions the doubt and worry that comes along with decision-making, but how perseverance can make it worthwhile. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost introduces a theme of making life decisions, while using symbolism and tone as tools to show his readers that the right choice is not always the easy one. Frost’s main theme was to show his readers the difficulties of decision-making and how one choice can impact a person’s whole life. He is trying to make the point that when given two choices, it is sometimes more worthwhile to choose the more difficult one. When describing the two paths, he describes one as more difficult than the other, but later says that they are about the same. He eventually chooses the second path, saying he “then took the other, as just as fair” (6). This choice is significant later on in the poem, as this decision ends up shaping his life. Although he faces trials and questions his decision, in the end he realizes that by taking the road less traveled by, he has ultimately chosen the right path. In addition, Frost uses symbolism to illustrate that the easy decision is not always the right one to choose. Symbolism is crucial in this piece of work because Frost uses it to show his readers the difference between the two roads that the narrator needs to choose between. For example, he describes road less travele... ... middle of paper ... ...ng his emotions with each choice he makes. In conclusion, Frost uses the symbolism and tone to display the theme to his readers. He teaches the lesson that although choosing the harder path may be more challenging, it also has the chance of being more worthwhile. By using symbolism to metaphorically represent the two choices and the difficulty of the narrators decision, Frost illustrates to his audience that the right choice may not always be clear. However, Frost uses tone to show that even though the narrator was unsure of his decision at first, it all worked out in the end. The theme of life decisions is so relatable to its audience because everyone faces a difficult at some point, and Frost makes the point that hard decisions are a part of life, as are doubt and regret, but making the most out of the circumstances is the best way to be pleased with the outcome.
The imagery created in The Road Not Taken, helps the author depict a internal and physical conflict of a decision that will change his path forever. The imagery used in the poem is when Frost states, “And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there, Had worn them really about the same,” (Line 7-10 Frost) The imagery used by the author creates a mental image for the reader to see the important differences of the description of the path, the safe route looking more pleasant and comfortable for him to walk, while the other is dark and abandoned, giving it more of a risk. Seeing both and describing their appearance, it has an influence on the author but also the reader. Frost not only applies his own life between making an important decision to stay safe or take a risk, but this mental image is also allowed to be applied to the readers. Frost makes the decision to take the risky route, which is also relevant still to our society. Frost explains the risky road was well worth it because of the positive energy he receives. Creating this image, he wants the reader to understand it is well worth it to take a risk in your life because they might feel the same energy Frost
“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost shows the reader how the choices they make will be hard decisions and will follow them. The setting of this poem takes place in the woods, in the fall. The woods will typically be a quiet and serene place making the setting an ideal place for decision making. The setting also helps to show the symbolism that Frost shows by describing the two paths. Frost uses pathos when appealing to the reader’s feelings because any reader has had to make a decision in their life. Creating this symbol helps to relate to the reader. The Imagery that is created helps to make the reader feel as if they are standing in the snowy woods, looking down two paths, and trying to make the decision of which one to take. Frost used
Frost realizes that had he taken the other road he would not be where he is today. He was adventurous and choose the road that had been traveled the least recently and that one decision changed his life
The Road Not Taken and Neither Out Far Nor in Deep by Robert Frost Robert Lee Frost is an American poet who is known for his verse concerning nature and New England life. He was born in San Francisco in 1874. When his father died in 1885, his mother moved the family to Lawrence, Massachusetts. Frost attended college sporadically after graduating high school and made a living by working as a bobbin boy in a wool mill, a shoemaker, a country schoolteacher, editor of a rural newspaper, and a farmer. He also wrote poetry but had little success in having his poems published until, in 1912, when his family moved to England.
Life has many roads you can take and it’s which ones you choose to follow that will shape your future forever. That is what I always take from this great Frost poem. He sees two roads both being equally appealing, but selects the one less traveled and how it makes his life unique. This poem is one of few that I do care for myself. It shows a man whose come to a point in his life where he has to decide what he will do with it. This is a point in our lives that everyone will come to and a somewhat difficult challenge for many. We have the many options ahead of us and must try and look ahead to what will come to decide our future. “And be one traveler, long I stood and looked down one as far as I could.” I think this was a time in Frost’s life when he had just moved to London and was looking back at the choices he had made. He quit trying the Derry farm and sold it and moved to London to write. This was an awfully risky thing to do at this point with a wife and kids, but it shows his approval in retrospect. “Then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear.” This shows that he choose a path that many choose to not to. He selected a harder path in life that could have been a devastating mistake given his situation in life.
Choices are never easy to make for many specific reasons. These choices decide a person’s fate. The timeless poem by Robert Frost “the road not taken” uses symbolism to explain this aspect of human life. The poem tells us a situation of a man traveling on a journey arriving at the crossroads where he is presented two paths.
The first metaphor Frost uses in this poem can actually be found in the first line: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” The two roads splitting in the woods is a metaphor for a choice you must make when presented with two different options. Wherever the speaker’s life has taken him so far, he has come to the point where he must make an important decision to go any further (Schmoop). The second metaphor Frost uses can be found in lines four and five: “And looked down one as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth.” Looking down the road is a metaphor for the future; when making a decision, we can only predict so much. Just like how the speaker can only see the path in the woods for so far we can only see the consequences of our decision in the near future. A third metaphor can be found in lines 13 through 15: “ Oh, I kept the first for another day! / Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back.” Here, it’s clear the speaker wanted to take both roads; however, he realizes that he will probably never be able to come back to this crossroads. This is a metaphor for a decision that changes everything; a decision you have made where you have reached a point of no
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.
Robert Frost’s 1916 poem The Road Not Taken is one of the most influential pieces of literature in American history. Since its publication, the poem has been subjected to much misconstrued analysis, which has led to its being stereotyped as a poem about following the speakers instinct. Ultimately we are made to believe that choosing the right, less traveled “road” in life leads to a better future; however, this theory is contradicted in the poem’s own lines.
Frost’s use of theme and meaning, both portray the decisions or choices the narrator must take in “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”. In “The Road Not Taken,” the speaker describes coming upon a problem in his travels, with a fork in the road. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (Bouchard/Frost). He must go down one, but feels he would not be able to take back his decision. Taking in both pros and cons, the speaker chooses the one that is less traveled. “He predicts that the path he will choose will affect his life greatly. In fact make “all the difference,” that he tells this with a sigh, “I shall be telling this with a sigh,” (Frost) indicated that he will have some questions, about where the other path may have brought him”(Bouchard). “The Road Not Taken,” is a double perspective when it comes to making choices. One is fairly obvious while the other is more subtle. “It expresses both turmoil of making the choice and the depressing expectation that the choice he makes between ...
In using a simple fork in a road, Frost writes much to symbolize life and choices in which one will make. Frost uses unique ability to see an ordinary, everyday activity to portray such a theme. By using such simple endeavors, Frost reaches his audience on
In the daily battles of life, everyone is provided with unique opportunities, which leads to tough decisions. The satisfaction and happiness that comes from that decision depend on the fruits that it bears in the future. That is why it’s truly important to make sure you make the right decisions for yourself when opportunities approach you. That is the case in Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” In this poem, the poet personifies two roads and provides metaphors of its true meaning.
Perhaps one of the most well-known poems in modern America is a work by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. This poem consists of four stanzas that depict the story of the narrator traveling through the woods early in the morning and coming upon a fork in the path, where he milled about for a while before deciding upon one of the two paths, wishing he could take both, but knowing otherwise, seeing himself telling of this experience in the future.
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.
The road which leads them to what they believe to be happiness. One of Frosts commonest subjects is the choice the poet is faced with