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The Road Not Taken

The poem “The Road Not Taken” emerges as on the famous works of Robert Frost. Through the character created in the poem, Frosts seeks to suggest that regardless of whether the decision one makes is right or wrong, the decision brings forth “all the difference”. In this discussion, an analysis of the poem will be delineated while tracing the character’s experience from the time he encounters the two roads of the time he chooses the less travelled road as well as a personal reaction to the poem.
The poem commences with a situation, two diverging roads, where the character is expected to make a decision. It is not an easy task to execute since the character was uncertain of what lay beyond the two roads and even wished he would travel both roads: “sorry I could not travel both” (Frost, “The Road Not Taken”). However, a choice had to be made because the character is just a single person, and thus, he makes a careful evaluation of the two roads: “looked down one as far as I could,” and then “took the other, as just as fair” (Batool et al. 60). Even so, the paths still seemed similar and the character demonstrates this by describing the paths as "equally lay" and were "just as fair" as each other and were even "worn really about the same” (Sterbenz, “Everyone Totally Misinterprets”). This assertion further intensifies the complexity of the situation.
After deliberating over the dilemma confronting him, the character finally chooses to follow the road that is less travelled. His justification for following this road is plain: “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” (Frost, “The Road Not Taken”). This means the character was indifferent between the two roads and looked for the petty differences to make the decision. He was convinced that the relatively less travelled road was the right one to follow, and therefore, promised to try out the other path during his next time. Nonetheless, once a choice has been made, it is impossible to go back and try other options. The character believes that, in the future, he will be telling of this experience “with a sigh” (“The Road Not Taken”). This means that he is not certain of the consequences of the decision he made; however, he will be able to trace the origin of the consequences, the choice he made (Batool et al. 60). All in all, the character chooses the less travelled path despite the uncertainty in regard to the outcome.
The moral of the poem is that the choices an individual makes in life have an implication on the subsequent experiences. It is misleading to conceive that things happen by chance and thus decisions are of no saliency (Sterbenz, “Everyone Totally Misinterprets”). In life, people struggle to make decisions that will have positive implications for their future lives. However, Frost’s poem asserts that some decisions do not have white and black outcomes and hence subject an individual to a degree of dilemma. As such, the consequences of the path an individual chooses can take two dimensions: either success or failure.
In conclusion, the poem offers a degree of insights on the importance of decisions in life. Although Frost does not specifically focus on positive choices, the point is apparent that no matter the choice taken, it represents a reflection of the outcomes. This knowledge is overly helpful for those individuals who give up their lives to fate and luck rather than making decisions that can change their lives completely.

Works Cited

Batool, Sumera, Khan, Abdul B, Iqbal, Anser, Ali, Khurram & Rafiq, Rana M. Stylistic Analysis
of Robert frost’s Poem: “The road not Taken”. Journal of ELT and Applied Linguistics (JELTAL), Vol. 2(4), 2014, pp. 52-64. Print.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken”. Poetry Foundation, 2015. Web. 11 Apr. 2015
Sterbenz, Christina. “Everyone Totally Misinterprets Robert Frost's Most Famous Poem.”
Business Insider, 2015. Web. 11 Apr. 2015