LEC052011- ANU.S - THE ROAD NOT TAKEN

 
ANU.S

LEC052011

Dr. Joseph koyippally

07 November 2021

                       The Road Not Taken

         The poem "Road not taken" is written by Robert Frost. This is a popular poem that is often misinterpreted. The fork in the road is symbolic of any choice in life, but frost makes it clear that two paths are equally untraveled, both seem to have potential for fairly equal outcomes. Structurally, the poem consists of four stanzas that each follow an abaab rhyme scheme. In this poem, Frost uses the reflections of a speaker to express the conflicting nature of making decisions throughout life.

         In the opening line, the speaker places himself in a "yellow wood". Thus, the setting in autumn, a time of beautiful changes as the heat and glare of summer gives way to new colors throughout the forest. This yellow wood immediately symbolizes one of the main themes of the poem, "change is inevitable".  Then in the next line, he bends and see the road, this shows that he cannot determine with certainty where this particular path will lead him.

         He decides to take the other path. Initially, it sounds as though the speaker chooses this path because it appears that the opportunities are greater on this path. He then contradicts himself in the next two lines,
        "Though as for that the passing there
          Had worn them really about the same...."

        Frost uses imagery to convey that the speaker is not choosing the more difficult path. Conversely, heR isn't choosing the "road less traveled ", both paths are equally untraveled, by the lines, 
               " And both that morning equally lay
                  In leaves no step had trodden black"
Frost employs subtle alliteration to highlight the similar nature of the paths.

         The speaker realizes as he is speaking about things yet to come that he will rely on the memories he creates and recreates to give meaning to his life. The title itself conveys another key strand of the poem, people always entertain the what ifs of the paths they choose not to travel. Frost uses the entire poem to narrate the decisions of the path the speaker chose to take, yet the title reflects just the opposite. Therefore, the title haunts the narrative of the poem from a distance, just as the paths the speaker has chosen not to travel haunts his mind. The poem over ideological project rests on some binary oppositions that can be deconstructed by contradictory textual evidence, that conflict with or undermine these hierarchies.



                          work cited
         Road Not Taken, summary and analysis - litcharts.com
         JSTOR - Road Not Taken
         Road Not Taken - sparknotes.com
         Road Not Taken - enotes.com

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