The Road Not Taken
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The Road Not Taken
People face many decisions on a daily basis, some large and some small. These decisions have the potential to alter the course of ones life. The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost, is a beautiful example of what people face on a daily basis. Each decision that is made should be carefully thought out and the consequences that come with it should be understood. The poem uses symbolism and narration to display the difficult decisions people make in order to progress in life and how specific choices can alter the future for better or worse.
The Road Not Taken is about a choice made between two roads by a person walking in the woods. A symbol is something that means more than what it is. One symbol that Frost uses throughout the poem is roads. Now he does not actually mean the roads that we walk on, but more of the choices that we are faced with during life. Life choices can be difficult at times, but one must choose even if they do not know what the end result is. The poems first two stanzas describe a fork in the road and one of the options the traveler could take will ultimately be chosen. One of the roads is described as grassy which needed to be worn down. The other road was blocked by undergrowth, which did not allow the traveler the option to see into the future. Frost is trying to convey that at the time of the decision, either choice seemed like it could lead to success. Another symbol that Frost uses in the poem is a fork. He used the fork in the road to show throughout life you make decisions, and once you make those decisions you cannot go back. By placing the traveler on a journey in nature, it illustrates that the person was setting out to find something. That something the person was looking for was only down one of the paths that were available.
In addition to symbolism, The Road Not Taken has a clear meaning that everyone faces on a daily basis. Every person that is living must make decisions every day that they must live with for the entirety of their lives. When reading this poem, every reader can empathize with this decision: one must choose between two paths without having any knowledge of where either road will lead. When someone is faced with what path or decision to go with, it is hard to take the path “less traveled” compared to taking the path that is the preferred path. Sometimes in life, a person must take the path that is not traveled as often as the popular path. When doing this, you are making the decision to venture out onto a path that few people have traveled and while it is a risk, it is a risk that everyone will take in their lives. There is a deep meaning which lies on each and every person when they face a difficult decision. They can take the more popular route that most of society takes, or they can take perhaps an unfamiliar, less taken route. As a Christian there is another meaning that can be taken