The literal meaning of this poem is about a traveler who is walking on a road and at that point of the poem, the road splits into two paths. The Road Not Taken is a poem about the other road. The other road is a road which the traveler did not take. There is something about the other road that causes the traveler to sigh in remembrance of not taking it. On a deeper level, the poem describes a dilemma or a no-win situation. The poem explores about feelings of curiosity and regret associated with making a decision. And this poem symbolizes that life is about choices. The Road Not Taken is a simple-look poem yet has a lot of valuable messages. Be honest with ourselves, learn from our past decisions and live with the choices we make in our life are Robert Frost’s messages from his poem The Road Not Taken.
The poem shows us that we need to be honest with ourselves. As we can understand in the fourth stanza line 3-5, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference”. The traveler is trying to convince himself that he took the right road. However, the fact that the traveler is still thinking about the other road is an indication that he will forever have a doubt. We can’t deny that we are not always honest with ourselves. Especially when taking a decision. Sometimes we think that following the others is the best choice. Whereas deep inside our heart, we have an opinion that the other choice or the decision which the one less choose is the right option. Or it can be the opposite of it. In this case, we need to be honest with ourselves to prevent us from doubting our option. In addition, we shouldn’t act as it is for some grand reason. For example, we have to choose between study and friendship. We act and choose friendship because if we choose study, we will lose our friends. But in our mind, study is the most important thing because our future depends on our study. By acting like that, we have already lied to ourselves. And we will forever have a doubt.
Frost encourages us to learn from our past decisions. From his poem in the third stanza line 4-5, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back”. And the fourth stanza line 5, “And that has made all the difference.”. As we can understand, the traveler cannot take the other path as it is in the past, but he can reflect on the 'difference' it has made to his life. And we can understand that the poem shows us how to learn from our past decisions is by reflecting on the difference our decision had made to our life. And difference is not a problem because the difference itself is the key of our lesson of life.
To live with the choices we make in our life is the last step when facing a controversial choice in our life. “Then took the other, as just as fair, 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,” in the second stanza, we can tell that The traveler selects the road that appears at first glance to be less worn and therefore less traveled. This selection suggests that he has an independent spirit and does not wish to follow the crowd. After a moment, he concludes that both roads are about equally worn. So, be different is not a matter. If we had already choose a decision, don’t regret it. Accept your decision just the way it is by throwing any ‘what if’ questions. We all have moments when we look back and wish we had made a different decision, and wonder where we would be if we had done so. Just ignore it and live with our present life.
In conclusion, we can say that many people have the idea that The Road Not Taken is a nice poem about being different and taking the road that no one else takes. But actually it’s more than that, because the poem contains a very meaningful message. The message which the poem want to convey is that when we all someday or the other gets a situation where we have to take a decision, we should always thought for it before choosing the path. Don’t forget to believe in yourself and we should choose a correct path. And if we had already choose our path, don’t look back and live with it.
By Illona Sahara
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