The Choices We Make: Examining “A Road Not Taken”

Aaron J. George

31 July 2011

English 102

OUTLINE

I. Thesis Statement on A Road Not Taken

A. Regret or satisfaction

B. Choice and consequence

II. Theory about the meaning behind the poem

A. Second stanza

B. Traveler and his options

III. The setting of the poem

A. Emotions experienced

B. Unknown future

IV. The title and its interpretation

A. Simple or complex title

B. Ulterior meanings of the title

V. Making the choice

A. Living with the choice you made

B. Having the guts to choose

The Road Not Taken is a simple, yet contrastingly complex, meaningful poem about a simple walk on an unsure road in the woods, which leads to places only the traveler will know as the choice unfolds. This is a poem told by the narrator, but based on the readers’ outlook on life. At first glance, Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, is about a walk on a leaf-littered road in the fall woods, but it has a more significant meaning of how it feels to live with life’s certainty, uncertainty. The poem is celebrated as one of Frost’s masterpieces, created with a unique style, ironically, forcing the reader to make a choice as well, on the opinions created from each readers unique perspective. In the end, a sigh by the lone traveler could mean regret or it could mean satisfaction, which is up to the reader to define. The Road Not Taken has memorized readers for almost a century forcing people to think about the choices in life, not unlike the protagonist facing his own simple choice and the consequences that follow him for the remainder of his life.

Regret and hindsight are one possible theme to the poem”A Road Not Taken”. The uncertainty of life and what the future holds is yet another. This poem has been debated for years about what Robert Frost meant by one his best works. It is important to note that after reviewing many opinions about the poem on Yahoo, Sparknotes and Enotes, the same theories abound. Most feel the poem infers that life is not easy, but if you work hard, then good things will happen for you. In my opinion, this stance is incorrect. When read carefully, the second stanza states that both roads are worn the same and that neither appear to have been traveled in some time, due to the leaf litter covering each road, which when disturbed, will turn over the decomposing leaves to expose a “trodden black step” as described by the author. Therefore, Frost is actually stating that there is seldom a clear choice, only a choice granted by the wisdom of previous life experience.

The setting in this poem is a literal setting, placing the protagonist in a “yellow wood” among two roads from which a decision must be made.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both

It seems to put a melancholy mood into the mind of the lone traveler, for his choice will render an outcome that he cannot foresee. It poses a tough choice, with a sense of apprehension and frustration because he does not know what either road has in store. There is regret in the travelers’ mind even before the choice is ever made. He takes solace in the knowledge that it is impossible to venture down both roads. Cautiously considering his options as he examines each road in detail, the man ponders where each path might lead. The poem uses the latter as a symbol of the unknown future. Both roads will take unknown twists and turns and though the traveler still looks ahead into the distance with consternation, he must still formulate an, at-best, educated guess based on life’s previous choices:

And be one traveler, long I stood. And looked down one as far as I could

The setting represents choices in life, as well as the consequences of some of those choices. It shows that a setting seemingly as simple as the fall woods is not only complex on several levels, but is scattered with the aftermath of the choices we make throughout our lives. On first glance, the title is self explanatory, just a straightforward title about a road that is not taken. The title, if you are paying attention, is used to foreshadow the poem itself. Is it regret? Some readers feel this way. The last stanza seems to be the most critical in the argument for pro-regret readers, due to the fact that the title itself is regretful. The title could read”The Road Less Traveled”, but the author chose to imply regret by the title “The Road Not Taken”, meaning that one is sometimes forced to chose, whether they want to or not. This does have an impact on the view of the optimists out there, because he seems to have wanted a different choice as he tells his future self a version of the story and how it might be told, as written in the last stanza:

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence

Is it optimism? In one way, it is optimistic because he gets to choose the framework surrounding the choice he is forced to make, after all, one cannot choose both roads. In my opinion, the author is simply expressing his love of life and sense of adventure in an optimistic fashion. Most likely, he wanted to explore both roads and see what each had to offer, but life does not usually afford this luxury. By fruitlessly examining each road to no known outcome, the traveler is still forced to decide on one road or the other. One road is twisting at the end of his line of sight, foreshadowing rough times ahead, as described by the underbrush. The other road is straight and seems to travel easily through the woodland setting, symbolizing an easy journey not requiring much thought. If you are afforded a choice and choose to make one, then it is what you make of it and nothing more, nothing less. There are seldom choices that lend themselves more than once, and the agony of regret is better than having made no choice at all.