Finding the Right Path
How does one make the right decision when faced with a dilemma in life? People may do their due diligence in gathering all the necessary information before making a decision, yet there is always some uncertainty about the outcome of their decision. Whether big or small, these choices can heavily influence the course of people’s lives. The poem “Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is about a traveler who is undecided between two paths they can possibly take. As they try to look further down the paths, their view is hidden, and they are forced to make a choice. In the end, their choice is filled with risk and uncertainty, having a significant potential impact on their future. The author uses symbolism, imagery, and extended metaphor throughout the poem in order to convey the message that although the outcome of every possible path people may take is unforeseeable, these decisions will greatly shape their future.
In the poem, the author uses metaphors to show the unpredictability of a choice, and the effect that the choice will have on the rest of one’s life. The poem compares a journey through the forest with one’s journey through life. Throughout the poem, this metaphor represents the difficulty when choosing between two choices and the huge impact that it has on their life. This is shown as the traveler expresses how they want to travel both paths, and even attempts to look “down one as far as [they] could / To where it bent in the undergrowth.” The metaphor portrays how the individual uses their utmost efforts in order to predict the outcome of either choice as far into the future as possible in order to make the best decision. However, the destination is inevitably hidden by the undergrowth, making it even harder for them to make the best choice. In this case, the different paths represent the many choices in life, and the undergrowth is used to show the uncertainty individuals are confronted with when making these decisions. However, in the end, the traveler reaches their destination, a metaphor for their destiny in life, further showing how their choices to reach there “has made all the difference.” Thus, by using an extended metaphor, Robert Frost conveys how making a decision in life can be burdensome and unpredictable, but the reward of making a satisfactory decision will prove to make the biggest difference.
Frost uses instances of symbolism in order to portray the difficulty in making decisions in life, while highlighting the uncertainty about their outcome. The journey through the forest symbolizes the journey through life. In the beginning of the poem, the author uses “[t]wo roads diverged in a yellow wood” in order to symbolize the struggle between two choices in life. When the traveler has trouble between taking the two paths set out in front of them, it is as if they are faced with the challenges people face when undecided between two choices in life. Additionally, the yellow wood, which refers to a forest in the poem, usually symbolizes the unknown and the unexplored. The fact that the traveler is choosing a path in the forest shows the uncertainty that people will face when making these choices as their decisions involve many unknown and unexplored variables that make the outcome unforeseeable. There are many occasions in life where people will be forced to make a decision, and it is of the utmost importance to make the right one as the outcome can hold an impact on the rest of their future.
The author uses different types of imagery to show how making decisions can be an intricate matter, and the possible outcomes can heavily influence one’s life. Visual imagery is used to describe the path as one that “was grassy and wanted wear.” This portrays the inviting nature of the path as it is fresh and not trodden by many others. However, when the traveler chooses this path, it is obscured, showing how the decisions made can hold possibilities that one would not have known previously. Near the end of the poem, Frost uses auditory imagery where he claims “I shall be telling this with a sigh.” When people sigh, it is usually used to release a heavy or burdened feeling in one’s chest. This auditory description of the traveler’s regret can further show the troubled emotions and feelings that can come with making difficult decisions, proving the importance they hold in life. The use of imagery in this poem helps the reader vividly visualize the complexities in decision making and the impact that decisions can have on a person’s future.
The use of metaphors, symbolism and imagery has shown how there will be many times that an individual is faced with making hard decisions, and these decisions can influence the course of their life. The traveler seems to ponder a bit between the two paths, but eventually chooses one, deeply altering their future. Making decisions is not a simple matter, and many times the huge choices that people are faced with can be daunting and unpredictable. Despite these inevitable worries, it is important to acknowledge how the biggest challenges and decisions people have to face will have the potential to be the most rewarding, or turn out to be one’s biggest regret in life.