Symbolism of the Journey

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A Life’s Journey: Symbolism of the Journey Amber M. Cavin ENG125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Trillium Sara Hinton June 11, 2012 “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost Life is full of choices, a journey if you will. Robert Frost speaks ever so eloquently of choices and journeys of life in his poem, “A Road Not Yet Taken” and Jean Rhys in her short story, “I Used to Live Here Once.” Although two different styles of writings from two different writers, we find many comparisons. Frost expresses his journey of life and choices through poetry to us as the reader where Rhys offers us a journey of the character’s story of her journey through a short story. With the use of metaphors and symbolism, these two pieces of literature written by two different authors represent a journey of life and choices, something many people can relate to and therefore they remember and hold onto those words. While both are captivating in similar ways, it is the differences that that allow the reader to fall in love with each one separately. It is these differences and similarities that make short stories or poems favorites of readers. It is the purpose of this paper to show the differences and similarities between these two amazing authors and their works. “When used in literature, persona refers to the person who is the narrator in a story or the speaker in a poem” (Clugston, 2010). In Frost’s “The Road Not Yet Taken”, his persona is that of a person with a tale of a life journey through a metaphoric “wood”. On two roads we imagine this person coming to a crossing; “Two roads diverged in yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both” (Clugston, 2010). This is our first insight as a reader to the choice that this persona must make. It is said that this poem written by Frost was
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