Analysis Of The Path Not Traveled

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On “The Road Not Taken” It is not uncommon for a work to be misinterpreted or misunderstood from the author's true intentions. One of the best examples is Robert Frost's poem, “The Road Not Taken.” For as long as it has been read, “The Road Not Taken” has been interpreted as a important defense of individualism and as a justification of the idea of 'nonconformity.' The most commonly held interpretation of “The Road Not Taken” is a story of a man traveling in the woods. He comes across a fork in the path and after seeing that one of the paths is well worn by other travelers, decides to take the path less traveled. The last two lines, “I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference“ (lines 19-20), are seen as proof that he is well rewarded for his individualism. The reality, however, is upon closer examination, Robert Frost's true intentions could not be further from the commonly held interpretation. In writing this poem, Frost aims to provide a commentary on human nature, and show that people typically waste time thinking about what are ultimately unimportant decisions. Firstly, the name of the poem,”The Road Not Taken”, places the main emphasis on the road that the narrator does not travel on, and the structure is as follows: four five-line stanzas with the rhyme structure, ABAAB. The setting of the poem is a “yellow wood”(1) and there is mention of leaves on the ground in third stanza, so it is the season of autumn and metaphorically speaking, close to the end of the man's life. In the first stanza, three of the five lines begin with the word “and”, and words such as “doubt” “sigh”, and “sorry” are commonplace throughout, so it is assumed that the narrator is nervous and indecisive by nature. Throughout the poem, Frost uses the fork in the road as a metaphor for decision making. For example, the narrator says, “long I stood, and

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