The Road Not Taken

4 Pages 1039 Words

In Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken there are many things that can be interpreted several ways. This is my interpretation.
Frost begins the poem by describing two roads diverging in a yellow wood. The two roads represent a decision. Do you travel one journey or the other? The yellow wood to me means that it is getting towards the autumn of the day. Meaning that the decision can’t be put off much longer. He then describes being sorry he could not travel both. We often have decision that we would like to do both things or travel both roads. But in the next line Frost says being one traveler long I stood. One person can not be in two places or follow two paths. It is usually not clear which path we should follow or which decision is the correct one. Since the decision is not easy the traveler stands for a long time. We often think about our decisions for a long time, making sure it is the correct one. Because as the traveler knows we can not turn back. Once the path is taken, we are on it until the end. He looks down one as far as he can see until he is unable to see the path for its turns and bends. In life we can look ahead to the immediate results of our decisions but usually can not see very far. We do not know what lies ahead around that next curve or bend.
The traveler studies the second path as well, studying all possible decisions closely. The second path appears to be slightly less used. The path is grown up with grass and has not had as much wear as the other. Both paths appear appealing to him even though one is in better condition. He gives a little foreshadowing of his ultimate decisions by telling us that the second, grassier, path has the better claim. The second path upon his seeing it immediately has his eye. When he studies it more he says that really they are pretty much worn the same. When we make hard decisions we often jump back and forth between the choices at hand. We find good things and bad in all choi...