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" The degree of importance ascribed to such a decision transcends a mere walk in the woods, and refers to a decision that changes one's life and which one desires to have reconsidered.
Readers can also infer that this work is literally about life's regrets due to the amount of importance which Frost attributes to the decision that the traveler makes. Literally, of course, the traveler is considering which road to take. Figuratively, however, this decision represents an important life altering choice. As such, it is not a decision that the traveler rushes into precipitously, which the following quotation, in which he analyzes the pair of paths, proves. "…long I stood / And looked down one as far as I could / To where it bent in the undergrowth; / Then took the other…" (Frost.) This passage indicates that author utilizes a copious amount of time in forming this decision. He describes the time it takes him to decide which path to embark upon as "long." Moreover, it is important to realize that while he is considering which path to take, he is actually visually scanning them as he "looked down one." Literally, such time spent looking at a path involves scanning a road; figuratively, this part of the poem translates into the traveler considering various points of a certain course of action about which he or she is attempting to decide. Were this poem merely about someone deciding which path to take, such a person would not have to spend so much time considering which way to take. Also, such a decision would not lead to the degree of sadness, sighs, and consideration of this decision for a long time. It is quite clear that the poem figuratively represents someone choosing between a life altering decision and eventually regretting that choice.
It is interesting to see how the imagery in this poem correlates to the aforementioned figurative interpretation of it. Again, the author's diction plays a valuable role in analyzing this imagery. The paths are described as those that...
This sort of diction conjures imagery of paths that are wild and untamed -- much like life is. There are no wrong or right answers in life. The fact that there are green leaves, which had yet to be trampled by any other travelers creates images of the raw elements of nature, untamed with no safe answers or means of passage. This interpretation is consistent with the belief that Frost viewed "nature as an antagonist" (Liebman 417). Such are the choices we experience in life -- they are all a gamble, and there is little way of telling whether or not they will be fruitful. The imagery Frost uses, therefore, adheres to the interpretation that the paths actually represent the figurative roads that one traverses in life.
In conclusion, it seems fairly apparent that Frost's poem functions on two basic levels: the literal and figurative. Literally, the narrator is deciding which path to walk upon. Literally, this path is a metaphor for the decisions one must make in life. An examination of the diction, imagery, and use of metaphor indicates that the narrator also laments the fact that he cannot take both paths he sees. Figuratively, of course, this sort of lamenting is symbolic of the regret that people feel about their decisions in their lives. Frost's preoccupation with such a commonality to everyone's life is one of the reasons he is regarded as "Among major poets of the English language" (Paton 72).
Works Cited
Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." www.poetryfoundation.org. 1916. Web. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173536
Liebman, Sheldon. "Robert Frost, Romantic." Twentieth Century Literature. 42(4), 417-437. 1996. Print.
Paton, Priscilla. "Apologizing for Robert Frost." South Atlantic Review. 63(1), 72-89. 1998. Print.
Phillips, Siobhan. "The Daily Living of Robert Frost." PMLA. 123(3), 598-613. 2008. Print.
Works Cited
Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." www.poetryfoundation.org. 1916. Web. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173536
Liebman, Sheldon. "Robert Frost, Romantic." Twentieth Century Literature. 42(4), 417-437. 1996. Print.
Paton, Priscilla. "Apologizing for Robert Frost." South Atlantic Review. 63(1), 72-89. 1998. Print.
Phillips, Siobhan. "The Daily Living of Robert Frost." PMLA. 123(3), 598-613. 2008. Print.
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Frost's poem mirrors the Biblical Fall story. The narrator explicitly states that he "let it fall and break," just as Eve let herself break down and eat from the tree of forbidden fruit (line 13). The narrator also notes, "But I was well / Upon my way to sleep before it fell," (line 15). He had already begun to lose consciousness, to succumb to desire and dreaming. Thus the
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