"The Road Not Taken"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the tone and attitude of the narrator in Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken". It specifically examines the poet's sincerity about choices and whether or not Frost has given the reader the moral choice that so many glean from the poem or whether much of it is whimsy that has to do with impulsivity, rather than a man's close examination of choices.

From the Paper:

"To say that Robert Frost's well-known poem "The Road Not Taken" is about choice would be stating the obvious in a much too simplistic way. The true measure of Frost's words may very well be in how Frost views the process for making choices rather than the particular choice that is made. Further, the narrator seems to indicate that choices must be made even when the choice is not clear cut. An examination of the opening lines shows that the narrator is somewhat ambivalent about either road. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; The second line of the poem indicates that the narrator would, in fact, take both roads if he could. "

More papers on "The Road Not Taken":

• Book Review # 93447 : "Robert Frost and "The Road not Taken"
• Poem Review # 32187 : "Symbolism in "The Road Not Taken"
• Poem Review # 36996 : "The Road Not Taken" and Personal Vision"
• Poem Review # 88969 : "'The Road Not Taken' by Robert Frost"

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