An Analysis of Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken Essay -- Road Not Tak

An Analysis of Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken In "The Road Not Taken," by Robert Frost, many questions arose about the meaning of the poem. One common interpretation of the poem about assertion of individualism, where the speaker is taking the road not traveled so that he can assert his individualism, is a nice interpretation. However, I believe that the speaker is really having a hard time making up his mind, and the poem is a conversation with himself trying to rationalize his decision. It seems as if both ways might lead to great occurrences, but only one way is the right way. There are four points in the poem that stick out where the speaker is either vague and unclear or contradictory in evaluating his choices. The first is in the first stanza where it says "And sorry I could not travel both"(2). The second point is contradictory and between lines seven through ten particularly, where the speaker is musing over which path to take. Another particularly interesting point is in line thirteen where it says, "Oh, I kept the first for another day!" And the final point to look at is in line sixteen where Frost writes the vague word "sigh," with no further explanation as to its connotation. "And sorry I could not travel both" (2). This seems to be a no-brainer observation, but also one that many struggle with. The choices that are made in day-to-day lives are ones that will stick with that person forever, and many times it can be frustrating not to at least explore what the other choice could have had in store. There are limitations to being human and finite, and one of those is the inability to look in the future and know what is the best possible decision will be. It is important to look at all possible outcome... ...as a happy and reflective sigh, as if to indicate satisfaction in the decision he made. Either way could completely change the tone of the poem, depending on the meaning of the simple word sigh. To eliminate the controversy hear, it could be important to think of a sigh as an audible release of breath, or as a contemplative sigh, as if Frost were simply thinking of the past. Frost is a brilliant poet who allows the reader to sink into the poetry so that the reader has an opportunity to view the poetry in his or her particular way. It is interesting to note some of the potentially confusing or sticking points in the poem that can cause some individual reflection. This allows the reader to have their own special connection to the poem, because a poem can conjure up many different thoughts in many different people. Frost was a poet who had that great ability.