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Orson Scott Card's 'The Road Not Taken'

Decent Essays

Orson Scott Card, an American novelist, once said, “A character is what he does, yes-but even more, a character is what he means to do.” This quote is impactful because the character in a story is given its character traits by the personality, actions, and intentions that are shown throughout the development of a story. With this being said, the choices, actions, and intentions that one has and shows, impacts others and reveals the type of person that one really is. The intentions that one has sets up someone for recognizing who that person really is. The intentions that one has, shows the feelings or emotions that one has towards the event that is happening or happened. For example, in Source B, Delaney dived for two boys that were sinking below the surface. Folks along the bank waited for …show more content…

One will always try to make themselves look good just to brag on themselves and make others feel disappointed. In “The Road Not Taken,” the speaker says that when he retells the story to others of that event, he will say that he took the road that was less traveled on. The last stanza states, “I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by…” This demonstrates that he wants to modify his decision to make himself seem as a risk-taker, and one can conclude that he is a presume person. Critics would argue that one’s decisions do not affect the person one really is. For instance, Source B illustrates Delaney as a failure because he did not save the kids. However, if one switches the point of view, one can see Delaney as a brave and heroic person because without knowing how to swim, he had the courage to go in and try rescuing the boys, and Delaney had already saved one kid, LeMarkits. As one can see, the choices or decisions one makes can make others judge someone in a positive or negative

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