Contrary to popular belief, the passionate optimism of Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience directly contradicts the cynical view found in Robert Frost’s “Road Not Taken”. On the surface, Thoreau and Frost have similar viewpoints, and their works are complementary. However, although “The Road Not Taken” is often believed to be a celebration of thoughtful individualism, Frost actually intended it as a mockery of indecision and boastful retrospection. Thoreau and Frost assert contradictory outlooks, which they personally practice, leading to works of literature which explore the opposite worldviews of the two authors.
“The Road Not Taken” seems on the surface to applaud casual individuality, but the infamous last two lines have been quoted in congratulatory cards and at graduation speeches for almost one hundred years: “I took the road less traveled, / and that has made all the difference” Four stanzas long, the poem
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Thoreau believes deeply that one person can make a big difference in one’s own life and, in extension, the world: “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Frost seems to believe that one person cannot even make a big difference in his own life. In “The Road Not Taken” the speaker is almost able to convince himself, at a later date, that he truly does take the road less traveled. His own self-disillusionment and self importance leads the speaker to feel more in control of his life. While Thoreau is actually able to make a significant difference in his life and the way he perceives the world, Frost’s character cannot. Instead, the speaker in “The Road Not Taken” tries to convince himself that he is in control of his life by repeating the idea that he took the road less traveled in the
Just as Conrad conveys the creation of one’s own path subconsciously in Marlow, the poem “Road not taken” by Robert Frost explores this idea, represented my literal paths and an alternate, unspoken third path. The metaphor of the physical journey shows the moral growth in the protagonist. The poem is written in first person, giving it a very personal and reflective tone, expressing a pivotal moment in the persona’s life. The use of andante, the flowing rhythm establishes a conversational tone. The rhyme scheme is simple and effective throughout the poem, however, it changes in the final stanza. By implementing a new scheme here, the final thought of reflection is emphasized. The "less traveled" road is symbolic of the gamble of choosing a more individual path in life, the protagonist’s own road. This can be compared to the quote by Antonio Machado, “Travelers, there is no path, paths are made by walking.” This quote exemplifies the fact that walking the path is more important than
Robert Frost went from an unstable farmer aspiring to be a poet to a celebrated American poet and four-time Pulitzer Prize winner. In his poem “The Road Not Taken”, he writes about the hard choices that people have to make in their lives. Robert uses extended metaphors and symbolism to show the uncertainty and psychological chaos people feel while making hard choices.
In “The Road Not Taken” the speaker express remorse for the path he has taken, and reflects on the path he wish he went down. The narrator of the poem regrets taking the road-less taken, wishing he had made a different choice. The other Wes Moore when in prison reflects on the many choices he wishes
Life is difficult because no one can be sure if the choice they make will actually lead the outcome they wished for. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, one of the most recognizable poems in American literature, speaks to choices people face in their life. The speaker has to make a right choice for him, that will lead to the outcome of being what he really wants to be. "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost uses symbolism, imagery, personification, and metaphor, to explain its theme that choices made by the one's strong wish of what one really wants to be, will ultimately lead to the desired outcome.
In “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost leaves a major theme of making choices. The poem is about a man traveling and he comes across a fork-in-the-road. He must make a decision on which way he will keep traveling. One way seems familiar to him. It is by far the safer and easier route to go down. But that does come with a price. The road has been used a lot and may be more difficult to travel down even though it seems easier. He ends up choosing the road less traveled. It did not seem as convenient at the time but he states that it helped him in the long run. Not only does “The Road Not Taken,” have a theme about choices, but it also holds a theme about choosing the road less taken. Taking chances and choosing the road less traveled can have many benefits in the long run.
In the poem, "The Road Not Taken" and the lyrics, "The Road Less Traveled" Frost and Alaina present the main idea, what is similar in both texts and what is different in the texts from each other. The main idea in the poem by Frost and the lyrics by Alaina is to try both paths, one might take you farther. They are both similar because each person is taking a different path than others. They are both different from each other because the poem is about traveling but doubting going back. The lyrics are talking about stepping out of the comfort zone and sometimes change can be good.
During class, we discussed Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. At face value, the story seems as simple as choosing a walking path. In reality it is a metaphor for all the choices we make in life and find ourselves justifying later as the best
After a death roll inmate finishes his last meal, five officers take him to the scary,slight execution chamber near the inmate’s cell. He is strapped down within fifteen seconds, and he says his last words before he is injected to die. His family and the victim’s family watch him die “instantly” as it should be, yet it has been over six minutes since he was injected. Then, he starts to thrash against the gurney and his heart finally stops. Death penalty is killing hundreds of people due to people’sheinous actions. Today, lethal injection is one of the most popular methods that death penalty is killing people in America. However, death penalty does not deter crime since there are always new inmates. Offenders on death roll should deserve to pay consequences without unusual punishment like the Constitution says. Killing the murderer does not make a difference because the family’s victims will not get their deceased family member back. We all know that there is crime every day, so why kill the inmates when they can pay their consequences in a prison guarded by correctional officers? People who support capital punishment want revenge not justice. Death penalty should be abolished because it is extremely expensive, it is inhumane, and it is killing innocent victims.
Propaganda was used throughout the first world war to ensure that citizens knew only what their governments them to know. The Canadian government would often spread biased or sometimes even untrue information to influence the way people thought and acted. Propaganda had an affect on many aspects of the war, including the public opinion, charity/donations to the war effort, and recruitment. All of these aspects would prove to be essential in Canada’s war effort, which meant that propaganda was an integral part of the war for Canada.
Somewhere during your middle school or possibly even high school course you heard one of your literature teachers proclaim with a robust attitude, “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- / I took the one less traveled by, / and that has made all the difference” (Frost 1132). These iconic lines are ones that we have all grown up hearing when faced with a tough decision, yet few people have taken the chance to look even deeper into the grandeur that is Frost’s poetry. By his use of imagery, rhyme sequence, and other literary elements, Frost has managed to make this iconic poem relatable to each and every person with its rich philosophical
The poem “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost describes the dilemma in decision making, generally in life each individual has countless decisions to make and those decisions lead to new challenges, dilemmas and opportunities. In Frost’s poem, the careful traveler observes the differences of each path, one is bent and covered in undergrowth (Frost 5) and the other is grassy and unworn (Frost 8). In the end he knows he can only choose one of the paths, after much mental debate he picks the road less traveled and is well aware that he will likely never return to experience the other. By examining Frost 's "The Road Not Taken," we get a deeper understanding of
In the Robert Frost poem ‘’The Road Not Taken’’ there is a pervasive and in many ways intrinsic sense of journey throughout. In such, the poem explores an aspect associated with human decision, or indecision, relative to the oxymoron, that choices with the least the difference should bear the most indifference, but realistically, carry the most difficulty. This is conveyed through the use of several pivotal techniques. Where the first such instance is the use of an extended metaphor, where the poem as a whole becomes a literary embodiment of something more, the journey of life. The second technique used is the writing style of first person. Where in using this, the reader can depict a clear train of thought from the walker and understand
Robert Frost's poem “The Road Not Taken” describes a traveler faced with a choice of which one of two roads to travel. He knows not where either road might lead. In order to continue on his journey, he can pick only one road. He scrutinizes both roads for the possibilities of where they may take him in his travels. Frost's traveler realizes that regret is inevitable. Regardless of his choice, he knows that he will miss the experiences he might have encountered on the road not taken.
The analysis of “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost has been up for debate since the poem release in 1916. It is known to be one of the most frequently misinterpreted poems of all time, and even Robert Frost himself has said the poem is “tricky” to comprehend (The). When analyzing this poem many readers tend to focus only on the last lines of the poem and get caught in a trap of selective-interpretation. Quite a few people after reading Robert Frost’s poem firmly conclude that this poem is about non-conformity and individualism, however, that is not the case. Robert Frost’s poem is meant to be analyzed line by line for a complete interpretation. Readers can conclude that the poem represents making choices in life, but that is not the
“The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost, is probably the most recognized poem in American culture. Anyone who has graduated from middle school at least recognizes the words found in the poem’s final stanza about the road less traveled and the difference it has made (Frost 20), to which the poem’s perceived themes of individual empowerment, and “follow your heart” decision-making, is attributed. This considered, it’s no surprise that I was considerably shocked to discover, upon inspection of the entire poem, that “The Road Not Taken” is not at all what I thought, but is in fact self-contradictory, and thereby a criticism of the nature of human beings.