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The Road Not Taken Comparison Essay

Decent Essays

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 …show more content…

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

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