“And that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost explains in his poem The Road Not Taken, the direction we do not choose in our life is the road not taken and that will make all the difference in our destination. Robert Frost explains his thoughts about the option he had left in the past. Robert Frost reflects on his decision to take the less traveled road of life after a great deal of deliberation and questioning. The path we have chosen will determine our success, our goal. Even though no matter the choice one may make, Robert Frost exclaims that the decision we make has an impact on our future, and if we make a wrong choice it seems we are sorry but can’t go back to it. And, when making choices, we have to be smart.
In the beginning of the poem, there were two different routes, when the poet walked down the route and then there was a turn, and he had to pick one out of them. The poet says he could only travel on one road because he was one person. He wished he could “travel both routes”, but at the same time he knew that traveling through both were impossible. The words “yellow woods” expresses that this poem takes place in autumn. He had to choose one of the two routes. The poet’s attitude seems adequately reminiscent and slightly regretful regarding the path he has chosen. Robert Frost presents the issue of having to make a choice were both results seem good, “and sorry I could not travel both.”
Then, for a long time, the poet kept looking at one path to evaluate whether it was the right path for him or not, until he decided and started walking on another route because he thought all paths were equally effective. He states just as equally, and he thought both routes were just as successful and began walking on one of them. He adds that perhaps he thought the road was safer for him, and he picked it because it had grass on it, that means it was empty. Not many people walked previously on this path, so this road was grassy. ‘And wanted wear’ means a lot of people didn’t walk it over. He found that both routes had been worn out in the same direction after traveling on the road for some time. All roads have been familiar and worn down. He then contradicts his own judgment by stating, “ Though as for that the passing there/had worn them really about the same.”
The poet states that same morning the two directions are identical. Both had leaves on them and as they were both green in color, no one had walked on them. Robert Frost states that he was the first to pass there that day and he could tell no one else had walked on the leaves that had fallen. . He agreed that he would follow one route that day and save the other direction for another day, even though he figured one way would lead to another. He knew he was unable to return to the choice he had decided to make. Likewise, even in our lives, once we have selected an alternative, we need to keep moving forward with that choice and don’t get a chance to come back and take the other alternative we left earlier.
He says he will take a deep breath in the future and say that every once in a while that he would hit such a stage in life that there were two choices for him and so he would travel on the path followed by fewer people. That was his decision to decide his future. Additionally, in the future, while you’re growing up, you’ll say that you have had two options once, when you’re young. The option you made has made you what you have become.
Robert Frost’s thoughts are valid because once we take the road we chose there is no going back. Even in our life, we take any path or option but all of them have the same benefits, disadvantages, problems, challenges and we must face them. We think that we are choosing a better option, but it is not that way.
