Literary Analysis: "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

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This poem, The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, reveals a lot about life. Robert Frost used a technique of using metaphorical words to write the message he wants the reader to understand in a formal writing style. You could already see that with the first line he wrote.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry, I could not travel both"

He used the word 'road' to describe life. He used the term 'two roads diverged' which means that life will always have choices to present for us to decide on which road to take. As for color, Robert Frost describes the forest as a "yellow wood." And I think that the forest could be the setting and yellow can be considered a middle color, something in between and unsure of itself.

The persona is a traveler talking to himself or to herself, which means that there is no addressee cause he or she was just reflecting with the decisions he or she made through his or her journey. This poem introduced a dilemma that showed that the persona is caught up in two minds. Confused about which road to take. Judging which road is better to choose. Therefore, the tone is meditative cause he is trying to weigh which road could have a better outcome? These parts of the text support my judgment.

"And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,"

Those parts of the text showed the descriptions of each road. One bends under the undergrowth, and the other is just as fair. Which indicates to the reader that, when making a life altering decision, it is impossible to see where that decision will lead. At the moment of decision-making, both roads present themselves equally,  and whatever road you take is like a game of chance. While the theme was like it was summarized in the last stanza of the poem.

"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,
And that has made all the difference."

This means that it is often impossible to see where a life-changing decision will lead. We often regret and sigh not taking a different path. It is normal to wonder what the outcome would have been if we took the road not taken or the road we didn't choose. It is impossible to say whether taking the other road would have been better or worse, but one thing is for sure, it would have been different.

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