"The Road Not Taken" Everyone is a traveler, choosing the roads to
follow on the map of the continuous journey of life. There is never a straight
path that leaves someone with a single direction to head. Regardless of the
message that Robert Frost had intended to convey, his poem "The Road Not
Taken", has left many interpretations for his readers. It is one's past,
present, and his attitude with which he looks upon his future. In any case
however, this poem clearly demonstrates Frost's belief that it is the road that
one chooses that makes him the man who he is. It is always difficult to make a
decision because it is impossible to wander what opportunity lies at the other
end and what will be missed out on. The narrator and also the traveler
exemplifies this by saying "And sorry I could not travel both", in
line two of the poem. There is a strong sense of regret even before the choice
of the path was chosen. This shows that in one lifetime, it is impossible to
travel every path which you are confrunted with. In an attempt to make a
decision, the traveler "looks down one as far as I could" (stanza 1,
line 4). The road he chooses leads to the unknown, as does any choice in life.
As much as he strains his eyes to see how far the road stretches, eventually it
surpasses his vision, to the point where he can not see where the road will
lead. It is the way that he chooses here that sets him off on his journey. The
traveler "then took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better
claims" (stanza 2, line 1). What gave off the better claim is that "it
was grassy and wanted wear" (stanza 2, line3). Obviously he wanted the path
with less wear because the majority of the other people took the other path
therefore calling it "the one less traveled by" (stanza 3, line 4).
The fact the traveler selected this path over the more traveled one, indicates
the type of personality he has. It is one that likes to be a leader and not a
follower. This individual's personality is the type that likes to explore and
expand beyond it's limits. His experimenting personality noticed the leaves that
covered the ground. His decision was made on which path he would take when he
made the statement since the time they had fallen "no step had trodden
black" (stanza 2, line 7). Perhaps Frost does this because each time a
traveler comes to this point they have to make a decision, something new,
somewhere they have never been before. He expresses the desire to travel both
paths by saying "I kept the first for another day" (stanza 2, line 8).
However the speaker realizes his decision is a permanent choice, "knowing
how way leads on to way" (stanza 2, line 9). This is common sense now that
his choice will affect all of his other choices down the road in life. Once
again at the end of the poem the regret sets in, realizing at the end of his
life, "somewhere ages and ages hence" (stanza 3, line2) he changed the
path of his life, wandering what was down the other road, which he did not take.
However, he remains proud of his choices in life's decisions and realizes that
his choice made him who he actually turned out to be. The poem, "The Road
Not Taken", by Robert Frost has many valid meanings. Depending on the
reader of the poem it may be interpreted in a different way or even
misinterpreted at certain points throughout. He may have been trying to achieve
a universal understanding. In other words, there is simply a traveler who makes
a decision in his life that changed the direction of his life from what it may
have otherwise been.