The Road Not Taken Poem Essay

Poem Essay

Jimmy Doyle

Liberty University

APA

Thesis Statement: With all of the decisions one makes in life, which one is right? Are there some roads one should take and others not? Does everyone have a road not taken?

1. Theme

1. What is the theme of the poem?

1. Is the theme light-hearted or somber?
2. Does the theme tell a story?

1. Does the reader understand the theme?

1. Reader relating to theme
2. Is there any symbolism in the theme?

1. Character

1. Who is the main character?
2. How does the main character affect the theme of the poem?

The Road Not Taken

The theme of the poem is one of potential regret and missed opportunities. Robert Frosts' "The Road Not Taken" is a somber one looking at what could have been. In this poem there are no literal moments involved however he uses roads to describe choices he could probably could not have made. Frost tells the readers this by not giving specific information about the choice, just that there is a choice to be made. The decision may not be the right decision at that moment but he allows the decision to go back to the first choice at the forefront of his mind. Frost uses descriptive words like worn down and grassy roads to describe decisions. The decisions depicted in this poem were one of regret and hope. Any time a road is used when describing something it will normally indicate a journey or an expedition.

This poem describes both roads, or choices as pretty dismal choices. He describes the choices using words like wanting wear, undergrowth, trodden black and grassy. It sets the tone of the poem as a quite somber one. Frost describes the traveler having two roads but both roads seem pretty dismal. In the conclusion of the poem the traveler is telling the story with a sigh which shows that there might be a former of tiredness, exhaustion or even regret by making the wrong choice. Before that, the traveler describes wanting to go back to the "road not taken" however he does not think he will have the time. The title of this poem, the road not taken is so fitting because it encapsulates the entire message of the poem and that is what was the road not taken? What could have been? And did he make the right choice? The traveler is so perplexed at the idea of the road he did not take. In this poem the traveler is established as the narrator and a puzzled one at that.

Frost uses Traveler's words to describe not only to describe how the traveler is feeling but he uses him to describe what I would call a life altering moment for the traveler. Most people do not describe roads taken or not taken as light-hearted moments. When there is this much thought and description about a specific thought process, one would think that the traveler is deciding between life altering decisions. The traveler talks about taking the road that was less traveled by and how that has made all the difference. That sounds like a pretty big decision. There might be some regret that comes with the decision the traveler made, or maybe there could be a sense of wonder. Asking himself the question of what could have been.

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