Literary Analysis: Road Not Taken
The literal theme of Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken is of getting lost in the woods; the symbolic theme that many readers have associated with the poem is that striking out on ones own is what leads one to destiny. However, as Larry Finger points out, the poem was never meant to be symbolic: Frost was rather having gentle fun with a friend of his who tended to leave the beaten path when walking in the woods only to become lost. For Frost, it was a simple, fun, literal little poem about a friend. Yet for readers it took on a significance of its own, as they saw in it a grand theme about Fate, adventure, and individuality (Finger).
The first line of the poem sets the stage: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood (Frost 1). The setting is obvious if taken literally: it is a path through a wood in the season of autumnthe color yellow indicating that the leaves have turned color. It is the perfect time for a stroll, for who does not like to walk during fall to see the leaves as they change color? The fact that leaves have indeed fallen, as indicated in line 12leaves no step had trodden blackconfirms as much.
But it is the second line of the poem that fills it with allegory for many readers: And sorry I could not travel both (Frost 2)it indicates that one is at a sort of crossroadsa pivotal point in lifes grand journey, whereat one must make a decision about which way to go forward. For anyone coming of age, it is an all too familiar feeling: that sense of fate, destiny, awaiting one out there somewhere, and everything depending upon the steps that one decides to take at this very moment. Such is the symbolic reading of these lines for some readers.
Yet, a literal interpretation changes nothing of the scene or setting: the walker in the wood has come to a fork, and because he enjoys these walks he would like very much to take both pathsbut one...
…narrator quite literally has done.Still, readers like to celebrate the final lines of the poem, skipping over the literal meaning implicit in lines 16 and 17. The see in the final lines of the stanza a celebration of their initial idealismof choosing the lesser worn path and striking out on ones own: the final words confirm their hopeful spirit: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I /
I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference (Frost 18-20). In these lines, the reader who sees it all as an allegory finds confirmation that by striking out on ones own it will indeed make all the difference.
Thus, there are two ways to read Frosts Road Not Taken, but judging from the actual lines and tone, the allegorical reading of the poem is inaccurate. According to the author himself, it was meant to be a literal poembut that does not mean he was displeased that others viewed it allegorically (Finger). On the contrary, Frost himself was delighted that readers read something into it that he…
Works Cited
Finger, Larry. "Frost's Reading of" The Road Not Taken"." The Robert Frost Review 7 (1997): 73-76.
Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken
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