THE ROAD NOT TAKEN ESSAY

In the poem The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost, Road equals Life.

The speaker uses the metaphor of a 'road' to represent choices that a person makes in life, and how that person should feel about the choices they make. He chooses the "road less traveled," but really, both roads offer similar opportunities, which he explains as the stanzas go on.

In the 2nd stanza Frost writes, "I took the other, just as fair, and having perhaps the better claim, because it was grassy and wanted wear… it had worn them really about the same."  The quote tells us that after he chose his path, he thought that he had made the right choice by taking it, because it had 'less wear.' But he then realizes that by walking on it, it is just as worn as the other. I think he's saying that at the beginning of any life choice your options are open and equal.

In the 3rd stanza, Frost describes how both paths look lovely, with newly fallen leaves, still fresh and untrodden. And he thinks he might save one path for another day. But he realizes that it is unlikely he will do that once he starts going down the other 'life' path: "Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back."

In the 4th and final stanza, Frost writes, "I shall be telling this with a sigh, some where ages and ages hence, two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." I believe that Frost uses the word 'sigh' to represent regret, and he's saying he could regret his decision. But really, the decisions he made - and the path he chose - lead him to the life he has, and I think he's saying he is content with that.

The Road Not Taken is not about courage and independence. It's about considering choices in life, deciding which choice to make, and accepting those choices. People may regret the choices they made in life, and they might wish that they could go back. But no matter what choices you make, life goes on, and you should trust and believe in the choices you made. As Robert Frost says, that will have 'made all the difference.'