The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost is a well known author who wrote the poem "The Road Not Taken." It's a well-known poem that has been taken to mean extreme things rather than the context it was written in. He explains that he comes to a fork in the road and had to choose which one he would travel. He looked to see as far as he could to see where they led. He decided to take the other one, the "better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear." He goes on to explain that he thought maybe one day he could come back and take the other road but that he doubted that he would ever come back. He says that he "took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

When we think about the context of this poem, our daily lives can be thought of in these same terms. We are brought to many forks in the road throughout our lives, sometimes even daily, where we must choose which way to go. We look as far ahead as we can to see what the outcome will be, but we must choose which way to go.

There are many interpretations on Robert Frost's poem. Some say that we are strictly to take the path less traveled. In my opinion, it depends on the circumstance. Sometimes we take the path that our hearts desire. Sometimes we take the path that would please our family. Sometimes we take the path just because someone said not to. All of us make our decisions based on different things. Each decision leads us where we chose to go, whether it was a conscientious decision or a choice we made not knowing that there were consequences.

I believe that at the end when Frost says, "I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence," that he will be regretting his decision. I believe this is true of every decision we make. We look back and think about the "what if's" and how things might have been different and we regret the choices we made and wonder what it would have been like if we had taken the other road. I don't think that this is something that will ever go away because it is human nature to all ways be wanting more and wanting something better.

In conclusion from reading this poem, I learned that every decision is important, yet minute at the same time. We must live day to day and not over analyze each decision yet make them and go on with our lives.