"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost: Significance of the Title

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost: Significance of the Title

Robert Frost through his acclaimed poem, “The Road Not Taken” points out the importance of choice in the life of human beings. Throughout this poem, the ‘road’ is used as the central motif to denote the value of proper but distinct choices in human life.

The poem suggests human ambivalence or dilemma concerning reach to a particular decision whereas human beings have to face different possibilities or chances or choices in the way of life. The speaker of the poem while traveling alone stopped at the point where a road diverged into two different roads and tried to examine both roads as much as possible. Finally, the speaker decided to take “the one less traveled by” keeping “the first for another day”. The speaker asserts “that has made all the difference”.

The road in the poem is a metaphor for life and the path we take through it. The fork in the road is a metaphor for the choices we must make as we navigate our path. The road is a symbol of the journey of life. In the journey of life, we have to make different decisions that make our lives distinct and individual. The speaker had chosen a path that is not conventional or chosen often by others. So the title is apt and significant. The ‘road’ metaphor is also important to understand the central focus of the poem.

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