Decisions

Mallorie Harbour

ENG 9:00/11:45

3/10/13

Decisions

Life is full of decisions waiting to be made. Whether that decision is choosing what clothes to wear one day or deciding what career you want to pursue, it will always affect our life in one way or another. The poem, "The Road Not Taken" tells a story of a man who reaches a fork in the road and must choose which path to take, each path different from the other. In this poem, Robert Frost contends that every decision we make, no matter how unimportant it may seem, will have an impact on our life.

Frost uses a walk in the woods as a metaphor for making a decision in life, a situation that people face daily. "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood . . .” (1) each road starts from the same place, but may lead to two entirely different destinations and the traveler has no idea where those destinations may be. Not sure which path to choose and not sure if he’s making the right choice or not, he compares the two roads, much like we do when considering a choice, we analyze the pros and cons. A lot of times, we tend to choose the easy way out. The path that is traveled more often has a predictable outcome that keeps us inside our comfort zone, even though it may not be the most beneficial choice. In his comparison of the two roads, Robert Frost shows us the importance of making a decision and how it could affect us later on in life. By comparing the two roads, the traveler finally makes up his mind, choosing the road that is more beautiful and less traveled.

The traveler took the plunge, taking the road that had not been used as often as the other. Aware of how "way leads onto way . . . "(14) the traveler regrets that he cannot take both roads. Although he knows that he may never be able to go back and have the chance to travel the other path, he continues on into the unknown of his future. Imaging every choice in life like the forked roads in a forest gives us a clearer idea of how one decision leads to another and...