Analysis Of The Road Not Taken

Submitted By malisampxo

Words: 357

Pages: 2

Open Document

This has got to be among the best-known, most-often-misunderstood poems on the planet. Several generations of careless readers have turned it into a piece of Hallmark happy-graduation-son, seize-the-future puffery. Cursed with a perfect marriage of form and content, arresting phrase wrought from simple words, and resonant metaphor, it seems as if “The Road Not Taken” gets memorized without really being read. For this it has died the cliché’s un-death of trivial immortality.

But you yourself can resurrect it from zombie-hood by reading it—not with imagination, even, but simply with accuracy. Of the two roads the speaker says “the passing there / Had worn them really about the same.” In fact, both roads “that morning lay / In leaves no step had trodden black.” Meaning: Neither of the roads is less traveled by. These are the facts; we cannot justifiably ignore the reverberations they send through the easy aphorisms of the last two stanzas.

One of the attractions of the poem is its archetypal dilemma, one that we instantly recognize because each of us encounters it innumerable times, both literally and figuratively. Paths in the woods and forks in roads are ancient and deep-seated metaphors for the lifeline, its crises and decisions. Identical forks, in particular, symbolize for us the nexus of free will and fate: We are free to choose, but we do not really know beforehand what we are choosing between. Our route is, thus, determined by an accretion of choice and chance,

The Illusion Of John Smith's Life

John Smith is an infamous writer who wrote mostly in third person perspective. Which gives the reader the illusion that he had a better connection with the natives than other explorers. He embellishes his stories and accounts of what happened with the Powhatan Indians. After he was held captive by her father, he claims Pocahontas saved his life. He even claims that “his head was placed on a stone while Indian warriors prepared to pummel his brains out. At the last moment, Pocahontas, a young Indian…

Words 259 - Pages 2

John Eyre Life Essay

JOHN EYRE My name is John Eyre and i was born in the 5th of August 1815 in England. I am the third son of Anthony William Eyre and Sarah Mapleton. When I grew up I wanted to join the army, but when I turned 17 my father told me to suggested for me to emigrate to Australia. In the boat the Ellen I arrived in Sydney on the 20th of march 1833. Sydney had no money in it for me so I moved to Hunter River district, where I had the chance to learn about sheep and cattle management. A year later I moved…

Words 467 - Pages 2

John Hancock's Life And Accomplishments

John Hancock was born on January 12, 1737 in Braintree (Quincy), Massachusetts. He was orphaned as a child and was adopted by a wealthy merchant uncle.When his uncle died, Hancock inherited his lucrative shipping business. John graduated from Harvard College with a business education at the age of 17. In 1760, he was sent on a business mission to England. He witnessed the coronation of George III. From 1780 to 1785, Hancock was the first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. On August 2…

Words 513 - Pages 3

Being John Malkovich: The Meaning Of Life

evident in “Being John Malkovich” is meaning of life, and the specific theory of Cyrenaic Hedonism. According to the founder of Cyrenaic Hedonism, Aristippus of Cyrene, meaning of life is found in the immediate satisfaction of sensual desires, and in finding pleasure in all circumstances despite the obstacles that may present. (Stickney, 150) Aristippus also states that the keenest pleasures are not necessarily intellectual, nor always moral. (Stickney, 150) Through the portal to John Malkovich’s brain…

Words 372 - Pages 2

Crucible Essay On John Proctor's Life

John Proctor In the tragic story The Crucible, John Proctor is pretty much your typical man. He cares about his family, participates in religious activities, everything you would expect from a man during this time period. However. John Proctor's life goes from normal to far from it. John seemed to be living an ordinary life of someone of this time period. “Was a farmer..” (Applebee et al. 175) He was a farmer which was quite ordinary for people at this time as it is now. Being a farmer put John…

Words 1100 - Pages 5

John Doe and Life Support Essay

Savannah Pasculli November 3, 2014 Cole Valley Christian High School Unit 7 Ethical Issues Essay John Doe’s family knows that John does not want to be kept alive artificially which raises an ethical dilemma for the doctors and nurses involved in taking care of John. The doctors are going to want to respect the wishes of John and not keep him alive artificially if that is not what he would want, but it would be very hard for the doctors to let him die if they know there is something they can…

Words 404 - Pages 2

Pocahontas Save John Smith's Life

did save John Smiths life. Based on this evidence, it appears that Pocahontas did save his life because she loved him and wanted him to be alive. The historians say that he stayed alive because of Pocahontas by them finding evidence, pictures, journals and etc. There are also movies based on Pocahontas saving his life. Pocahontas was either in love with him because of his looks and personality or because of the jewels. All over the internet there was evidence that she did save his life because she…

Words 153 - Pages 1

Life Of John Chapter 3 Summary

In the end of John chapter three, the Pharisees began to investigate Jesus but before any problems could arise he flees from Judea and heads to Galilee. During his route he stops in the city of Samaria, this is significant because most Jews went around Samaria because they were considered unclean and dangerous. Jews wanted to remain clean so they would go around the territory of Samaria. Jews and Samaritans hated one another, they were in constant battle with one another. Regardless of their hatred…

Words 1202 - Pages 5

John Cheever & Suburban Life Essay

5 April 2006 John Cheever and the Suburban Life The average person from suburban America can be either valiant, pathetic, or both. This is the description of an American suburbanite according to John Cheever, an American novelist and short story writer during the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Cheever, an award winning writer, balances hope, uncertainty, and anxiety in his stories’ characters. In Cheever’s “The Swimmer”, the main character, Neddy Merrill, incorporates this description into his…

Words 993 - Pages 4

Meaning of Life by John Cottingham Essay

Every person has questioned the meaning of life; It is an idea that can be traced through out the history of mankind. John Cottingham, author of “The Meaning of Life” is just one of the many who have tried to explain and simplify this complicated question. “The Meaning of Life” is a short but informative book that attempts to breakdown the meaning of life with as little religious intervention as possible, while at the same time, be able to “reveal how [religion] connects with values and commitments…

Words 1027 - Pages 5