Name:
Tutor:
Course:
Date:
The Road Not Taken
Can the random choices we make create any difference in people’s lives? More often, people come across difficult situations that require a certain level of understanding in order to make the right choice. The ability to choose between two equally desirable things is impaired by the thought that one outcome may be different from the other. Similarly, difficulty arises as to whether the choice taken is morally right or people take it because the results derived from it are pleasurable. The poem The Road not Taken by Robert Frost seeks to explain a similar situation experienced by Robert Frost that created all the difference in his life (Frost 1). The journey of life is endless but not smooth. The choices we make positively or negatively influence a person’s daily lifestyle and the future. Frost could not see how far he had to walk “To where it bent in the undergrowth” (Frost 1).
The journey of life is all about choices. Life moments create the essence of life itself. However, these moments change over time and any change brings about a necessity to make a choice on whether to adapt to change or not. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood.” (Frost 1). This decision may result to success or failure. In most cases, the confinement of choices is to one end therefore ignoring the alternative. “And sorry I could not travel both” (Frost 1). Frost identifies that the singularity nature of individuals does not allow them to make two choices at once. When experiencing difficult life situations, people tend to take the easier option with the least amount of consideration regardless of the informed knowledge on the results they would acquire. “The basis of human nature is its autonomy” (Randall et al. 177).
Determination creates a conscious mind that leads a person to the path that results to unexpected results. The conscious mind of a person should influence them on the most important decision to make that would result to the desired outcomes. With determination, bravery becomes a key factor. The desire to explore more and know where a path, rarely taken by most people leads to is spearheaded by bravery. “Then took the other just as fair, because it was grassy and wanted wear” (Frost 1). Frost uses this to describe the difference between the two paths symbolically representing two difficult situations. Frost due to curiosity took the road least traveled by most to discover where it leads to. Taking a path that few travel results to the discovery of new things. With a new path, goals are bound to change hand this creates a difference in life between those who chose the easy way and those who took the new path traveled by a few.
As people make new choices, they cannot fail to think of how the forgone choices would create a difference in their lives. Most times, the thought of whether to change from one choice to the foregone alternative occurs due to the experiences that a person undergoes while trying to discover new opportunities. “I doubted if I should ever come back” (Orr). Difficult choices cannot be easy to pursue. Social, emotional, and physical pain accompany the pursuit of difficult choices as people struggle to achieve certain objectives. “Human beings are mind-body unities; they are sentient as well as rational” (Randall et al. 177). With this pain comes an urge to go back and try the foregone choice arguing that the new choice is of less pain and is easy to maneuver around. It creates a reasonable amount of doubt that the foregone path may create a difference in people’s lives.
According to the choices people make, a difference is visible through their outcomes. For instance, a difficult situation may have two alternatives of approach but the outcomes display the difference both approaches have. “And that has made all the difference” (Orr). The difference may not be immediate but after a certain period, there exists a gap between the two choices. In most cases, the most perilous choice that seems difficult to handle creates satisfactory outcomes rendering many lessons to the individual. Similarly, choices create consequences evident in how individuals carry out themselves after making an important decision. “Consequences of choices may not occur immediately following the genesis of an action” (Steele 8). These consequences portray whether a pursuing a certain decision leads to negative or positive results.
It is important to
understand that in the journey of life, choices are inevitable. Furthermore,
difficult choices require careful approach considering their impact in the
current or future life of an individual. Although making important choices
require a conscious mind, some decision people make are because of
determination that pushes them to achieve certain objectives. Conforming to
human nature concerning taking the easiest choice due to its simplicity
prevents a person from learning new aspects and realizing new potential. It
prevents people from acquiring greater results. Every choice has its own
consequence. The consequence may be positive or negative. An outcome to the choice
a person takes dictates the difference between the two choices and their effect
on the future life of an individual.
Work Cited
Top of Form
Frost, Robert. The Road Not Taken and Other Poems. New York: Dover Publications, 1993. Print.
Orr, David. “The Most Misread Poem in America”. The Paris Review. N.p., 2016. Web. 4 May 2016.
Top of Form
Randall, Fiona, and R S. Downie. End of Life Choices: Consensus and Controversy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
Top of Form
Steele, John E. Choices Create Consequences: Turn the Negative in Your Life into Something Positive. S.l.: Iuniverse Com, 2006. Print.
Bottom of Form
Bottom of Form
Bottom of Form