Essay Comparing The Road Not Taken And A Worn Path
The Journey: Symbolism of “The Road Not Taken” and “A Worn Path” From their titles, we realize these short stories will take us on a literary journey but what we do not realize are the choices and obstacles the protagonists encounter that adds dimension to the story. The readers’ perceptions about the events are changed by the symbolism surrounding the characters and the conflicts that are presented. “A Worn Path” is a character story told in a third-person point of view about an elderly, colored woman and her journey along a path she has taken many time before. Throughout the story Phoenix is involved in conflict by struggling against nature, social conditions and against her own physical circumstances. From the characters name alone we instantly envision a strong individual, the name implies a mythological creature that it said to be as large as an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage. It was said that only one phoenix existed at any one time with a life expectancy of at least 500 years. As the phoenix approached the end of life, it would build a nest, set fire to it and would die in fire
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to only rise from the ashes and be stronger. Ironically, Phoenix has her hair in a red rag which correlates with the scarlet plumage of the ancient bird. Her name combined with the first two paragraphs deliver a meticulous description of our character: Far out in the country there was an old Negro woman with her head tied in a red rag, coming along a path through the pinewoods. Her name was Phoenix Jackson. She was very old and small and she walked slowly in the dark pine shadows, moving a little from side to side in her steps, with the balanced heaviness and lightness of a pendulum in a grand-father clock. She carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth in front of her. This made a grave and persistent noise in the still air, that seemed meditative like the chirping of a solitary little bird.
She wore a dark striped dress reaching down to her shoe tops, and an equally long apron of bleached sugar sacks, with a full pocket: all near and tidy, but every time she took a stop she might have fallen over her shoelaces, which dragged from her unlaced shoes. She looked straight ahead. Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead, but a golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks were illumined by a yellow burning under the dark. Under the red rag her hair came down on her neck in the frailest of ringlets, still black, and with an odor like copper.
Almost immediately we can speculate that her struggle against physical circumstances surrounds her age. Phoenix is visually impaired, “she carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth in front of her”. She is not completely blind because later in the story, “…she had seen with her own eyes a flashing nickel fall out of the man’s pocket on to the ground” which illustrates that Phoenix has the ability of some sight. Her physical limitations make the journey more difficult, “…seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far,” symbolizing the weight of years of her hard life, poverty and despair. Phoenix is determined to make it to her destination and at the beginning of her journey when she hears a noise in the bushes, she uses her cane to “switch at the brush” and announces to nature: Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals!...Keep out from under these feet, little bob-whites…Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way.
Her body may be worn out but her attitude and tenacity are still her driving forces.
Throughout her journey Phoenix continues to face additional struggles such as her shoelaces which are not tied presumably due to her aged fingers inability to cooperate any longer. And a tangle with a thorny bush that threatened to tear her dress which she acknowledges, “Thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass, no sir. Old eyes thought you a pretty green bush”. In addition to the physical aspects of her aging, Phoenix also seems to struggle mentally. When she set down to rest she saw a boy who brought her a plate with a slice of cake. When she went to accept the snack she only saw her own hand in the air. Later in story, she had a situation in the doctor’s office where she momentarily forgot the reason for her being there. Throughout the journey, Phoenix encounters symbols of death. When she successfully maneuvered through a barbed-wire fence and finally felt safe, “There set a buzzard”. She crossed through a field of dead corn and thought she saw a man before her. But realizing the man made no sound, “It was as silent as a ghost. Ghost, who be you the ghost of?”. Phoenix is delighted to realize the man is really a scarecrow and briefly dances with the scarecrow to drive away thoughts of death and then continued on her journey with determination. Phoenix is startled by a dog and falls into a ditch. The antagonist is a white hunter who finds Phoenix and asks what she was doing. Phoenix replies, “lying on my back like a June-bug waiting to be fumed over”, another reference to death. In addition to the racial difference between the two characters we detect another conflict: the hunter is on a mission of death while Phoenix is on a life-saving mission. Furthering the contrast between the characters, the hunter has money and Phoenix does not. “Without warning, she had seen with her own eyes a flashing nickel fall out of the man’s pocket onto the ground”. Phoenix’s senses God’s approval of her reaching down and collecting the nickel. The hunter points a gun at Phoenix but when she does not back down, he mocks her age and intentions to go to town. This conflict only provides Phoenix strength as she continues on her journey. When Phoenix reaches her destination, the reason for her journey is revealed. When she enters “the big building”, a medical facility, she does not speak and appears disoriented. A nurse recognizes her and inquires about her grandson. Here we learn that the grandson swallowed lye a few years back and Phoenix tell the nurse “he not able to swallow. He not get his breath. He not able to help himself. So the time come around, and I go on another trip for the soothing medicine. We also learn that the medicine is considered charity as long as Phoenix comes to get it. The attendant in the office feels compassion for Phoenix and asks her if she could give her a few pennies from her purse. Money is hard to come by for Phoenix and she remarks “five pennies is a nickel” prompting the attendant to give her a nickel. Unselfishly, Phoenix announces “I going to the store to buy my child a little windmill they sells, made out of paper. He is going to find it hard to believe there such a thing in the world”. Her love which inspires her to bring this gift to her grandson, along with the medicine, gives her the strength to make the journey back. “The Worn Path” uses symbolism to show how hard life can be, how hard the trip to town is for Phoenix, but also how hard life was in the South. At times it seemed that Phoenix was going through an obstacle course, “…had to go through a barbed-wire fence. There she had to creep and crawl, spreading her knees and stretching her fingers like a baby trying to climb the steps describing how hard life can be. At times life seems very easy and we feel we are creeping and crawling, trying not to get hurt along the way. “Seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far symbolizes life’s burdens. The weight of our daily decisions and actions can make our life’s burdens much heavier, just as climbing uphill. Despite the struggles, we keep walking in our lives much like Phoenix did on the path. At one point in the story Phoenix is no longer on a path but wandering through a corn maze. Our lives are much like this, wondering along not always on a specific path and just like Phoenix, we need to stop and remember which direction we are heading. In this story the author provides the reader with many questions that remain unanswered to allow the reader’s imagination to wonder and come up with their own version of what happened in the story. One example is that the author purposely does not reveal if Phoenix’s grandson is alive is dead explaining that “the question was not really relevant, that it is the journey, the going of the errand, that is the story”. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a narrative of a moment in life when one is faced with a choice to make.
“The Road Not Taken” is filled with symbolism. The literal setting of the poem is at a separation of the path in a yellow wood, not sure of which path to take and knowing that they will probably never be able to come back and take the other. Much of the difficulty in choosing which path lies in the fact that both paths are equally attractive. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both”. A persons life can be compared to a journey, the two roads are used as symbols of choices that are made in life and the options that one has to choose from in making their life journey. A person’s life can be compared to a journey, they may know where they want to go but there is usually more than one way to get
there. Choices are often difficult due to the unknown consequences of what lies ahead and perhaps a perception that one choice is more attractive or more beneficial. In our poem, the traveler looks down the roads as far as he could to try and see what lies ahead. One road “To where it bent in the undergrowth”. The other road “perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear”. These paths represent a classic conflict – a decision between the easy path and a potential challenging path in life. Choosing the known path in life reassures the traveler of a more predictable outcome. While choosing the “less traveled” path represents facing a more challenging, unknown, but potentially more rewarding end result. There are always doubts as to whether the right choices have been made. The author wishes to make the correct choice knowing they will probably never have the opportunity to go back and travel the other path. As life twists and turns, there are many difficult choices to be made and each one leads to another. The opportunity to go back is hampered by the fact that the traveler would also have to travel back through all the other choices made in life. Choosing to take the “less traveled” road, our traveler still yearns to travel both roads, “Oh, I kept the first for another day!”. As the traveler proceeds down the unworn path, realization hits that returning to travel the other road is impossible, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. Finally, with a sign the travelers seems content with the choice of taking the less traveled path yet also curious about what may have been missed:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
We are all travelers in life and, therefore, can relate to the message of this poem. How often do people deliberate before making a choice, then after making the choice look back and wonder whether they took the right path after all. These choices can be as simple as ordering dinner in a restaurant, or as complex as changing careers. It is extremely rare that the opportunity arises to go back and travel the other path. Even if we are given the opportunity, our experiences on the first path will tarnish our perception of the other path. “The Road Not Taken” can be interpreted as a representation of life choices. At the beginning the options seem comparable but they will begin to contrast as they diverge in their separate ways. Faced with very similar choices we try to examine what they have to offer, but often we are not able to tell fully determine the consequences. We can opt to follow the common path in life which may be easier and more reliable or we can choose the less common path which may be more difficult but may also have unique results. The choices we make in life are responsible for our future; however we must acknowledge that we can never go back to the past and experience a different path. It is impossible to predict the outcomes of our decisions; it is critical to make decisions based on reasoning, questioning and reflection. Frost often said, “There are only two meters in English, strict and loose iambic. Meter alone is too limited and monotonous to convey meaning though sound.”. Frost’s poetry is meaningful due to this approach. Frost also uses very little alliteration as seen in the third line of the second verse with “wanted wear”. He uses assonance more liberally as seen in the words “ages hence”, “looked down one” and “And having perhaps”. Both “The Road Not Taken” and “A Worn Path” are about a journey but different journeys. “The Road Not Taken” seems to focus on the choices we make in life and the unknown result of those choices. While “A Worn Path” seems to focus more on the obstacles we face in life and what drives us to do the things we do. What stood out in “A Worn Path” are the various symbols representing death that Phoenix faced on her journey to town. Perhaps these references helped signify the age of Phoenix and the depth of her love that drove her to make the journey yet again. By comparing these works and exploring their symbolism, “The Road Not Taken” and “A Worn Path” symbolize life; the choices we make in life, the consequences of our choices, and the obstacles we face in life. After future reflection, the bumps in the road, the ditches we fall into, the path we choose to take is what makes life worth living. It’s not about the destination as much as it is about the journey itself.
to only rise from the ashes and be stronger. Ironically, Phoenix has her hair in a red rag which correlates with the scarlet plumage of the ancient bird. Her name combined with the first two paragraphs deliver a meticulous description of our character: Far out in the country there was an old Negro woman with her head tied in a red rag, coming along a path through the pinewoods. Her name was Phoenix Jackson. She was very old and small and she walked slowly in the dark pine shadows, moving a little from side to side in her steps, with the balanced heaviness and lightness of a pendulum in a grand-father clock. She carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth in front of her. This made a grave and persistent noise in the still air, that seemed meditative like the chirping of a solitary little bird.
She wore a dark striped dress reaching down to her shoe tops, and an equally long apron of bleached sugar sacks, with a full pocket: all near and tidy, but every time she took a stop she might have fallen over her shoelaces, which dragged from her unlaced shoes. She looked straight ahead. Her eyes were blue with age. Her skin had a pattern all its own of numberless branching wrinkles and as though a whole little tree stood in the middle of her forehead, but a golden color ran underneath, and the two knobs of her cheeks were illumined by a yellow burning under the dark. Under the red rag her hair came down on her neck in the frailest of ringlets, still black, and with an odor like copper.
Almost immediately we can speculate that her struggle against physical circumstances surrounds her age. Phoenix is visually impaired, “she carried a thin, small cane made from an umbrella, and with this she kept tapping the frozen earth in front of her”. She is not completely blind because later in the story, “…she had seen with her own eyes a flashing nickel fall out of the man’s pocket on to the ground” which illustrates that Phoenix has the ability of some sight. Her physical limitations make the journey more difficult, “…seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far,” symbolizing the weight of years of her hard life, poverty and despair. Phoenix is determined to make it to her destination and at the beginning of her journey when she hears a noise in the bushes, she uses her cane to “switch at the brush” and announces to nature: Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, beetles, jack rabbits, coons and wild animals!...Keep out from under these feet, little bob-whites…Keep the big wild hogs out of my path. Don’t let none of those come running my direction. I got a long way.
Her body may be worn out but her attitude and tenacity are still her driving forces.
Throughout her journey Phoenix continues to face additional struggles such as her shoelaces which are not tied presumably due to her aged fingers inability to cooperate any longer. And a tangle with a thorny bush that threatened to tear her dress which she acknowledges, “Thorns, you doing your appointed work. Never want to let folks pass, no sir. Old eyes thought you a pretty green bush”. In addition to the physical aspects of her aging, Phoenix also seems to struggle mentally. When she set down to rest she saw a boy who brought her a plate with a slice of cake. When she went to accept the snack she only saw her own hand in the air. Later in story, she had a situation in the doctor’s office where she momentarily forgot the reason for her being there. Throughout the journey, Phoenix encounters symbols of death. When she successfully maneuvered through a barbed-wire fence and finally felt safe, “There set a buzzard”. She crossed through a field of dead corn and thought she saw a man before her. But realizing the man made no sound, “It was as silent as a ghost. Ghost, who be you the ghost of?”. Phoenix is delighted to realize the man is really a scarecrow and briefly dances with the scarecrow to drive away thoughts of death and then continued on her journey with determination. Phoenix is startled by a dog and falls into a ditch. The antagonist is a white hunter who finds Phoenix and asks what she was doing. Phoenix replies, “lying on my back like a June-bug waiting to be fumed over”, another reference to death. In addition to the racial difference between the two characters we detect another conflict: the hunter is on a mission of death while Phoenix is on a life-saving mission. Furthering the contrast between the characters, the hunter has money and Phoenix does not. “Without warning, she had seen with her own eyes a flashing nickel fall out of the man’s pocket onto the ground”. Phoenix’s senses God’s approval of her reaching down and collecting the nickel. The hunter points a gun at Phoenix but when she does not back down, he mocks her age and intentions to go to town. This conflict only provides Phoenix strength as she continues on her journey. When Phoenix reaches her destination, the reason for her journey is revealed. When she enters “the big building”, a medical facility, she does not speak and appears disoriented. A nurse recognizes her and inquires about her grandson. Here we learn that the grandson swallowed lye a few years back and Phoenix tell the nurse “he not able to swallow. He not get his breath. He not able to help himself. So the time come around, and I go on another trip for the soothing medicine. We also learn that the medicine is considered charity as long as Phoenix comes to get it. The attendant in the office feels compassion for Phoenix and asks her if she could give her a few pennies from her purse. Money is hard to come by for Phoenix and she remarks “five pennies is a nickel” prompting the attendant to give her a nickel. Unselfishly, Phoenix announces “I going to the store to buy my child a little windmill they sells, made out of paper. He is going to find it hard to believe there such a thing in the world”. Her love which inspires her to bring this gift to her grandson, along with the medicine, gives her the strength to make the journey back. “The Worn Path” uses symbolism to show how hard life can be, how hard the trip to town is for Phoenix, but also how hard life was in the South. At times it seemed that Phoenix was going through an obstacle course, “…had to go through a barbed-wire fence. There she had to creep and crawl, spreading her knees and stretching her fingers like a baby trying to climb the steps describing how hard life can be. At times life seems very easy and we feel we are creeping and crawling, trying not to get hurt along the way. “Seems like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far symbolizes life’s burdens. The weight of our daily decisions and actions can make our life’s burdens much heavier, just as climbing uphill. Despite the struggles, we keep walking in our lives much like Phoenix did on the path. At one point in the story Phoenix is no longer on a path but wandering through a corn maze. Our lives are much like this, wondering along not always on a specific path and just like Phoenix, we need to stop and remember which direction we are heading. In this story the author provides the reader with many questions that remain unanswered to allow the reader’s imagination to wonder and come up with their own version of what happened in the story. One example is that the author purposely does not reveal if Phoenix’s grandson is alive is dead explaining that “the question was not really relevant, that it is the journey, the going of the errand, that is the story”. “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a narrative of a moment in life when one is faced with a choice to make.
“The Road Not Taken” is filled with symbolism. The literal setting of the poem is at a separation of the path in a yellow wood, not sure of which path to take and knowing that they will probably never be able to come back and take the other. Much of the difficulty in choosing which path lies in the fact that both paths are equally attractive. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both”. A persons life can be compared to a journey, the two roads are used as symbols of choices that are made in life and the options that one has to choose from in making their life journey. A person’s life can be compared to a journey, they may know where they want to go but there is usually more than one way to get
there. Choices are often difficult due to the unknown consequences of what lies ahead and perhaps a perception that one choice is more attractive or more beneficial. In our poem, the traveler looks down the roads as far as he could to try and see what lies ahead. One road “To where it bent in the undergrowth”. The other road “perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear”. These paths represent a classic conflict – a decision between the easy path and a potential challenging path in life. Choosing the known path in life reassures the traveler of a more predictable outcome. While choosing the “less traveled” path represents facing a more challenging, unknown, but potentially more rewarding end result. There are always doubts as to whether the right choices have been made. The author wishes to make the correct choice knowing they will probably never have the opportunity to go back and travel the other path. As life twists and turns, there are many difficult choices to be made and each one leads to another. The opportunity to go back is hampered by the fact that the traveler would also have to travel back through all the other choices made in life. Choosing to take the “less traveled” road, our traveler still yearns to travel both roads, “Oh, I kept the first for another day!”. As the traveler proceeds down the unworn path, realization hits that returning to travel the other road is impossible, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. Finally, with a sign the travelers seems content with the choice of taking the less traveled path yet also curious about what may have been missed:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
We are all travelers in life and, therefore, can relate to the message of this poem. How often do people deliberate before making a choice, then after making the choice look back and wonder whether they took the right path after all. These choices can be as simple as ordering dinner in a restaurant, or as complex as changing careers. It is extremely rare that the opportunity arises to go back and travel the other path. Even if we are given the opportunity, our experiences on the first path will tarnish our perception of the other path. “The Road Not Taken” can be interpreted as a representation of life choices. At the beginning the options seem comparable but they will begin to contrast as they diverge in their separate ways. Faced with very similar choices we try to examine what they have to offer, but often we are not able to tell fully determine the consequences. We can opt to follow the common path in life which may be easier and more reliable or we can choose the less common path which may be more difficult but may also have unique results. The choices we make in life are responsible for our future; however we must acknowledge that we can never go back to the past and experience a different path. It is impossible to predict the outcomes of our decisions; it is critical to make decisions based on reasoning, questioning and reflection. Frost often said, “There are only two meters in English, strict and loose iambic. Meter alone is too limited and monotonous to convey meaning though sound.”. Frost’s poetry is meaningful due to this approach. Frost also uses very little alliteration as seen in the third line of the second verse with “wanted wear”. He uses assonance more liberally as seen in the words “ages hence”, “looked down one” and “And having perhaps”. Both “The Road Not Taken” and “A Worn Path” are about a journey but different journeys. “The Road Not Taken” seems to focus on the choices we make in life and the unknown result of those choices. While “A Worn Path” seems to focus more on the obstacles we face in life and what drives us to do the things we do. What stood out in “A Worn Path” are the various symbols representing death that Phoenix faced on her journey to town. Perhaps these references helped signify the age of Phoenix and the depth of her love that drove her to make the journey yet again. By comparing these works and exploring their symbolism, “The Road Not Taken” and “A Worn Path” symbolize life; the choices we make in life, the consequences of our choices, and the obstacles we face in life. After future reflection, the bumps in the road, the ditches we fall into, the path we choose to take is what makes life worth living. It’s not about the destination as much as it is about the journey itself.