The Road Not Taken Literary Analysis

Opposition or Simply Non-identity Perhaps what makes a literary work different from any other pieces of writing is its capability of being approached from different viewpoints. Works of literature are potentially capable of providing sufficient material for a vast variety of interpretations. Robert Frost's poem, 'The Road not Taken', an early 20th century, modern poem replete with numerous multi-layered significations, is a perfect example. Deconstructive reading of this poem is only one among many possible approaches, and, in my idea, not the most inclusive one. All the approaches, due to their limitations, have some deficiencies: deconstructive reading of Frost's poem is, thus, inevitably defective. Since deconstructive approach is endeavoring to hunt the binary oppositions of the text in order to reverse them, it is likely to magnify the oppositions. Overstating the oppositions is exactly what the deconstructive reading of Frost's poem, written by D. M. Bowers suffers from; actually, it exaggerates the differences between the two roads to the point that they are rendered as absolute opposites. Whereas, I believe, the two roads are far from opposing each other:
they simply just differ. Following the example of Jacque Derrida, the French founder of deconstruction, in the process of reading a literary text, almost all deconstructive critics look for the binary oppositions. These oppositions are hold to be the constituents of the text's structure. Having found them, the deconstructive critic dismantles the text, through reversing the two opposing concepts, to reveal the new possibilities of meaning hitherto unknown, or in the deconstructive term to make the free play of the meaning possible. Observing the above procedure, Bowers, first of all, recognizes three binary oppositions: adventure or the unknown/the familiar or the known, traveling/staying, and finally fair and fresh/worn and old. Since my argument concerns the first and the third oppositions, I just ignore the second one. Bowers argue that, of the two roads, one represents the known, frequently chosen, and thus familiarity, safety, and tranquility while the other one stands for the unknown, never chosen, and thus potentiality of danger and heartbreak. He convincingly refers to the word "sigh" in line 16 stating "I shall be telling this with a sigh", to infer the traveler's remorse, discontentment, and sorrow for having chosen the lesser-worn path. He also genuinely refers to the lines 11 and 12 saying "And both that morning equally lay/In leaves no steps had trodden black", to show the traveler's uncertainty about whether he/she ever has to take this travel or not. Choosing one of the roads and then starting the travel will ruin the fresh and green leaves and turn them black; therefore, perhaps forgetting all about the travel and getting back home is the best choice. In spite of all advantages of Bower's deconstructive reading of Frost's poem, it suffers from some exaggerations. As a deconstructive critic searching for binary oppositions, he turns the simple differences into conspicuous oppositions. In fact, the difference between the two paths is more a matter of dissimilarity and non-identity than that of the opposition because in lines 9 and 10 Frost says "Though as for that the passing there/Had worn them really about the same". In the next two lines, the poet continues to find more similarities between the roads: "And both that morning equally lay/In leaves no steps had trodden black". Also, line 6, by calling both of the roads equally "fair", adds to the bulk of their resemblances. Despite all of the above-mentioned lines, Bowers insists on the idea of the two roads' absolute opposition; in the last paragraph of page 140, he argues that the road chosen is "a path that has no sign of wear", and in the first paragraph of page 141, he continues the same discussion stating, "the other [path] not trodden by any number of travelers". So far, we know, from the poem, the road chosen is simply less traveled by, but the words "no" and "any" in the quoted sentences imply that it has never been selected by any travelers. The power of Frost's poem lies in its genuine image: a traveler facing two equally fair, beautiful, autumnal roads which are, at the same time, partly different in that one seems "grassy" and "less traveled by".
I think this image stands for human condition at the crossroads of various choices where making each choice necessarily excludes the other one. The sad atmosphere of the last stanza implies the unfortunate limitations inherent in the nature of man's existence. Due to our temporal, spatial, and ontological limitations, when we select one of the available choices, we inevitably loose the opportunity to experience the possibilities provided by the other ones. This tragic fact causes a sense of loss. The title of the poem, The Road not Taken, brilliantly hints at this tragic sense of
loss. Bowers' deconstructive reading of Frost's poem is clever in attending to the nuance of the terms' meaning and is carefully obedient to the deconstructive principles. However, ignoring several lines of the poem, it goes on overstating the contrasts of the roads as far as it totally disregards what they actually have in common. Obsessed with the binary oppositions, Bowers fails to grasp the point made by the poem: we as human beings are constantly encountering various chances, choices, and paths among which, unfortunately, we have to choose only one. It does not matter which one we choose because not knowing the destinations of any roads, we are doomed to suffer from a sorrowful sense of loss. M. Takallu