The Road Not Taken Literary Analysis
Final Paper Week 5 Assignment
Ashford University
Bradley C. Wilson
ENG 125- Introduction to Literature
Instructor: Joshua Mills
Final Paper
A short story and poem, no matter how structurally different are two literary pieces where a rich story is embedded. Readers are drawn towards these scripts by means of rhythm (poem), characterization, or a fictional setting in their respective narratives. However, the mere writing would not make it entertaining enough. It would depend on the imagination of the readers as they are reading the writings put in front of them. Every reader has their own way of visualizing the descriptions and symbolism used by the author. The three literary pieces, “The Road Not Taken” (poem), and the two …show more content…
short stories “A Worn Path” and “Used to Live Here Once” are all sharing the same theme, which is, every person’s journey is greatly governed by their decisions, and no matter how many paths there are, it is still the person who determines the ending of his/her journey. A short story and poem share many similar aspects. Both forms of writing can successfully send powerful messages or tell complex stories in a very short amount of words. Point of view is a big aspect in controlling short stories and poetry. Works are usually told in the first person point of view or the third person point of view. First Person means the reader is inside the character 's skin and experiences everything as though the reader were the character. This mode is easily identified by the use of "I" and "me" when talking about the main character.
Third Person means that the reader is not the character, but experiences the story as an unseen observer. This mode is distinguished by the use of "he", "she" when talking about the main character. Short literary works are confined to the boundaries on length according to their specific genre; they don’t have time for lengthy or slow introductions. Writers of the two genres also frequently take advantage of the use of symbolism and metaphor. These literary devices allow the authors to create works that deliver more than one meaning or a message while only stating one thing. When looking at short stories and poems, the theme unfolded differently in these three literary pieces. First, Robert Frost in his “The Road Not Taken” hinted in his poem that the character would be going through a journey. The author Robert used the first person point of view; it was easier to imagine him as the one who is going through the journey. On the contrary, the short story “A Worn Path” was written in third person, or “she”. Based on the author’s presentation, I readily imagined an alone woman as the character in the story. I was able to confirm this, because of a certain part in the story where the woman was talking to animals as she was walking like “Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, and beetles”. Because of this characterization, I easily felt solitude in the story. The part where the woman was depicted to be walking uphill is a representation of her struggles in her journey. It is literally hard to walk up a hill, and considering the woman’s age, it would be even more exhausting for her to reach her destination. This part merely suggests the hard life that the woman has lived. It is inevitable for the reader to really feel pity for the character. “Used to Live Here Once” uses the third person form as well, but either way, it was still able to present solitude in its own distinct way. Some lines that strongly suggest solitude are “She came to the worn steps” and “She was standing by the river”. Basically, the differences in the kind of solitude in the literary pieces were greatly affected by the choices that the character made. A story’s setting also affects the kind of engagement that the readers will have with the story. An illustration would be the title of The Road Not Taken. The poem is about a speaker standing in the woods with a decision to make in which road to take. In the title itself, the reader can already sense the conflict in the poem. In fact, the first line of the poem “two roads diverged in yellow wood” made me contemplate as a reader where the two roads could possibly lead me. Moreover, the first person narrative of the poem makes it easier for a reader like me to relate to it, to put myself into the story and character because of the more personal approach. Frost’s writing allows the reader to take his perspective on things, for instance his description of a certain path “where it bent in the undergrowth” and “grassy and wanted wear”. These descriptions made it clear enough for the readers that there are two distinct paths with both leading to the same destination. Another interpretation for this is a person’s attachment to something that is special for him. The speaker in the end chooses one way and says that he will take the other another day, yet it is unlikely that he will have that opportunity down the road. The theme for this poem after reading it and understanding it more might be “seize the day” or “carpe diem” if you would like. Poetry is definitely filled with symbolisms since it is one of its features. For example, the color yellow could mean an aging or something that is starting to lose its value. Another interpretation could also be a reference to the character of Dorothy of the “Wizard of Oz”, because the yellow brick road there signified the beginning of her adventures, and she started clueless. Apparently, the “two roads” in the story could mean a dilemma or two conflicting ideas that a person is dealing with. This could refer to any choice that the person is trying to make. Based on the poem, I can feel that Frost is trying to imply that the person is torn between two opportunities that he is facing. Further, there is another symbolism used to describe the two paths which is “in leaves no step had trodden black”. Black here could mean death, because of the context of the sentence where it was used. As the poem progresses, it was revealed that there was a more enticing path for the character which was “grassy and seemingly vibrant”, but doesn’t guarantee any certainty. Because of this, the other path is considered to be more appealing because it is safe and certain. But, the character in the poem was also bothered by the fact that people who passed by that path never came back. A decision was gradually revealed in the course of the poem, quite creatively. Before giving away the decision readily, the author presented a situation where the character was in front of the woods where he stayed “on the first for another day”. The author was able to creatively emphasize that it was the decision, and with that decision made, was more inclined on the uncertain path, which was definitely more exciting. The second literary piece, “Used to Live Here Once” was less challenging and interesting for me, because there was not much of conflict in the plot. However, it is very predictable for me to feel pity since the author was able to successfully create a sad feeling in his piece. Further, the image of a woman “standing by the river” made me think that she might have been there for a long time already, and instead of appreciating the river; she already forgot how to appreciate any amount of beauty. I am personally not a fan of sad stories, but this specific story was able to capture my heart in that part when the woman returned to her old home. Further, the narrative style used to present the plot in the story in the third person point of view, thus it might be hard for me to build a certain personal connection with the woman in the story. She talked about her surroundings as a “blue day” and that the sky looked “glassy”. I believe that the description could suggest that she had drowned in the river and the water clouds her view of the sky. Despite the first person perspective, it is also very likely that the author is still writing about her personal experiences, and hiding its sensitivity by means of a third person narrative. According to Elizabeth Able, the literary pieces of Jean Rhys are mostly “repetitive narratives and are variations of themes of failure and rejection” (Abel, 1979). Words like “shyly” can be a concrete proof of why Abel considers Rhys as someone who has been writing out of the feeling of rejection. The use of symbolism in the story also helped me to easily relate to it on a more personal level.
As we all know, river has long been known as the symbol of life, and as the story presented, the woman just kept on staring on the river. At the end of the story, the author already hinted that the woman died. With this, I believe that the woman’s lingering way of looking at the river was already the symbolism of the reflection that she made about her life. The author also made mention of a road, which was suddenly wider or “much wider than it used to be”, having the context of the woman’s struggle, it represents the woman’s perspective about life, which she viewed in a broader sense. At this point, the author used another color symbolism, which was blue, “This was a fine blue day.” As we all know, blue is a color of tranquility, which means the woman has finally found her peace. Although the story is generally written in third person, there was a certain part wherein the woman was talking to some kids, which was written in first person. This was a very effective scene because of the color symbolisms used by the author. As a matter of fact, color symbolism was mainly the reason why any reader would feel a sense of engagement in Rhys’s …show more content…
story. The “A Worn Path”, which was also written in third person narrative, seemed to make it easier for the reader to find an intimate connection with the story. Welty did this by providing a very detailed approach in building her character. Take for instance the line “A bright frozen day early in the morning”. As a reader, I can easily feel the ambiance that the author is trying to make with that kind of narration. It feels like really feeling the sun warm my face. I also gathered additional information regarding the story from James Saunders and he stated the story begins conspicuously on a cold December morning, and just as quickly we are made aware that this is an old black woman (Saunders, 1992). With this, Saunders is referring to how Welty introduced the “old negro woman. The character is described as old, and she was enduring the cold winds as she was trying to walk down the forest. Because of this, I readily felt a connection to the story, because I felt pity towards that woman. However, Welty was able to effectively shift the feeling of empathy into excitement, as she stated “the sun made the pine needles almost too bright to look up at”. This is one of the features of the story that I observed; it is filled with so many emotions, like sadness to excitement, excitement to adventure. The old woman in the story went through a lot of struggles in her time and the author does a great job of telling that story. There was even a part where she mentioned, “The sun was so high”. Aside from that, she had to cross a river, wherein she needs to use a log to reach to the other side. These struggles and all her efforts revealed that the woman was indeed determined to reach her destination no matter what. Personally, I found the tone, symbolism, and the personalization style of the story “A Worn Path” were assets of the story for me. The first line of the story, “bright frozen morning” is suggestive of the mortal trait and a sense of cheerfulness. There is only one path that can be identified from the story, and this is the path that the woman was determined to take. The author specifically described the woman as yellow underneath her dark cheekbones, which led me to envision her as old, thin, poor, yet very wise. There was also a very creative, personified description of the woman’s wrinkles, as Welty used the image of a small tree, which stood only as tall as the woman’s forehead. Because of this, it was much easier for me to imagine the scene and to connect with the woman. Other symbols that were used to represent life were thorns, trees, and various animals. Words like winter and frozen were associated with death. She was presented to have danced with the scarecrow and talk with the animals, but instead of seeing this as an insane behavior, this was interpreted as the woman’s determination to live her life. As she was striding through “trees silver in their dead leaves”, it was suggesting that the woman was already undergoing a seasonal change. I was a little confused as to the woman was literally experiencing spring, or was she facing death. “She reached her hand up, but nothing reached down to give her a pull”. The interpretation for this line is that the woman tried to reach out to the heavens to ask them to take her, already, but the Holy Spirit was not there to receive her. Luckily, a hunter sent her to a medical institution. Despite her lone struggle, what remained, as her inspiration all throughout was her love for her grandson, because if it weren’t for her, the grandson may have perished. The journeys presented in the three literary pieces are different, but they all evolved around solitude.
First, the Road Not Taken was more on the solidarity of choosing the path to take. Secondly, the Used to Live Her Once, from the Title itself tells of a life of a woman who has already passed. Lastly, A Worn Path depicted the power of love and passion in overcoming any kind of journey, despite all the odds. The end point is that, each of these stories has their own valuable lesson to share to the readers and no matter how many paths there are in life, no matter what you are the person who determines the ending of the
journey.
References:
(Abel E 1979)Abel, E. (1979). Women and Schizophrenia: The Fiction of Jean Rhys. Retrieved from Contemporary Literature Web site: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1207964
(Clungston R W 2010 Journey Into Literature)Clungston, R. W. (2010). Journey Into Literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Frost R. (1916). The Road Not Taken. Mountain Interval. New York: Holt.
Rhys J. (1976). I Used To Live Here Once. Sleep it off, lady. London: Penguin Books.
Saunders, J. (1992). A Worn Path: The Eternal Quest of Welty’s Phoenix Jackson. The Southern Literary Journal, 25(1), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20078057 Welty, E. (1996). A Worn path. A Curtain of Green And Other Stories. New York: Doubleday.
Ashford University
Bradley C. Wilson
ENG 125- Introduction to Literature
Instructor: Joshua Mills
Final Paper
A short story and poem, no matter how structurally different are two literary pieces where a rich story is embedded. Readers are drawn towards these scripts by means of rhythm (poem), characterization, or a fictional setting in their respective narratives. However, the mere writing would not make it entertaining enough. It would depend on the imagination of the readers as they are reading the writings put in front of them. Every reader has their own way of visualizing the descriptions and symbolism used by the author. The three literary pieces, “The Road Not Taken” (poem), and the two …show more content…
short stories “A Worn Path” and “Used to Live Here Once” are all sharing the same theme, which is, every person’s journey is greatly governed by their decisions, and no matter how many paths there are, it is still the person who determines the ending of his/her journey. A short story and poem share many similar aspects. Both forms of writing can successfully send powerful messages or tell complex stories in a very short amount of words. Point of view is a big aspect in controlling short stories and poetry. Works are usually told in the first person point of view or the third person point of view. First Person means the reader is inside the character 's skin and experiences everything as though the reader were the character. This mode is easily identified by the use of "I" and "me" when talking about the main character.
Third Person means that the reader is not the character, but experiences the story as an unseen observer. This mode is distinguished by the use of "he", "she" when talking about the main character. Short literary works are confined to the boundaries on length according to their specific genre; they don’t have time for lengthy or slow introductions. Writers of the two genres also frequently take advantage of the use of symbolism and metaphor. These literary devices allow the authors to create works that deliver more than one meaning or a message while only stating one thing. When looking at short stories and poems, the theme unfolded differently in these three literary pieces. First, Robert Frost in his “The Road Not Taken” hinted in his poem that the character would be going through a journey. The author Robert used the first person point of view; it was easier to imagine him as the one who is going through the journey. On the contrary, the short story “A Worn Path” was written in third person, or “she”. Based on the author’s presentation, I readily imagined an alone woman as the character in the story. I was able to confirm this, because of a certain part in the story where the woman was talking to animals as she was walking like “Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, and beetles”. Because of this characterization, I easily felt solitude in the story. The part where the woman was depicted to be walking uphill is a representation of her struggles in her journey. It is literally hard to walk up a hill, and considering the woman’s age, it would be even more exhausting for her to reach her destination. This part merely suggests the hard life that the woman has lived. It is inevitable for the reader to really feel pity for the character. “Used to Live Here Once” uses the third person form as well, but either way, it was still able to present solitude in its own distinct way. Some lines that strongly suggest solitude are “She came to the worn steps” and “She was standing by the river”. Basically, the differences in the kind of solitude in the literary pieces were greatly affected by the choices that the character made. A story’s setting also affects the kind of engagement that the readers will have with the story. An illustration would be the title of The Road Not Taken. The poem is about a speaker standing in the woods with a decision to make in which road to take. In the title itself, the reader can already sense the conflict in the poem. In fact, the first line of the poem “two roads diverged in yellow wood” made me contemplate as a reader where the two roads could possibly lead me. Moreover, the first person narrative of the poem makes it easier for a reader like me to relate to it, to put myself into the story and character because of the more personal approach. Frost’s writing allows the reader to take his perspective on things, for instance his description of a certain path “where it bent in the undergrowth” and “grassy and wanted wear”. These descriptions made it clear enough for the readers that there are two distinct paths with both leading to the same destination. Another interpretation for this is a person’s attachment to something that is special for him. The speaker in the end chooses one way and says that he will take the other another day, yet it is unlikely that he will have that opportunity down the road. The theme for this poem after reading it and understanding it more might be “seize the day” or “carpe diem” if you would like. Poetry is definitely filled with symbolisms since it is one of its features. For example, the color yellow could mean an aging or something that is starting to lose its value. Another interpretation could also be a reference to the character of Dorothy of the “Wizard of Oz”, because the yellow brick road there signified the beginning of her adventures, and she started clueless. Apparently, the “two roads” in the story could mean a dilemma or two conflicting ideas that a person is dealing with. This could refer to any choice that the person is trying to make. Based on the poem, I can feel that Frost is trying to imply that the person is torn between two opportunities that he is facing. Further, there is another symbolism used to describe the two paths which is “in leaves no step had trodden black”. Black here could mean death, because of the context of the sentence where it was used. As the poem progresses, it was revealed that there was a more enticing path for the character which was “grassy and seemingly vibrant”, but doesn’t guarantee any certainty. Because of this, the other path is considered to be more appealing because it is safe and certain. But, the character in the poem was also bothered by the fact that people who passed by that path never came back. A decision was gradually revealed in the course of the poem, quite creatively. Before giving away the decision readily, the author presented a situation where the character was in front of the woods where he stayed “on the first for another day”. The author was able to creatively emphasize that it was the decision, and with that decision made, was more inclined on the uncertain path, which was definitely more exciting. The second literary piece, “Used to Live Here Once” was less challenging and interesting for me, because there was not much of conflict in the plot. However, it is very predictable for me to feel pity since the author was able to successfully create a sad feeling in his piece. Further, the image of a woman “standing by the river” made me think that she might have been there for a long time already, and instead of appreciating the river; she already forgot how to appreciate any amount of beauty. I am personally not a fan of sad stories, but this specific story was able to capture my heart in that part when the woman returned to her old home. Further, the narrative style used to present the plot in the story in the third person point of view, thus it might be hard for me to build a certain personal connection with the woman in the story. She talked about her surroundings as a “blue day” and that the sky looked “glassy”. I believe that the description could suggest that she had drowned in the river and the water clouds her view of the sky. Despite the first person perspective, it is also very likely that the author is still writing about her personal experiences, and hiding its sensitivity by means of a third person narrative. According to Elizabeth Able, the literary pieces of Jean Rhys are mostly “repetitive narratives and are variations of themes of failure and rejection” (Abel, 1979). Words like “shyly” can be a concrete proof of why Abel considers Rhys as someone who has been writing out of the feeling of rejection. The use of symbolism in the story also helped me to easily relate to it on a more personal level.
As we all know, river has long been known as the symbol of life, and as the story presented, the woman just kept on staring on the river. At the end of the story, the author already hinted that the woman died. With this, I believe that the woman’s lingering way of looking at the river was already the symbolism of the reflection that she made about her life. The author also made mention of a road, which was suddenly wider or “much wider than it used to be”, having the context of the woman’s struggle, it represents the woman’s perspective about life, which she viewed in a broader sense. At this point, the author used another color symbolism, which was blue, “This was a fine blue day.” As we all know, blue is a color of tranquility, which means the woman has finally found her peace. Although the story is generally written in third person, there was a certain part wherein the woman was talking to some kids, which was written in first person. This was a very effective scene because of the color symbolisms used by the author. As a matter of fact, color symbolism was mainly the reason why any reader would feel a sense of engagement in Rhys’s …show more content…
story. The “A Worn Path”, which was also written in third person narrative, seemed to make it easier for the reader to find an intimate connection with the story. Welty did this by providing a very detailed approach in building her character. Take for instance the line “A bright frozen day early in the morning”. As a reader, I can easily feel the ambiance that the author is trying to make with that kind of narration. It feels like really feeling the sun warm my face. I also gathered additional information regarding the story from James Saunders and he stated the story begins conspicuously on a cold December morning, and just as quickly we are made aware that this is an old black woman (Saunders, 1992). With this, Saunders is referring to how Welty introduced the “old negro woman. The character is described as old, and she was enduring the cold winds as she was trying to walk down the forest. Because of this, I readily felt a connection to the story, because I felt pity towards that woman. However, Welty was able to effectively shift the feeling of empathy into excitement, as she stated “the sun made the pine needles almost too bright to look up at”. This is one of the features of the story that I observed; it is filled with so many emotions, like sadness to excitement, excitement to adventure. The old woman in the story went through a lot of struggles in her time and the author does a great job of telling that story. There was even a part where she mentioned, “The sun was so high”. Aside from that, she had to cross a river, wherein she needs to use a log to reach to the other side. These struggles and all her efforts revealed that the woman was indeed determined to reach her destination no matter what. Personally, I found the tone, symbolism, and the personalization style of the story “A Worn Path” were assets of the story for me. The first line of the story, “bright frozen morning” is suggestive of the mortal trait and a sense of cheerfulness. There is only one path that can be identified from the story, and this is the path that the woman was determined to take. The author specifically described the woman as yellow underneath her dark cheekbones, which led me to envision her as old, thin, poor, yet very wise. There was also a very creative, personified description of the woman’s wrinkles, as Welty used the image of a small tree, which stood only as tall as the woman’s forehead. Because of this, it was much easier for me to imagine the scene and to connect with the woman. Other symbols that were used to represent life were thorns, trees, and various animals. Words like winter and frozen were associated with death. She was presented to have danced with the scarecrow and talk with the animals, but instead of seeing this as an insane behavior, this was interpreted as the woman’s determination to live her life. As she was striding through “trees silver in their dead leaves”, it was suggesting that the woman was already undergoing a seasonal change. I was a little confused as to the woman was literally experiencing spring, or was she facing death. “She reached her hand up, but nothing reached down to give her a pull”. The interpretation for this line is that the woman tried to reach out to the heavens to ask them to take her, already, but the Holy Spirit was not there to receive her. Luckily, a hunter sent her to a medical institution. Despite her lone struggle, what remained, as her inspiration all throughout was her love for her grandson, because if it weren’t for her, the grandson may have perished. The journeys presented in the three literary pieces are different, but they all evolved around solitude.
First, the Road Not Taken was more on the solidarity of choosing the path to take. Secondly, the Used to Live Her Once, from the Title itself tells of a life of a woman who has already passed. Lastly, A Worn Path depicted the power of love and passion in overcoming any kind of journey, despite all the odds. The end point is that, each of these stories has their own valuable lesson to share to the readers and no matter how many paths there are in life, no matter what you are the person who determines the ending of the
journey.
References:
(Abel E 1979)Abel, E. (1979). Women and Schizophrenia: The Fiction of Jean Rhys. Retrieved from Contemporary Literature Web site: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1207964
(Clungston R W 2010 Journey Into Literature)Clungston, R. W. (2010). Journey Into Literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Frost R. (1916). The Road Not Taken. Mountain Interval. New York: Holt.
Rhys J. (1976). I Used To Live Here Once. Sleep it off, lady. London: Penguin Books.
Saunders, J. (1992). A Worn Path: The Eternal Quest of Welty’s Phoenix Jackson. The Southern Literary Journal, 25(1), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20078057 Welty, E. (1996). A Worn path. A Curtain of Green And Other Stories. New York: Doubleday.