The Road Not Taken Group

Question:

valen23
valen23
Student
College - Sophomore

How do such poems as “The Road Not Taken,” “Mending Wall,” work to discuss the individual and the culture?

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Posted by valen23 on Wednesday October 28, 2009 at 9:37 AM and tagged with literature, literature english.

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  1. pohnpei397 Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    In "Mending Wall" as I discuss at the first link below, Frost is talking about whether there is a need for barriers between individuals.  Follow the first link to read more.

    In "The Road Not Taken," Frost seems to be mocking the idea of nonconformity.  He has the speaker say that taking the road less traveled will eventually lead him to look back and say that it "made all the difference."  This sounds nonconformist.

    Yet in the rest of the poem, it is clear that there is really no difference between the roads and the speaker can't figure out which one to take.

    This seems to me to be saying that we fool ourselves into thinking that what we do is unique and individual and that we are really just like everyone else.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/road-not-taken-salem/road-not-taken...
    http://www.enotes.com/road-not-taken/q-and-a/how-do-such-...

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    Posted by pohnpei397 on Wednesday October 28, 2009 at 9:59 AM