Student Question
What is the main interpretation debate of "The Road Not Taken"?
Quick answer:
While the title of "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost supports the idea that the speaker does take the road less traveled, there is ambiguity in his words. In the poem, there are phrases such as "the one less traveled by" and "that will make all the difference." Later, he says that both roads were equally worn and that he had no preference. The title may be ironic—perhaps it would have been better to choose a more traveled path.
People typically interpret the fork in the road in this poem to be symbolic of the choices we make. We may have a few options at each of these moments of decision, but ultimately we cannot really know where each choice would take us, just as the speaker cannot see where the roads lead.
The speaker examines both choices, noting that the second is "just as fair" as the first, and he admits that "the passing there / Had worn them really about the same." In other words, the two roads are worn pretty equally, implying that approximately the same number of people have taken them: neither one, then, is actually "less traveled." In fact, the speaker also says that "both [roads] that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black" (my emphasis). He chooses the second option, knowing that he'll probably never come back to try...
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the first road.
Finally, he claims that he will tell this story in the future, perhaps to his grandchildren, since it will be "ages and ages" from now. He will say that there were
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Thus, he is planning to lie. He will tell people that one of the roads was clearly "less traveled" than the other and that he took that road. We might assume it is because he wants to seem brave, as though he made a difficult and relatively unique choice. However, if you recall, there IS no road less traveled—he described them as equal in many ways—and so we are left to consider the possibility that there are, perhaps, no real unique choices to be made.
Many people interpret this poem to mean that it is possible and good to take the road less traveled. However, it is difficult to find evidence for this interpretation since the speaker so clearly describes the roads as equals. Perhaps this interpretation says more about us, actually confirming the conclusions we might draw from the narrator's desire to lie and make himself sound unique.
In "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, the usual debate centers around the speaker's choice to take the road less traveled. While some think it is best to take the road less traveled "because it was grassy and wanted wear," the speaker tells the story "with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence." The sigh is confusing because it could be a contented sigh, or it could be a sigh of disappointment and regret.
The speaker offers no clues about the nature of the sigh, so it is ambiguous and open to debate. The name of the piece itself is interesting and may contribute to the argument - it is called "The Road Not Taken," and not "The Road Less Traveled." Robert Frost names the piece after the road he chose not to go down, which makes the speaker seem wistful for a second chance at choosing between roads. Because the poem is open to interpretation, it is relatable to all who are making similar choices, for everyone learns that choosing a specific path will make "all the difference."
Another topic sometimes debated is the question of whether the speaker has actually taken the road less traveled. The speaker seems to acknowledge at one point that "both that morning equally lay / In leaves no step had trodden black." Does the speaker take the road less traveled—or just the one that initially seemed that way?