In the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, what is "the difference" the speaker mentions in “I took the one less traveled by, And that has...

To answer this question, we need to consider "The Road Not Taken" as an extended metaphor. Frost's speaker is talking about a road in a wood, but what is he really talking about under the surface of the poem? We can look at the poem as a metaphor and look at the symbols used in the poem for our answer.

The road symbolizes a life path, and when the roads 'diverge,' or split, this...

To answer this question, we need to consider "The Road Not Taken" as an extended metaphor. Frost's speaker is talking about a road in a wood, but what is he really talking about under the surface of the poem? We can look at the poem as a metaphor and look at the symbols used in the poem for our answer.

The road symbolizes a life path, and when the roads 'diverge,' or split, this symbolizes a major life choice. When you are following your path in life, sometimes you come up to a choice between two options that will determine the course of the rest of your life. Some of these choices might include whether to attend university, which program to study, whether to marry someone, what job to accept, where to live, and whether to have children. In the third stanza, Frost says, "Oh, I kept the first for another day! / Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back." This means that sometimes we make a choice of a certain option, thinking that we can come back and do the other in the future. For example, you might choose to study engineering, thinking that you might work as an engineer for a few years until you're financially comfortable and then quit your job and begin a career as a novelist. But Frost (or the narrator) knows that in these instances, our life path usually continues in the direction we initially choose (way leads on to way), and we usually don't get a chance to go back and try a different path.

So in the end of the poem, when Frost says, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / And that has made all the difference," what he really means is, I opted for the life path that most would not choose, and I'm glad I did because it has made a positive difference in my life. For example, if most of your friends are choosing to study programs in university that will lead to generally stable, well-paying jobs, like engineering, you might choose to study English literature and pursue a career as a novelist. It is the road less traveled by because most people opt for the less risky choice of working toward a definite career and a steady income. The aspiring novelist, however, is pursuing his or her dreams and, although it will be difficult, can have a rich, fantastic life because of it. That is the difference. Your choices will mean the difference between a boring, frustrating life and an exciting, satisfying life.

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