Candler Wendy 11/9/07 4th per The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost When I first encountered this poem in middle school and was forced to memorize it, I was told that The Road Not Taken was about how an individual should not choose the path in life taken by everyone else simply because it is the easiest or most convenient. But now, years later, when I read through the same poem this interpretation somehow seems flawed as subtle words and even entire lines contradict the inspirational message an inexperienced reader may claim it possesses. Those who skim through the poem without paying close attention to the wording may latch onto the clichd metaphor of a fork in the road and the lines I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference to automatically assume that the speaker is rebelling against the choices of others in favor of being independent and therefore benefiting in the long run. But this difference is not identified as either positive or negative, and the sigh with which he retells his story could be interpreted as one of either relief or regret. Even the though speaker says one of the paths is less traveled he also makes a point to say that they were wornreally about the same and equally unmarred. Although neither road is traveled and neither has a definite destination, still a decision must be made and a path taken regardless of its uncertain outcome. The speaker wishes to mark the first [path] for another day but realizes deep down that once the choice is made, other choices will eventually follow in its wake and the same exact fork in the road will never be reached again. But even as the path is chosen with apparent confidence, there is still always the self-doubt under the surface emphasized by the choice of the title. The poem is not called The Road Less Traveled, but instead it is The Road Not Taken as the speaker reflects on his or her choice later in life and wonders if the other road was really the best one after all. The essence of this poem is the simple fact that decisions are inevitable. Whether an individual chooses the right path or wrong one, the choice will always have to be made no matter the outcome.