Comparative Description of The Road Not Taken and A Worn Path - Research Paper Example

Themes & Corresponding Works – The Road Not Taken and A Worn Path Introduction The Road Not Taken and A Worn Path are two literary works that can be compared and contrasted in many ways. The Road Not Taken is written by Robert Frost and is a poem published in the 1916. It was a poem that gained much of popularity and is the most successful work of the writer. It is a narrative poem which is based on a journey of endless difficulties and tough decisions made. This poem describes many events in the life of a human that he often regrets and the human tendency to keep looking back. A Worn Path on the other hand is a short story which is about a woman who is set off on a journey for her grandson. Her journey depicts love, devotion, emotions and many hardships that she had to suffer. A comparison of both these works will provide understanding of two different forms of literary works showing the human nature and a blend of many undeniable feelings that occur from the existence of tough situations in life. Content The main content of the poem The Road Not Taken lies in the difficult decisions that the writer had to take. The toughest decision that he has talked about is the decision between two roads that he had to take and then later he describes the road he took as “I took the one less traveled by”. The writer starts off by describing the scene of the woods where he has come. He shows its fall and the leaves are changing their colors. He describes the feeling of confusion that he is in as he doesn’t understand which path of the two to choose. He analyzes the paths and looks at one of them as far as he could, but eventually takes the other one. The oath he takes is not as worn as the other but the leaves on both look quite fresh. Later on in the poem he describes how his decision was a life changing decision. The writer also describes his regret in stronger words as he wishes to take both the roads but he couldn’t. He talks about his regret that he would have all his way in thinking that where he would have ended if he would have chosen the other road. However, he stands there long to take his decision, and this shows he is on foot and not in any carriage or car. The writer explains about the description of the paths and how he could analyze what they look like and compare them. He uses many words such as “To where it bent in the undergrowth” to talk about what he sees, here it is the plants and the woods that have blocked his view and thus, he tries to see as far as he could but finds nothing but a blocked view (Tofte, 2011). Further he writes about regretting his choice all the way throughout his journey. The writer talks about the road and how he thinks he could have chosen the other road and guilt travels through his mind every now and then as he stays restless and unsatisfied. In the end the writer jumps to the future and mentions about his regret about choosing the path he did, he explains it as being “the one less traveled by” which also shows regret but then he says “that has made all the difference” which shows that choosing that path has made him what he is after years. He chose the path usually people didn’t and that’s why his life had turned out successful and different from that of many. On the other hand, the content of the story A Worn Path relates to The Road Not Taken in many aspects. A Worn Path is a story about an old African American woman whose name is Phoenix and who is walking through the woods into the town. Here the scenario of both the literary works may be compared and the ways the writers have described the scenes hold many similarities. The description of Phoenix is also given in detail and the writer talks about the way she is dedicated, poor, old and very imaginative. She walks through a path which is difficult and rough yet she is familiar to it. Phoenix’s journey is described with interesting aspects that bring life to the story. The writer talks about her interaction with the animals that she finds on her way, her mumbling to herself about the way, her self-sacrificing nature throughout and her fear to see a scarecrow (Orr,1992). The story further talks about how poor and desperate the old woman is and how she distracts a man just to steal his dropped nickel. After she has reached her destination she forgets her purpose of coming there. Eventually she remembers that her ill grandson is the reason for whom she carried out a long journey. Her journey is as a result of the illness of her grandson who swallowed lye years before and how she believes that he is going to be fine one day. She has come to a doctor and tells his symptoms and keeps telling herself not to forget him again. The old woman is described to be living in her own dream world and a world of imaginations where she hopes she had a purpose in her life. She fools herself many times and in fact the grandson may have dies to which she refuses. She is unusual and sees things that do not exist. She certainly does a lot for him and is admirable for the sacrifices she has been making. The content of both the works can be compared regarding the facts that both writers have written about the journey of their characters on a path or road in the woods. They have talked about a scenario of the woods and the descriptions vary yet the context in which they are writing are the same. They show in their content how the journeys on these paths have changed the lives of the characters and in both the stories the end is broad. This means that there is no exact ending but it gives the reader a chance to think how these writers have written about life and the changing spirits of the human behavior. Form The Road Not Taken is a poem and A Worn Path is a short story. There are many differences and similarities when these two forms of literary works are compared. The form of the writing has some major impacts on the reader’s minds and on the message that they convey. The poem is a way which is written in a condensed meaning which means that the story and the message is literally just a theme that has been shrunk into a very small piece of writing. But the understanding of the story lies in the details and the analysis of what the writer really wants to communicate. The Road Not Taken is a poem which is written in four stanzas and still when it is analyzed, the analysts find a variety of expressions, descriptions, feelings and messages that are delivered to the reader. Every line of the poem brings out a new meaning and there is a lot of use of metaphors to add to the rhythm. The poem is usually misunderstood by the readers because of the words used and the use of syllables to form the beat. The end of the poem is also mentioned in an incomplete manner in which the reader has an open chance to think and analyze what the writer wanted to say and what must have happened. It gives many aspects and many possible conclusions. The use of poetry form means that the writer has summarized his content to the maximum and left an open ending for the readers (Lovins, 1976). The poem form of The Road Not Taken also signifies and evokes the emotional response from the reader. This is generated by the use of the rhythm of the lines, the choice of words, the figurative language and overall the look of the poem which touches the spirit and the heart of the reader. The appearance of the poem matters as it can delight the reader and thus, the poet often fixes the line of the poem to fit the subject. Poems say the most in the fewest of words. These characteristics maximize the impact of the message on the reader. On the other hand, A Worn Path is a short story and short stories share many similarities with poetry. In both these forms of writing, the writers try their best to give away their message in the simplest and the most summarized form. Where poetry follows this to the extreme as explaining many complex ideas in as less as two lines, short stories can be known to be more descriptive and clear. In short stories, writers can have enough time to develop the theme and the characters and thus making it more straight forward. The tone and the characterization that is formed in short stories are different than in poetries. This difference is evident from the story A Worn Path as it has a descriptive account of the old woman’s journey to save her grandson. The writer has described the woman, the scenario, her feelings and the nature of the subject so well that it provides a straight approach to the reader to understand what is being said. The writer has made it clear for the reader to know what is happening around the women and how her thoughts relate to the surroundings. This can be seen by the fact that she is on a journey alone in the woods where she finds so many things to relate to as she herself is extremely imaginative (Saunders, 1992). A short story also allows the reader to be free to interpret the symbolism that has been used. There are many points in the story that have not been given away such as the existence of the grandson. It is not clear that whether he has died and the old woman is unaware of it, or maybe she is aware but in denial or maybe he is actually alive and ill. This is similar to The Road Not Taken in which the writer has not mentioned many of the aspects clearly like the conclusion and exactly how the journey had changed the writer’s life. Style The style in which poetries are written varies from person to person but no matter what the style is, poetry may hold great emotion. The Road Not Taken is written in four stanzas of five lines each. All the lines of the stanzas are capitalized, flush left, and are approximately the same length. The rhythm scheme which is used is A B A A B. there are four beats per line used which are mostly iambic, and with an interesting use of anapests. The poem has a strict form which makes it obvious that the writer is very much concerned about the form and with regularity. This is the typical style of the writer, Robert Frost. When we first read it, the style of the poem seems to be formal, moralistic and very American (Whissell, 1999). A Worn Path is a story which is written in third person and it shows many symbolism and themes depicted through words. The first and the foremost attraction is in the name of the characters which show symbolism. The main character’s name is Phoenix and also the name of the mythological bird that rises from the ashes. The use of the words ‘worn path’ shows symbolism as it is used for the pilgrimages by all the pilgrims who are on a religious quest. Throughout the history this kind of a word is used for ways which are full of challenges and hardships, and thus the title of the story itself gives the reader a mindset of the framework (McHaney, 2005). The story also talks about a hunter who taunts Phoenix pointing his gun at her in a threatening gesture. The use of such words and actions in the story show the style of the writer who depicts the themes of racism, and more than that it shows the message of hope and perseverance and the strength of the woman at the face of hardships. The style of the writer of the story is persuasive and is descriptive and he has highlighted many of the themes in which he used symbolic words. It can be assessed that the style of writing in both of the works are different and at the same time they can relate to each other as well. The poem has also used the symbolic style of describing the main themes and so has the short story. Both the writers have chosen the style to write their content in the most summarized form using the best words and symbolic language. Both the writers have left an open ending where the reader has the ability to think over the journey and how it was so influential in their lives. The Road Not Taken and A Worn Path can both be compared by the content that the stories base upon. Both the works talk about the journeys of the characters and the writers have used the metaphors and fugitive language to explain the scenarios. The works may differ from each other in their form as one of a poem and one is a short story. The form of the work matters a lot when it is to attract the reader and bring out the emotions. References Orr E. (1992) Unsettling Every Definition of Otherness": Another Reading of Eudora Welty's" A Worn Path. JSTOR Lovins A. (1976) Energy strategy: the road not taken. HeinOnline Tofte P. (2011) Walking the Path Less Travelled. Appleton Christian School Saunders J. (1992) "A Worn Path": The Eternal Quest of Welty's Phoenix Jackson. JSTOR McHaney P. (2005) Eudora Welty: The Contemporary Reviews. Cambridge University Press Whissell C. (1999) Holding emotional and linguistic rulers up to the poetry of Robert Frost. Psychological reports Read More