Be Heard: Why was the road not taken?

A great man once said, ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I ... I took the one less travelled by’. Many of us have been blindly quoting those words (by Robert Frost) to signify uniqueness and individuality.

At first they may seem so, but as a student studying literature, I have been taught to look deep beyond the words on the page. I have been told to never blindly follow what is known, but rather, question it.

Yes, many take Frost’s words as denoting the person’s strong character. But when taking the text apart, one can see what he’s truly saying. Frost states, “and be one traveller, long I stood,” which clearly shows that he wasn’t able to decide at first because he was on his own. He’s a follower. He would’ve picked a different one had there been someone else with him to influence his choice.

Choice

“And I took the one less travelled by,” says Frost, making it seem as if the only reason he chose it was to defy what others have been forcing upon him his entire life. He was always forced to do what others do, and then for once, he’s given a choice. So he foolishly picks the one that he usually wouldn’t take, without even thinking of the consequences.
Frost doesn’t try that hard to evaluate his choice. He clearly states that by saying, “And looked down one as far as I could.” But did not challenge himself and walk a bit further to see where it might lead to. He chose to be passive and just “look” at the choice superficially, rather than thinking about it and assessing it logically.
Personally, all of my siblings have picked the same major in university, except for me. I didn’t reject it because I wanted to be different, nor because I wanted to take a road that no one else in my family has taken.

Self-belief

I did it because I was convinced that I wanted it. The number of people that have already picked that major didn’t matter to me. Whether it was a thousand or none, it wouldn’t have changed my mind. I thought about the job opportunities that the major has to offer.

Robert Frost ends his poem by saying, “and that has made all the difference”. He didn’t specify the impact that his choice had on his life.
Think about it this way: a road less taken is that way for a reason. People don’t choose it because of the dangers it might hold. Not everyone who takes it will live to tell the tale.
— The writer is a pupil of a Dubai-based school and a Gulf News reader