Symbolism_of_the_Journey

Symbolism of the Journey: “The Road Not Taken” &”The Worn Path” Laura Adams Eng 125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Wanda Deffenbaugh July 25, 2011 Symbolism of the Journey: “The Road Not Taken” &”The Worn Path” As it stands in modern days, symbolism is commonly used in short stories and poems. Either way the author uses such literary works to lure the reader in. When such works are used the writer must consider how a reader could relate, whether through life experiences or imagination. The experience begins with, and is determined by, the depth of connection you make with the imaginary world that a piece of literature presents. Now symbolism is something that has literary identity, but also stands for something else (as cited in Clugston, 2010, section 10.4). It is something that is widely understood and has been developed by common ground, and is intensified when used paradoxically, thus causing opposite meaning to its conventional meaning. To the best of my knowledge, I have found that poets do not use paradox because they focus primarily on symbolism, theme, and even setting a specific tone. We now know that paradox would generally be used in stories and not poems, considering that stories have a longer chance to produce a plot, climax, and a resolution including a chance to use foreshadowing or flashbacks. Let’s take a look into how symbolism is in the journey. Symbolism can be used in two ways, and the experience that we can adhere to is definitely a journey in itself. It is most commonly that writers or poets would use animals or certain objects for their message to portray or code a message for the reader to find. Picture yourself riding in a car, and while it’s raining you look beyond the windshield wipers to see the road. You see the main focus, but there are obstructions in the way. Now all you have to do is make a choice, and follow through with confidence, and not second guess your steps. When you second guess yourself, you are more likely to create more problems than you originally started with. Let’s begin our journey with two very unusual but meaningful works, “The Road Not Taken” and “The Worn Path”. When looking at the these two literary works they almost seem as if they are alike but, when thinking about how the cover sounds they are very much two different works. Robert Frost wrote “The Road Not Taken” from written from first person point of view. Eudora Welty wrote "A Worn Path" from a third-person limited point of view. So right here from the very beginning the styles are very different giving us a peek to what the rest of these forms could be brought up as we are reading. First let’s start with Frost and his poetry work. In “The Road Not Taken”, Frost gives us many symbols in his wording. First Frost tells us to imagine or visualize a fork in the road in the middle of the woods which leads us to traditional vision of allegory (Worldbook Advanced 2011). The speaker in this poem must decide which path to take. After looking down both, he takes the one "less traveled by," and then states that this choice "has made all the difference" in his life. Without recognizing that Frost's forest road represents the road of life and experience, our understanding and appreciation of this poem remains limited and shallow. The two roads in this poem symbolize the speaker’s choice between two different metaphorical paths he must take. His comment at the end of the poem that this decision "has made all the difference" leads us to believe that this decision was an important one. Frost is able to successfully utilize his well-used "road" symbology because he artfully entwines it in a realistic and picturesque environment. His roads "bend in the undergrowth," are "grassy," and are covered with fall leaves. His symbols become a world where the abstract notions of life and choice find concrete form. When reading this there are a many of symbols used to conquer the battle of the mind and for which way will it go. Let’s go to another symbol in Frost’s work. How about the “yellow wood”' Could that be a symbol used to tell us the time of the year' Of course! The “yellow wood” was used to get us thinking that it was in the fall time when the leaves were just changing and the days were getting colder. So when Frost used symbols in his work he used them to capture the imagination to keep us reading. Now let’s look at the symbolism in “The Worn Path”, by Welty. The most obvious symbol in the story is Phoenix Jackson's comparison to the mythological bird, the phoenix. Dressed in vivid colors, Phoenix's resilience is underscored to her comparison with a bird that rises from the ashes every 500 years. Additionally, Phoenix's grandson is described by the woman as "[wearing] a little patch quilt and peep out holding his mouth open like a little bird." Also there were uses of symbols like "Seem like there is chains about my feet, time I get this far”. With this we could put that Phoenix was thinking of slavery by using this term when she was trying to get up the hills. Welty’s use of symbolism gives this short story a meaning that puts you in the distance awaiting the old lady to make it to town to help her sick son by getting medicine. By looking at this we see that Phoenix has choices for which she forgets. Although she encounters a many of obstacles along the way, she manages to make it to her final destination. Now given that this two literary works have many symbols in them for which I only named a few they have some similar meanings like” two roads” and “a path” are meant for making decisions and that each are meaning that what decision is made could be the one to make or break what the situation is. Now in some case Frost uses leaves and roads to symbolize the writers decision but Welty uses a bird for an old woman whom is trying to get to her location that is miles away. Both use objects that give meaning and they turn life decisions into the right ones whether it’s the right one or not in our mind. Looking at each author, Frost uses dramatic and rough but enlightened words to his poetry. As Borroff states Frost is known for his proficiency in mimetic sound effects, the language of his "speaking voice" is not conspicuously marked by the systems of alliteration and assonance that characterize the verse of Tennyson or Swinburne (Borroff, vol. 107, No.1). When looking at the ways of Welty’s writing, she has combined delicacy with shrewd and robust humor. Her writing, just as Frost has a natural symbolic way. But her writing is different in many others. She captured the voices of the people around her. When you are reading it’s like being in a movie and playing one of the character roles. Although there are many great authors out there in the world today, I chose these two due to the meaning that each one brings to the table when I am reading them. Frost is known again for his poems and Welty is known for her short stories. Both have tremendous values when they write but they also have a different way of drawing their readers in. When I read Frost’s poem, his way of dealing with life was mere fact but brought light to the conclusion that he was foretelling. Although we are looking at the way he worded his poem we are too looking at the difference that he lends just like Welty does. Frost has a hard style to pinpoint. He writes on most of his everyday writes about everyday experiences - his own experiences, but he was one who saw metaphorical extensions in the everyday things he encountered. The experiences are his subject matter along with the rural setting of New England nature, seasons, weather and times of day. This raw material accounts for one of the enduring qualities of his poems because these things are timeless - they are still in our consciousness - still a part of our lives. Regardless of subject and setting, Frost's metaphorical extensions and his mastery of form are his true genius. When looking at Welty’s style her writings are light-hearted and realistic. Her stories explore common everyday life.   She used theme to bring her stories to life. Although she wrote with great passion her everyday life brought her writing’s to her mind. So in all reality in looking at both styles, they are somewhat the same. For a moment let’s look at the element used them their writing and see how similar or different they were. Frost had many different elements that he used in “The Path Not Taken” many those elements included metaphors, similes and onomatopoeia. The emphasis on the aesthetics of language and the use of techniques such as repetition, meter and rhyme are what are commonly used to distinguish Robert Frost poetry from Robert Frost prose. Poems often make heavy use of imagery and word association to quickly convey emotions. With Welty’s “A Worn Path”, she uses alliteration, metaphors and similes in describing what her characters were going through and how the setting brought about the theme to the story. Here if we look both writers use metaphors and similes but each put different other elements in their writing to bring out the uniqueness of what each is talking about. Frost uses onomatopoeia for his writing and Welty uses alliteration in hers, so similar and different techniques bring these two writers together in different ways. So you might ask what onomatopoeia is. Onomatopoeia is the use of words (such as hiss or murmur) that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to (McGraw Hill Education, 2002). In “The Road Not Taken”, Frost uses “the sigh” to dramatize the poem which allows the readers to empathies with him better. With Welty’s writing she uses alliteration in her words. This means that there was the use of repetition of initial consonant sounds in her sentences. For example: “where the wind rocked, Lifting her skirt, leveling her cane fiercely before her like a festival figure in some parade, she began to march across. So we can tell the differences of her writing to Frost when we look at the way they portray their writing on paper. If we take at last look at these two works we see a many great differences in the writing and also in the way these writer’s conclude the plot for which their story takes us in. As looking to Frost, he brings density to his work as though Welty brings light reality to hers. We read about these authors in many forms but never seem to give in to what they are really talking about but more so we let ourselves ride into the plot as though we are trying to solve the mystery ourselves. When we have two literary works that seem the same we seem to think about if the same outcome is the right one like in Frost’s poem. But in the short story of Welty, we get caught up in the characters mood and envision what may happen whether good or bad. All we know is that each story plays a role for each of the writers portrayed here. It is always difficult to make a decision because it is impossible not to wonder about the opportunity cost, what will be missed out on. There is a strong sense of regret before the choice is even made and it lies in the knowledge that in one lifetime, it is impossible to travel down every path. When we look into the eyes of what the character speaking is looking at then in both works we get a sense of a different direction in every choice that is made. Whether is a path or a road in “The Road Not Taken” or the journey to make a sick person better, no matter the chosen way it can bring a difference to whomever it reaches, big or small! In depth look at these literary works brings in tone, imagination and mystery. Foreseeing the outcome is never easy but is also a guessing game. When comparing and contrasting two completely different people but write almost alike in two very well written works that seem to fall off the page with each other tells more of the story then the own writer does. We see differences in everything that we come in contact with and what it holds only draws us, the reader in more each and every time we read a poem or even a short story. Guessing games are genuine and when the mind decides when it is time to play tricks then the decision is ours to make ready or not. References Clugston, R.W. (2010). Journey into Literature. San Diego, Bridgeport Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu Borroff, Marie. Sound Symbolism as Drama in the Poetry of Robert Frost, Jan, 1992(pp. 131- 144) Vol. 107. No.1 http://jstor.org/stable/462806 Mcgraw Hill Higher Education, 2002. The McGraw Hill Companies .http://highered.mcgrawhill.com/sites/0072405228/student_view0/complete_glossary.htm l, onomatopoeia Polk, Noel. “Welty, Eudora.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2011. Web.11 July 2011 "Road Not Taken, The." World Book Advanced. World Book, 2011. Web. 25 July 2011. .