~ archived since 2018 ~
Popular
Other
TheRabbitTunnel
[–]figyg14 points15 points16 points 5 years ago (9 children) | Copy Link
This is actually a pretty common Misrepresentation of the poem. You need the whole thing for the context.
It pretty much means that we justify our actions by saying we took the better Road, but we don't actually know what's on the other road. We just tell ourselves that to feel better
[–]FufuCuddlyPoops80 points1 point2 points 5 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link
I was going to say that. Good catch
[+][deleted] 5 years ago (7 children) | Copy Link
[deleted]
[–]jaycee94 points5 points6 points 5 years ago (2 children) | Copy Link
The poem’s speaker tells us he “shall be telling,” at some point in the future, of how he took the road less traveled by, yet he has already admitted that the two paths “equally lay / In leaves” and “the passing there / Had worn them really about the same.” So the road he will later call less traveled is actually the road equally traveled. The two roads are interchangeable.
According to this reading, then, the speaker will be claiming “ages and ages hence” that his decision made “all the difference” only because this is the kind of claim we make when we want to comfort or blame ourselves by assuming that our current position is the product of our own choices (as opposed to what was chosen for us or allotted to us by chance). The poem isn’t a salute to can-do individualism; it’s a commentary on the self-deception we practice when constructing the story of our own lives.
To put it another way, the poem's title conflicts with the text of the poem itself.
[–]Blogginginvicecity1 point2 points3 points 5 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link
Thanks you. I need to copypasta this because the ignorance is annoying once one knows the truth.
[–]queensackmofk1 point2 points3 points 5 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link
Yes, this is correct. Very succinctly put.
[–]figyg0 points1 point2 points 5 years ago (3 children) | Copy Link
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
You are wrong. Very Edge-Lord of you, though
[–]TheRabbitTunnel[S] -1 points0 points1 point 5 years ago (2 children) | Copy Link
Very edgelord of you
Theres no reason to be a dick about it.
Idk, maybe youre right. Ive read multiple interpretations. Neither of us are Robert Frost, so we cant know for sure.
[–]figyg3 points4 points5 points 5 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link
You're right, I didn't need to be a dick. I apologize.
Yeah, he shouldn't have been a dick.
For context, this poem I believe is from a correspondence to his friend. There is some context to piece together the meaning.
It's like how biblical history is a thing. If we look at literature in biblical times we can get a sense of the genre of the original text. If we read o.g. Greek versions we can get a better sense of the original meaning, as the Greek words used had different implications
[–]realChebz6 points7 points8 points 5 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link
which one's less traveled? They look about the same lmao. Dig the quote though
[–]LabTech410 points1 point2 points 5 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link
Usually the person making a meme like this will find a picture where a desire path or clearing of some kind splits off from an established path, but apparently they were lazy about it.
[–]Docbear646 points7 points8 points 5 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link
Wow I never thought of MGTOW as a " road less traveled" but it absolutely is
[–]hurricaneluke881 point2 points3 points 5 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link
One of my all time favorite quotes.
[–]Apaullo351 point2 points3 points 5 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link
From my understanding from learning about that poem at some point, the moral of it was that he had a harder time on the road less travelled and it ended up not being a road at all. The path less travelled becomes more and more undefined until it is one with the environment. It is a nonexistent path because no one is him at that point at time in regards to decisions.
Once he got to that point, he looked around and couldn’t see the other road any more. That was because both are untravelled; no one is you to have made that choice at that point in time. So all decisions that you make won’t ever be the exact same as others. The roads in the beginning looked different because because more people took that initial direction.
This is a lot more overthinking when the normal interpretation suits MGTOW perfectly. My comment here is a big IIRC and would appreciate it if anyone else learned about it and want to straighten out anything I have here. Sorry for a long comment, but this topic in particular is fun to think about.
Oh shit, they're all untravelled? Talk about the truth! This is a good starting point for more thinking.
I go on similar verbal roads when I find the topic interesting, I didn't think yours was long at all!
© TheRedArchive 2024. All rights reserved.created by /u/dream-hunter
[–]figyg14 points15 points16 points (9 children) | Copy Link
[–]FufuCuddlyPoops80 points1 point2 points (0 children) | Copy Link
[+][deleted] (7 children) | Copy Link
[deleted]
[–]jaycee94 points5 points6 points (2 children) | Copy Link
[–]Blogginginvicecity1 point2 points3 points (0 children) | Copy Link
[–]queensackmofk1 point2 points3 points (0 children) | Copy Link
[–]figyg0 points1 point2 points (3 children) | Copy Link
[–]TheRabbitTunnel[S] -1 points0 points1 point (2 children) | Copy Link
[–]figyg3 points4 points5 points (0 children) | Copy Link
[–]Blogginginvicecity1 point2 points3 points (0 children) | Copy Link
[–]realChebz6 points7 points8 points (1 child) | Copy Link
[–]LabTech410 points1 point2 points (0 children) | Copy Link
[–]Docbear646 points7 points8 points (0 children) | Copy Link
[–]hurricaneluke881 point2 points3 points (0 children) | Copy Link
[–]Apaullo351 point2 points3 points (1 child) | Copy Link
[–]Blogginginvicecity1 point2 points3 points (0 children) | Copy Link