Three Contradictions in “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost: He may have had two narrative voices or alternate personalities who disagreed.

Three Contradictions

First, the title of the poem emphasizes the road NOT taken, but the poem itself emphasizes the road that IS taken.

Second, contrary to what most readers assume, the poem does NOT say that the traveler came to a fork in the road. No, there were TWO ROADS. So the traveler must already have been on one of the two roads.

Third, the best-known contradiction, is that both roads are said to have been equally worn, yet one is then claimed to have been less traveled, which makes no sense.

Cynical Interpretation

It could be argued that the poet prioritized beautiful language, poetic structure, and rhyme over meaning and common sense.

Multiple Narrator Interpretation

Another possibility is that Robert Frost had two narrative voices or alternate personalities who collaborated in the writing of this poem, and that these two narrators had contradictory views, which is evident in the result.