The Road Not Taken does throw light on Robert Frost and his penchant for doubles. I would say, his infatuation with doubles could be traced to his childhood experiences. His mother would read him Bible stories stressing on the stark opposites – the good and the evil; failures and success; happiness and sadness; despair and hope. Moreover, the contrasting traits between the poet’ parents also left an abiding impact on the poet’s mind. The Road Not Taken is also an expression of the poet’s desire to fuse with his friend, Edward Thomas. By uniting with Edward, Frost could stem the primitive rage which he had inherited from his father and the poet would try to control his fury evoked by separation. On top of that, it is well-known that years before Robert Frost wrote the poem, he had a strange experience involving a crossroad where he saw a man just like himself approaching and almost uniting with him, who then passed by. This experience stayed with him as he uses this imagery in the poem. I think, the man he saw in his vision could be his ‘poetic self’ resolved to take the unconventional approach to life or his ‘mischievous self’ poking fun at his friend, Edward Thomas, for his compulsive indecisiveness. At the psychoanalytic level, the poem can also reveal the poet’ conflict between heterosexual and homosexual object choices. And, yes, like many creative personalities, Robert Frost also craved for secret sharers or doubles like his wife Elinor and later Kay Morrison to excite and facilitate his creativity. I think the poem is closely bound up with the poet.
