individualism

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Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

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SENSE OF DESIRE FOR INDIVIDUALISM: Wants to be alone and able to make decisions based on what he wants rather than giving in to the responsibilities he has towards others. Even though at the end he decides to go back to his responsibilities, we see it took him conviction to get there. Constant human conflict between doing what you want and doing what you should

'And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.'

anaphora creates a sense of him convincing himself to continue.
creates a feeling of drowsiness. monotonous. this is the first stanza that uses a different rhyme pattern. AAAA (now) vs ABAB - reflects that he has made his decision/mental commitment in what he wants to do. the change in stanza structure reflects a change in attitude - he has decided to keep going

'Out Out-'


'No more to build on there'


the doctors are very mechanical and have no feelings about the death - parallel man and machinery. humans are becoming mechanical. Death is final and irreversible, in whichever form it comes.

the boy is useless after his death because he cannot work/build. pun. comment on society. the way we use humans as disposable. only worth the work you can do. they are useless once they cannot work. - in this work force. link to apple picking.

Idea that we no longer look at humans as individuals but rather as a collective, as what they are worth in terms of work. Due to industrialisation, the individual was seen as a negligible thing, mattering only based on what work you do rather than what you are and the choices you make. Industrialisation limited choices of work and freedom, creating an unceasing cycle of work.

Birches


'I'd like to go by climbing a birch tree,' The use of personal voice. euphemism

a desire expressed: what he wants, he makes the choices. it is intimate and revealing.

personal voice: insight into how Frost himself feels. how he sees things as metaphors. personify things.

it seems like it is more about him

if i was to die, i would like to die from a climbing a birch tree

the Road not taken

Non-conformity and individualism - egoistic, trying to be individualistic but in reality, speaker is not special because both paths are similar. Want to feel different in life. But as humans, we are capable of making decisions based on what society lets us do, like based on the level of education we have.


'And be one traveller, long i stood'
Paralysed - contemplating
Choice and uncertainties in life - our desire to make the best possible choice. We as humans have a desire to make our own choices ours as much as possible, using factors like knowledge we have, feelings we feel. It is very much a focus on what we want to do for ourselves. No external coercion

Then took the other, as just as fair/And having perhaps the better claim/ Because it was grassy and wanted wear

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Makes a choice but the problem is not solved, he is still wondering about the other choice. Sense of regret and sorrow carries on. Irony: whichever you choose, you will be left wondering.

Conventional vs unconventional life - choose left travelled = value individualism over conformity. Absence of travel = a positive, not negative. Non-conformity = a positive trait. First road = popular = not green = not appealing

THEN = temporal marker = signifies his decision is final.

Fair = equally attractive and appealing. Ironic use of pun = fair is like equal.

Better claim = we focus on the status, we want the best, better one.

Woodpile


And not another like it I could see

Irony: not something unique seen as something unique. The desire to be unique makes us all the same.

I was just far from home.Intentionally go on a journey to separate from home - desperation to escape.
Caesura - moment of realisation / abrupt stop to create tension / excitement because he is so far from home. Home = individualism (3) doing something unusual, like going far from home


'I might have gone.' Direction. The bird flew off in the same direction as he might have gone. Justifying to himself that he is as free to make decisions and go where he wants to = individualism. But he really does not.

Individualism is presented as a concept we desire to exercise, when in reality, we have a lot of limitations to do so. Either because it is not possible (like flying) or because everyone else's desire to be unique leads us to the same outcome

Mending wall: the compulsion to follow tradition impedes our ability to make choices as we want.

After Apple Picking

'Of the great harvest I myself desired.'

He desired success, achievement, everything. Saying he never got it, and maybe it will never be achieved. Depressing tone and metaphor

Unfulfilled life

The idea that as individuals, we have a desire to be self-reliant and independent, making our own choices, shaping our own lives, achieving our own successes. However, this was not possible for him due to the insatiable cycle of working and the chances he let pass him by. therefore, Individualism is presented as an impossible concept, one where we will never feel satisfied with because it is not possible to have all our choices made by us and our entire life made by us. External factors will inevitably play a part.

And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
It is ironic that the wall that is meant to separate them, brings them together. this paradoxical approach is Frost's way of demonstrating how useless the traditions can be viewed and how, even for neighbour who so strongly stands for the wall, it defeats his own purpose. It shows how it has no purpose but it is done out of necessity rather than individual choice: a sense of upholding a tradition out of respect rather than something that is thought through and really desired by the person.


Good fences make good neighbors.’



the repetition makes it seem like it is something even the neighbour himself has to convince himself he wants, questioning whether this is his true individual choice or if it has been indoctrinated in him to believe this?effect: pound it into the reader's head that we need the wall. to make it into a fact.
the neighbour is trying to convince himself of his father's saying.
unnatural: the repetition is unnatural; feels robotic - indoctrination. tradition - do we believe it or are we forced to believe in it?

An Unstamped Letter

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Caesura

Only within.

Emphasise his change of outlook on life; gain new insights and realisation and perspective. It is a personal experience. INDIVIDUALISM.

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Semantic field of clarity

All was plain...men have thought about in vain

Everything was seen clearly - men do the same thing but he allows himself a moment to think. People do not do this. INDIVIDUALISM.