Compare and Contrast

A short story and poem, no matter how structurally different are two literary pieces where a rich story is embedded. Readers are drawn towards these scripts by means of rhythm (poem), characterization, or a fictional setting in their respective narratives. However, the mere script would not make it entertaining enough. It would depend on the imagination of the readers as they are reading the literary script. Every reader has their own way of visualizing the descriptions and symbolism used by the author. The three literary pieces, “The Road Not Taken” (poem), and the two short stories “A Worn Path” and “Used to Live Here Once” are all sharing the same theme, which is, every person’s journey is greatly governed by their decisions, and no matter how paths there maybe, it is still the person who determines the ending of his/her journey.
      On the other hand, the theme unfolded differently in these three literary pieces. First, Robert Frost in his “The Road Less Taken” hinted in his poem that the character would be going through a journey. And since he used the first person character, which was “I” it was easier to imagine him as the one who is going through the journey. On the contrary, the short story “A Worn Path” was written in third person, or “she”. But based on the author’s presentation, I readily imagined an alone woman as the character in the story. I was able to confirm this, because of a certain part in the story where the woman was talking to animals as she was walking like “Out of my way, all you foxes, owls, and beetles”. Because of this characterization, I easily felt solitude in the story. The part where the woman was depicted to be walking uphill is a representation of her struggles in her journey. It is literally hard to walk in an uphill, and considering the woman’s age, it would be even more exhausting for her to reach her destination. This part merely suggests the hard life that the woman is currently living. It is inevitable for the reader to... [continues]

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