Away and the Road Not Taken

An individuals curiosity and wonder can create new understandings and renew their perceptions of how they not only see themselves but the world around them.   For an individual to create a new understanding of themselves and others they must first embark upon a journey of their own. Throughout Michael Gow's Away and Robert Frost's 'The Road Not Taken' the elements of a journey and the choices that life encounters are clearly evident. The visual representation of a path in a yellow wood and a coin portray the aspects of a journey and the choices made by an individual throughout their life. The two paths symbolise the paths to follow and/or choose from in life, meanwhile, the coin representing the choices and decisions individuals come across throughout their lifetime.

An individuals curiosity leads them to travel down a path that may challenge or affirm their original thoughts and/or feelings. Throughout Gow's Away, one of the main characters Tom learns that he has leukaemia, this leads him to keep his knowledge of his illness from his parents. Tom can see his immanent future from his illness, death. Tom chooses to take the path of curiosity   by living every moment of his life to the fullest. Tom wonders what it would be like to have sexual intercourse with a female, Meg in particular. “I want to. I have to. Please, please. Just once. Oh Christ, please. Come on. Just lie down. I won't hurt you I just have to.” (Act IV Scene II) The use of the two paths in the visual representation gives the audience the interpretation that there are two paths in life and that it is the individuals choice as to which path they choose to take.

Revelations and reconciliation transform the way individuals perceive and understand the world they live in. In Gow's Away the character Vic is a character who has a very positive attitude toward life and the problems that life throws at her. She knows that her son, Tom, will die from leukaemia so she helps others in the play to see the...