Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
We've got one more fast one for you.
When Katsa is agonizing over what to do about her feelings for Po, we are told that during that day's travel, she "would have given anything for a clear, straight path," but instead, "the road wound back and forth, up rises and into gullies" (20.41)—exactly as, we imagine, her thoughts are traveling at that particular point in time.
So she's traveling a long and winding road both physically and emotionally here, and the clear path she longs for is the easy answer. Something that in real life, as for Katsa on this occasion, can sometimes prove elusive.