




The Journey by Mary Oliver is a poem about a fundamental experience that most people go through at one point in life. It expresses the progression of one’s mind from being trapped by society to realizing the worth of individuality. Oliver’s main theme is the journey to the discovering of one’s self. She uses individual words, phrases and the structure of the poem to show the determination it takes to become self-aware.

At the start of the poem Oliver says, “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, …” (Oliver 92). Oliver’s use of the word finally in the beginning of the poem has a different meaning than most associate with the word. Although, the word finally has a couple of different meanings according to the Webster’s Dictionary, Oliver changes the meaning from usually being a word that introduces a final point to the start of a journey. By doing this Oliver invokes a sense of realization to the reader that a new day of self-awareness has begun. Now that there is this new outlook at the beginning, throughout the rest of the poem Oliver shows the determination it takes by adding various things you will have to overcome while on this journey of self-discovery. 

After realizing there has to be change the reader becomes determined to keep to the path of discovery and becoming anew. ““Mend my life!” each voice cried. But you didn’t stop.,” (Oliver 92). In this quote Oliver uses the phrase “but you didn’t stop” to show the perseverance that you need to have as you stay committed to self-discovery. The author is saying that when people want to hold you in a mindset of complacency you mustn’t stop because you’ve already started your journey of becoming an individual. Near the end of the poem the author places a phrase that shows the determination that the mind goes through to realizing it is an individual. Oliver writes, “the stars began to burn through the sheets of the clouds,” (Oliver 92) to paint a picture of how your individuality begins to shine through society trying to hold you into its conforming ways. These two phrases keep to the theme of discovering one’s self in two different ways the first phrase is showing that you are uncompromising when it comes to being yielded in your progression of self-discover and the second phrase to exhibit the minds power to come from a place of constraint to a mind capable of listening to itself and not be clouded in judgement from society impending its views upon it. 

Oliver also repeats some phrases. She repeats the phrase “knew what you had to do,” (Oliver92) twice. This phrase first says that you have a clarity that allows you to know when something is trying to come slow you down. Is also says you have a plan to becoming self-aware and when people come to slow you down you already know what to do. By using it twice it reiterates that when you have your plan you must stay focused on it because of the different outside variables that are there to halt your progression. She gets this point across by saying, after the phrase, “though the voices around you” or even though the wind is prying at your foundation, you are able to stop and still say to yourself I know what I have to do even though these hardships are here interfering with my process of becoming anew. These are just few of the obstacles that are mentioned in poem, but you are able to get through them all with determination.

The style of this poem is very straightforward, it gives the poem an added expression of having a purpose. The author uses a more direct way in writing this poem as to not mask or take away from the poem’s main theme, of discovering who you are, by not using things such as more elaborate words that are difficult to understand than necessary or more figurative language that makes the poem more abstract, allowing the reader to make several mixed interpretations. Oliver narrates the poem to compel the reader by saying that “you” did this and that to make the poem more relatable for the reader if you have been through “the journey” or have thought of taking the steps through “the journey”. Her narration also causes a thought process to occur if you haven’t been through the journey of discovering yourself to considering the fact that you should shed the woes of society and become more self-aware and adamant on your mental growth. 

The whole poem gives a picture of being determined and focused on breaking free from things that may be holding you back from being an individual. It is someone’s journey who has allowed society or their problems to hold on to them, but they have finally found a new outlook on their life. Oliver narrates The Journey and creates a tone of determination with a variety of different words, phrases, and a certain structure. 


