





In life, everyone has the free will to choose what they want to do or who they want to be. We can choose our own career path, our own house, and anything else in life that we can control.  All of these things are just part of our journeys as human beings, and these journeys will have their ups and downs. Mary Oliver shows us in her poem, “The Journey,” that all of us are going to have to make sacrifices and tough decisions throughout our lives. These sacrifices could involve cutting off relationships with people that we think are nice, but are really just selfish. In “The Journey,” Mary Oliver tells society to be their own person and listen to their own conscience before listening to those around them. 

In Mary Oliver’s “The Journey,” symbolism is used to show the reader that keeping relationships with selfish people can hold them back from what they really want in life. One instance of symbolism occurs when she says: “You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers” (page 92, lines 13-15). In this quote, the wind prying with its stiff fingers really symbolizes the idea of selfish people holding us back. With the ‘wind’ holding us back, we may not be able to go as far as we want or get what we want in life. Getting these kinds of people out of our lives is really what she means by ‘you knew what you had to do.’ Oliver also uses symbolism in a similar way when she says “It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones” (page 92, lines 19-22). The road in this quote symbolizes our paths in life and the fallen branches and stones symbolize the struggles in life that we have to cross. Our journey in life is much harder to continue on in if we have selfish people in our lives that get in our way. Both of these instances of symbolism are examples of Mary Oliver saying that we must leave those that are selfish behind, or else they will cause more and more struggles throughout our lives. 

In “The Journey,” Mary Oliver often repeats the word ‘voices’ to tell the audience to not listen to the selfish voices around them. In the entire 36-line poem, Oliver uses the word ‘voices’ a total of 4 times. Two usages of the word occur when she says “as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own” (page 92, lines 24-29). In this quote, the phrase ‘their voices’ means the voices of those who are holding us back with their selfishness, and the ‘new voice’ is actually our consciences. These self-centered people really only seek to benefit themselves, and Oliver is saying that they have the possibility to keep us from doing what we want in our own lives. Another instance of Oliver repeating the word ‘voices’ presents itself when she says “and you felt the old tug at your ankles. ‘Mend my life!’ each voice cried” (page 92, lines 8-11). In this usage of the word, Oliver is emphasizing how detrimental it is to have selfish people in our lives. These people only look to take away from us to benefit themselves. The fourth and final instance of the word ‘voices’ being used happens when she says “though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice” (page 92, lines 3-5). In this case, Oliver is saying that the voices around us are not only selfish, but are also not smart. The ‘bad advice’ that they can give is not helpful and we can go on without it. This means that the selfish voices around us are not necessary in any way. Relationships, close or not, with these kinds of people cannot be kept if we seek to better our lives. The voice of our own consciences cannot be overheard by the voices of those that our selfish unless we cut them out of our lives for good.

The mood that Mary Oliver gives the reader in “The Journey” helps them understand the benefit of getting rid of those that our selfish in our lives. At the beginning of the poem, the mood that the poem has is somewhat dark. This is shown when she says “though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles” (page 92, lines 6-9). The dark mood is also shown a little later on when she says “though the wind pried with its stiff fingers” (page 92, lines 14-15). In both of these quotes, the dark mood that is set shows how bad our lives can be before we get rid of selfish people. As the poem goes on, that dark mood transitions into a more optimistic mood. This is shown when she says “determined to do the only thing you could do- determined to save the only life you could save” (page 92, lines 33-36). These four lines are the last four lines of the entire poem, but they help in finishing off the poem with a more positive outlook on life. Oliver’s optimism shown here helps the reader understand the benefit of not having selfish people in their lives. Although the majority of the poem kind of has a darker mood, the hope that Oliver gives the reader at the end really helps get her point across.

Listening to our own conscience is more important than listening to the voices of those around us. That is what Mary Oliver tells us in her poem, “The Journey.” Throughout this poem, Oliver uses many different literary devices to get her point across, the most prevalent of which being symbols. One of the more symbolic things in the poem is the repetition of the word ‘voices.’ The voices in this poem either symbolize the selfish people around us or our own consciences. The change of mood from the beginning to the end of this poem symbolizes the transition in life from listening to others to being independent. With all of these things combined, Oliver shows us that our journeys in life have their hardships, but we can all eventually get to a good place in life. 



