 
In today’s society, there is such a culture of self-pity and mediocrity that one is almost always brought up to expect someone to come bail them out of a bad situation in one way or another. In “The Journey,” one can see how a person can choose to rise above the uncertainty and “save” themselves.  Throughout “The Journey” we see the common defaults in today’s culture.  Mary Oliver suggests that the only way to live a successful life is to be your own hero and move ahead despite the bad voices that can be jealous of your forward advancements in life.

The beginning of “The Journey” starts with the speaker stating “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began…” (Oliver 92).  Oliver begins the poem with this quote, introducing a firm tone and expressing an unwavering sense of personal vision and focus.  The speaker realizes one day that they must do what needs to be done.  This attribute of making hard decisions, most certainly, life choices is far from the norm of today’s society, which harbors a lack of beneficial obstinacy.  In the first two lines, the speaker acknowledges the main character’s steadfast determination to achieve their goals.  By breaking the mold of societal conventions, the character places themselves at the forefront of their problems.

Oliver presents an illustration of the underlining negativity that serves as a deterrent to individual success. In writing, “Though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice…” (Oliver 92), Oliver acknowledges the adversity everyone faces.  The speaker hears pleas for help, which are exemplified through the quote “’Mend my life!’ each voice cried.” (Oliver 92). Oliver recognizes that most people when faced with difficult times they tend to move the blame or pressure onto someone else. Oliver’s poem can be tied to the majority of society and how we try to relieve the constant stress that accompanies potential consequences.  This mindset of scapegoating that Oliver describes keeps people from being able to learn from their faults, putting true accomplishment out of reach.  The character separates themselves from the common fallacy of self-pity and reliance.  Oliver shows the reader that the she will not be a part of the blame sharing of their failures.

As the story progresses the character shows stronger individuality as she goes against the grain of society by showing durability, as well as persistence.  Oliver writes “But you didn’t stop. You knew what you had to do,” (Oliver 92) to further develop the principle theme of determinism.  In a culture of dependence, the character prides themselves in being an independent person that continues on a journey virtually alone.  The line “as you strode deeper and deeper into the world.” (Oliver 92) further presents the sustained theme of unconventional determination and tenacity.  Oliver implies that the average person expects aid when faced with hardships; however, it is argued that this cannot be how people live their lives.  The expectance of assistance in response to every hardship is not feasible.  A certain level of responsibility is necessary in order to find success in your failures, and Oliver stresses this throughout the poem.  Responsibility, along with persistence, is something that Oliver obviously finds crucial, yet something that she implies is lacking with her writing.  The leading character of this poem finds that they are able to overcome their complications and achieve anything they set their mind to accomplish.  This lesson is vital for society to learn, as laziness is rampant in the modern world.  Oliver expresses her pride in the character for pursuing their dreams, despite failures faced. 

Oliver finishes the poem with the character displaying a self-reliance trait that has grown stronger towards the end.  As presented in the line “And there was a new voice you slowly recognized as your own,” (Oliver 92) followed by “determined to do the only thing you could do—determined to save the only life you could save.” (Oliver 92).  Oliver writes about the only life the character can save is their own.  The poem says the character is determined to save their own life, Oliver is showing that one must focus on themselves to fulfill their life goals.  Oliver wants the reader to feel the importance of focusing on our life by using the word save.  Usually when we think of saving a life, we think from death and not from drifting from day to day.  Oliver is not referring to literal death, but death from normality.  It could be implied that Oliver had a message about how normality is wasting your life on useless tasks that do not fulfill your life’s dreams and happiness.  Oliver pushes on not being a part of the majority of society and focusing on yourself and the achievements to progress your personal well-being.  Mary uses the last lines of the poem to leave an impression on the reader. They must save their own life and it is their duty to be successful despite today’s culture of purposeless drifting day after day filled with self-pity.

In the poem “The Journey” Mary Oliver warns of the drifters of today’s society that try to bring you down to their level by scapegoating as she describes in the beginning of the poem “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice…” (92).  In “The Journey” by Mary Oliver is a reminder of how we must focus on ourselves and goals to save our life from drifting into the norms of society.  Oliver finishes the poem with the implement that to be successful we must focus on ourselves, our goals, and block out the distractions that is the swarm of drifters that pollute our culture.  It would be of course easier to slide into drifting with the rest of society but Oliver demands success from the character as anything but success is not an option.  Today many people are the bad voices that you can find in the journey that Oliver warns about that will try to pull you down to their level.  The character progresses into the poem building stronger individualism while leaving other voices behind to continue on their journey as we all should.  Mary Oliver uses the poem “The Journey” to show how we should cut out the self-pity and mediocratic mindset that poisons the society that we live in.
 