
In “The Journey”, Mary Oliver talks about struggles and obstacles that someone might have in life. She gives many examples of how people can be thrown off course and how they end up getting back to where they are supposed to be. In this poem, the word “you” particularly sticks out as being meaningful. Mary Oliver brought the reader into the poem, because when someone is addressed as “you,” they immediately think of themselves. There are not many different ways the word “you” can be used, but this word is essentially the reason for the whole work of literature. In each instance of the word “you,” the reader is drawn more into the poem, as they realize Oliver is directly addressing him/her. This poem is essentially a motivational speech, as Oliver takes the reader on a journey that anyone can relate to his or her lives. 

The first instance where Oliver uses the word “you” starts off the poem with the reader as the focus. “One day you finally knew what you had to do,” (Oliver l. 1-2). Oliver started off the poem with these two lines, and the reader immediately sees him- or herself as the focus. This shows that right from the beginning, the poem will probably be a journey talking about hardships or obstacles, and that Oliver is directly addressing the reader. This poem can be relatable to anyone’s life, and the reader can start to imagine themselves in the situations in the poem.

The word “you” is defined as the pronoun of the second person, used of the person or persons being addressed, in the nominative or objective case, according to dictionary.com. People use the word “you” in everyday life, but never really think about the meaning of it. It can mean something so much more than what we think it does, and when we read it, the author might be directly addressing the reader. When the word “you” is used in writing, the readers don’t know if the addressed audience is a general group of people, a whole class, or just him- or herself. It could be a very general usage, or it could be personal and the reader thinks about their own life. The second instance where Oliver uses the word “you,” “though the voices around you kept shouting,” makes it apparent that the reader is being addressed personally. This again puts the focus on the reader and causes readers to wonder about the voices around them. People go through life with many struggles and constantly have things to worry about, so having voices shouting in your head is very relatable. 

Later on in the poem, Oliver gets deeper into the struggles and obstacles of life. Oliver talks about feeling a tug at your ankles, which is a huge piece of imagery that means a lot in this poem. She is talking about the things that bother us as well as the things that hold us back from reaching our goals. Anyone in life has probably had to fight for what they want at some point, they are never just handed something. The readers can relate to this because they are probably thinking about their own personal experiences and things that hold them back. The author never comes out and tells the reader to think about their own personal problems with this part of the poem, but it is hard to read this and not think about your personal life. The theme of this poem, I believe, is about believing in yourself and reaching goals without depending on others, and I believe that this part of the poem strongly relates to the theme. If you want to reach a goal, you are the only person that knows of the struggles and obstacles and you have to keep moving forward on your own. 

“But you didn’t stop, you knew what you had to do,” (Oliver l. 12-13). This instance of “you” specifically relates to the theme and goes along with the motivational speech feeling. These lines are about perseverance and continuing on in the right direction. The reader is probably now realizing how he or she is the sole audience for this poem because the word “you” is becoming so commonly used. The theme and focus are becoming more apparent.

What seems to be the climax of the poem is what the author writes about next. The author slightly changes the tone of the poem and the message becomes happier, so you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. “But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of the clouds,” (Oliver l. 23-26). These lines are telling the readers to put all of the bad experiences behind and focus on the good. Leaving the voices behind that were shouting at you is a very important lesson and something to learn from this poem. 

The closing sentence of the poem really brings the whole thing full circle, by stating “determined to do the only thing you could do—determined to save the only life you could save.” These lines are saying that only you can save your life and no one else solely cares about you. If you keep moving forward and let go of the past, good things will come out of it. These closing lines really make it known to the reader that the author was addressing them the whole time and they can take this as a motivational speech.

The word “you” strongly relates to the theme of this poem, and I believe that it stuck out a lot with each use of the word. Life can be hard sometimes, and there are many obstacles thrown at us. People may talk badly and there will always be voices in your head, but letting go of those voices is the only way to move forward. Oliver wrote about the hardships in life and how to save yourself, and the word “you” really made her points clear. Poems may seem confusing to readers if they do not know who the audience is, and many poems are hard to connect to. With the word “you” being used so often in this poem, it was easy to understand and bring personal experiences into.