Though is a word people can use to elaborate sentences with, people use it in their everyday life.  Life is a journey and people have choices and an inner voice- the inner voice is what helps the speaker overcome the obstacles.  People need to overcome those obstacles to reach and end goal.  Readers see that “though” catches the readers eye by being repeated multiply times in “The Journey”.  “Though” is repeated four times throughout the entire poem. As the reader’s eyes move down the stanza, pictures are created through personification that show the obstacles of the poem.  In the poem “The Journey”, Mary Oliver uses “though” as an anaphora and links these uses of “though” together with personification to overcome literal and figurative obstacles.  Can an obstacle be overcome if it is literal and figurative?

Anaphora is when a word or phrase is repeated. Oliver uses anaphora in her poem with the word “though”.  She wants the reader to understand that this word might be important if it is repeated multiple times.  There is an underlying meaning, that life is not going to always to be easy but the journey that it will take a person is rewarding.  Obstacles will be faced but that does not mean turn, run and hide from them. “Though” in situations might get difficult and hard at times, keep pushing for the end goal.  “Though” can be used as a figurative obstacle because of the repetition that is created to show the reader not everything repeated is a positive thing. Eventhough “though” might just look like a normal word it stands for way more. It stands for everything that is yet to come.

The repetition of “though” is showing the readers that a person can face many different obstacles along the way to achieving a goal.  There is not just going to be one obstacle there will be many along the journey.  Also the repetition is an example of situations happening more than once and how they can be unexpected.  As in people telling a person what do to but that person gets so over whelmed they do not know what to do and are frustrated.  I do not think that at first glance the readers will understand that the use of anaphora with “though” has that much of an underlying message. Oliver wants us as readers to dig deep to find out that “though” can mean that obstacles can happen more than once and it is a reoccurring theme. I think that Oliver wants us as readers to asses and analyze our own obstacles and hard situations in our life.  So that we know how to handle things and are not stuck with these obstacles or situations.

Figurative language gives the readers some perspective and paints a picture. Personification can paint a picture when it comes to a nonhuman thing being given human characteristics.   Oliver does an awesome job of using personification in the poem to illustrate an image for the reader. He does an awesome job because he makes us as readers think about why the house was trembling. Why is the house trembling because made an obstacle is making the house tremble as if a person would.  Oliver writes that “though the whole house began to tremble” (Oliver l.6-7).  In this text the house has been given a human characteristic by trembling, although the house trembled does not mean it was really a house that shook.  Those words can be taken as if a person’s whole body is trembling from an event that has happened.  An event that is an obstacle that might shake up a person, but that does not mean to give up.  Sometimes people or things might try to get in the way of reaching a goal.  As Oliver writes “though the wind pried with its stiff fingers” (Oliver l.14-15).  This example of personification is showing the reader that the wind cannot have fingers that pries things. Pry means to pull apart, pulling apart something can affect something and that is just what the meaning of pried means in the text.  Oliver is writing that something might stand in the way but do not let it defeat reaching a goal. 

Oliver uses anaphora and personification to connect the figurative and literal obstacles. Throughout the entire poem Oliver talks about literal and figurative obstacles.  With anaphora and personification, the readers can see that all of the obstacles wither it being shaken up by an event that has happened or wither being something getting in the way can stop a person from reaching a goal but do not let it.  Life can through some curve balls.  From a death in the family to not getting in to a desired school.  Some people might take those examples as needing to shut down and quit. Oliver wants us readers not to quit because those examples are all part of the journey as that of the theme tells us.  Oliver is pushing us as readers to think about ourselves and how we can make ourselves into better people by over coming obstacles.

The connection through anaphora and personification links the way the reader sees these obstacles. These obstacles are bringing them down, like putting a burden on someone. Obstacles are something that can be overcome or not overcome. Oliver wants us as readers to think that these obstacles will not be overcome. “Though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice- though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles.” (Oliver l.3-9). “Though” in the uses in this example has connected both of the uses of personification to display the theme.  By showing how personification can show the theme, readers can see the obstacles that will be faced along the journey. Also with “though” being used multiple times it shows repetition and how the theme is being repeated.  

Oliver’s goal for the readers was to understand the theme through “though” when being used through personification and anaphora as they were linked together and as they were separate. As anaphora was used with “though” it was repeated four times that is significant because Oliver is displaying that the obstacles with come and there will be a lot of them along the way of the journey. The personification that she used was meant for the reader to understand an obstacle and how an obstacle can effect a person.  She wanted the readers to know that there are always obstacles along the way of a journey but do not let those obstacles stop a person.  Oliver used literal and figurative obstacles to get the theme across.  A person can learn valuable life lessons through poetry and can be inspired to do unimaginable things with an awesome mind set. An obstacles when faced can be very scary and freighting but with a mindset straight it can be overcome literally and figuratively.  “The Journey” takes us through our own journey even if it means falling down and having to get back up. The end result is what is the most rewarding. 