The power that comes with the ability to say no, to have a voice or say in a situation can make or break a person because having a voice can prevent one from being influenced by negative voices. In Mary Oliver’s work, The Journey, Oliver shows how a person can be held back by outside voices that hinder her from forming her own voice. Oliver wants to show that listening to outside voices means a life is lost because one’s own voice is what makes a person choose between the good and bad, so by listening to others a confused life will be lived therefore proving a life has been lost. Oliver will transition from a life lost to a life saved. 

From the get go of The Journey Oliver writes of a character that is confused with how she should overcome obstacles. Oliver writes, “though the voices around you / kept shouting / their bad advice-” (3-5). Voices in this poem directly pertains to the problems and obstacles that come along with being a follower. A follower simply follows and Oliver is the epitome of a follower because she does not use her own voice. Oliver’s writing is what I assume is a poem about a time in her life. Outside voices brought her down because instead of listening to herself she was listening to others.  Only oneself can protecting herself from the outside voices, hence problems, that deter people from their full potential. This is not saying that all outside voices are bad, but in this text outside voices are what keep her from being her own person. Oliver goes down this road digging and digging a hole that cannot just be walked away from. 

The more Oliver listens to the outside voice the more she becomes trapped in a world of problems without her own voice. Oliver also points out there are multiple voices because she writes, ““Mend my life!” each voice cried.” (10-11). At first glance the phrase, mend my life, can simply mean help me, but in actuality it can be taken as a pull from multiple negative influences pulling Oliver into a trap. The negative voices fed off each other because when Oliver gives into the negative voice she therefore pleases that voice. This constant pull of voices prevents Oliver from having her own voice because she is constantly pleasing all of the other voices. Even if there are not actually any negative voices Oliver is still being taken advantage of because there is only so much one can do for others. There has to be time for oneself because that allows people to stay in good health. Constantly working to please others made Oliver live almost a slavish life, since she did not have a voice to get herself out of those situations. 

The Journey starts with the line, “One day you finally knew” (1). Oliver knew what she had to, but as said before the obstacles around her held her back. The trap, or voice, that pulls Oliver has control, but how far can that trap push Oliver? Well a breaking point does occur and that allows her to finally break from the negative voices. As Oliver says, “It was already late / enough, and a wild night, / and the road full of fallen / branches and stones.” (19-22insert). In this poem voices or a voice relates to many other words. For example, “Branches” or “stones” are still those negative voices that are putting up obstacles and challenges that keep Oliver down. These setbacks though begin to mount, and on one “wild night” pushes Oliver to finally break free and leave the negative voices behind. In

When she finally is able to break through the “clouds” and find her own voice she realizes that her own voice actually keeps her company. Oliver writes, “and there was a new voice / which you slowly / recognized as your own, / that kept you company” (inser27-30t). The old Oliver did not feel comfortable when she was by herself, but now she does feel comfortable because she has found her own voice. She relied on the negative voices to keep her company because she did fill her life with her own voice. Now that she is comfortable with her voice she can now have confidence, and have the want, desire, and ability to say no to the negative voices. Living life with a voice allows her to dive deep into the world because now she can also be comfortable with the people around her. 

Oliver writes, “as you strode deeper and deeper / into the world, / determined to do / the only thing you could do- / determined to save / the only life you could save.” (31-36). This quote stands out because we are all individuals, so every individual makes choices that are either positive or negative depending on how they want to live their life. Once she found her own voice Oliver was then able to actually experience the world because before she was always concerned with what other people were thinking or wanted in a situation, but now she can kick back and relax and take the world in. She no longer worries about what people think which finally gives her the ability to say yes or no to other voices which therefore has helped her save her life. 

Mary Oliver’s poem, The Journey, brings up important facts about life regarding how having a voice saves one’s life. She does not have a voice in the beginning because of how caught up she is in the negative voices that control her life. The negative voices make her a follower which prevents her from moving forward in life. She knew she was living her life wrong, but it took a traumatic night to finally leave her old life behind. By leaving that life behind Oliver now is comfortable with herself because she now has her own voice. The power that come with that voice is limitless. She now is able to experience her life through her own set of lenses because her own voice is making the decisions. She is now able to save her own life.
