What does one think when he or she thinks about a journey? Does he or she think about his or her entire life or just a certain goal in life? After reading this poem, “The Journey,” what would one think about his or her current journey in life? In “The Journey,” Mary Oliver leaves the opinion open for the reader to decide what the main character’s ‘journey’ is about. Oliver’s writing style is compared to style of the great Walt Whitman. Oliver describes her writing style thus: “I consider myself kind of a reporter- one who uses words that are more like music and that have a choreography. I never think of myself as a poet; I just get up and write” (Harley and Fisk 91, 92). This musical style is especially evident in "The Journey," where her language techniques, theme, and tone work together to help the audience understand the journey of the main character and ultimately give the audience advice on taking their ‘journey.’

First, Mary Oliver uses language techniques such as word choice and syntax to guide the audience through the ‘journey’ of the main character. The language through this poem is best described as simple because Oliver includes everyday words such as, “though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice” (lines 3-5). Oliver keeps these voices in the mind of the audience by mentioning them multiple times throughout the entire poem. The voices are first referenced in line 3, again in line 10, and then referenced again in line 24. The syntax of her language is rather long and flows well together piece by piece except for one sentence: “Mend my life!” (line 10). This is the only exclamation point used throughout the whole poem; therefore, this phrase lets the audience know that it is significant in meaning. Also, when focusing on syntactic features, Oliver uses the word ‘you’ thirteen times within this poem which show the emphasis on the reader/audience. The language techniques of syntax and word choice used by Oliver gives way for audience to understand her theme of the poem.

Second, Mary Oliver’s use of theme guides the audience through the ‘journey’ of the main character. The transformation of a person from being caught up in society to becoming more self-aware is the theme at work in this poem. Becoming more self-aware is expressed in the first couple lines of the poem when Oliver states, “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began” (lines 1, 2). Oliver stresses to the audience to not get caught up in an unhealthy society and “voices around you” shouting bad advice (lines 3). Oliver proceeds to mention the many distractions available to a person. The road being described as, “the road full of fallen branches and stones” is a perfect example of people getting caught up in distractions and losing their way (Oliver 22, 23). The ‘fallen branches and stones’ contribute to theme by symbolizing the fallen souls of people who got lost in the transformation of themselves. The transformation of a person is the center of this poem because it leads the audience to find a “new voice which you slowly recognized as your own,” which leads Oliver to express the clear, understanding tone of the poem (27-29).

Third, Oliver uses the literary technique of tone to guide the audience through the ‘journey’ of the main character. The tone of this poem could be interpreted as advice from an elder who has experienced life in its fullest. The poem starts out in a serious tone shown through this quote, “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began” (Oliver 1,2). These opening lines get straight to the point and mention the purpose of poem, setting the mood.  The tone of this poem is shown again in a persistent manner in line 12 and 13, “But you didn’t stop. You knew what you had to do.” An example of persistence is at the end of them poem, “determined to the only thing you could do- determined to save the only life you could save” (33-36). Based off this quote, the persistent, serious tone, set in the beginning of the poem, leads to the success of a person during their transformation in life.

Oliver expresses her advice to the audience through the use of her language techniques, theme, and tone. Although she does not consider herself a poet, her talents of writing are very obvious and persuasive throughout this whole poem. Oliver does a fantastic job of relating the main character to the audience because they are given advice throughout the whole poem. She continuously uses the word ‘you,’ which incorporates the audience and gives the vibe that they are the main character in the poem. The advice, given in a sense of past experience, is used to warn the audience to stay on track and seek to find themselves instead of getting lost in society. This poem is especially important to all freshman in college because it is the start of their ‘journey’ in life, and they should keep self-aware in order to get where they want to go in life. Oliver does an amazing job portraying the journey of a common person, which leads the audience to receive advice from this poem and continue their ‘journey’ in life.
