
“Sometimes it's the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination.” Successful rapper and songwriter Drake delivered this quote during a graduation speech he gave back in 2012. While the graduating class was preparing to go off to college, they were reminded that how you arrive at your destination perhaps could hold greater importance than the destination itself. Mary Oliver’s poem The Journey is centralized around the idea of the steps someone must take in order to become their own individual being. Oliver uses a plethora of literary devices throughout her piece, most notably but not restricted to sensory images, personification, and symbolism. In fact, it can be argued that the entire poem is an extended metaphor. The underlying theme Oliver wants the reader to understand might not be overly complex, but the ways in which she gets this message across by use of language and syntax is quite impressive. By looking at Oliver’s use of symbolism and figures of speech throughout The Journey, we can see the struggle one must go through to overcome challenges and how vital these obstacles are in the process of becoming an individual. 

To begin, the first aspect of Oliver’s piece that stands out to me is her use of symbolism and how it translates to the theme of her poem. At times, it can be difficult to understand when certain words hold deeper meaning, but it is this ability of analyzing that helps the reader appreciate the point Oliver is attempting to get across. For example, early on in the poem, Oliver writes how “the whole house / began to tremble” (lines 6-7). A keen reader can link this complex figure of speech – a combination of metaphor and personification – to the individual’s journey. Perhaps this house Oliver speaks of could be thought of as a sheltered existence the speaker feels at this point in his or her life. Not yet able to break out into individuality, the speaker can sense that time is quickly approaching for him or her to take action and get out before the house collapses. Another example of Oliver’s symbolism comes midway through the poem, when she writes about the speaker’s encounter with a “road full of fallen / branches and stones” (lines 21-22). Just like any situation, the road to success can go easily and smoothly or can be impeded with challenges along the way, the latter being more prevalent. In this case, the branches and stones scattered all along the road represent obstacles standing in the way of the speaker’s path to success. An individual’s true colors will show when he or she must overcome such hardships, according to Oliver’s piece, and in doing so can reveal one’s maturity level. Just as Drake preached to the high school graduating class in 2012, the adversity one faces on their road to success can have a more profound impact on that person compared to where he or she ends up.

Similar to the journey being more important than the destination, perhaps the way in which Oliver chose to construct her piece is more important than the actual content being presented. For instance, the sentence structure used plays right into the hands of Oliver, helping to her inspiring message across. In the beginning of the poem, we tend to see shorter thoughts or fragments connected by commas. This trend is obvious early on with the line, “you finally knew / what you had to do, and began, / though the voices around you kept shouting / their bad advice-- / though the whole…” (lines 1-6). The ideas appear to be concise, but are rather choppy, some even ending randomly perhaps to symbolize the struggles of finding individuality. As the poem continues through its entirety, we see a complete shift in the mood at the line, “But little by little / as you left their voices behind / the stars began to burn / through the sheets of clouds (lines 23-26). The beginning of this line is actually part of the last sentence of the poem, ranging from line twenty-three all the way to line thirty-six. This is important because it directly reflects the journey taken: by the end, the longer and lengthier sentence captures the idea that one has finally come into their own. 

An additional aspect of Oliver’s piece that adds to its overall depth is her use of personification. Giving non-human things human attributes might seem like a childish method to employ in a poem of such deep meaning, but the couple examples work quite well in this piece. Already stated as a model of symbolism, the line regarding the trembling house portrays an inanimate object shaking or wobbling, which cannot actually happen without some use of natural force. This reflects how difficult it can be for an individual to take their first step, especially when it feels like everything’s falling down around you. Oliver presents another form of personification when she describes how “the wind pried / with its stiff fingers / at the very foundations” (lines 14-16). Obviously, the wind does not have fingers that could keep someone grounded in place. However, this use of personification has the same effect of getting the point across – someone being held back from success - in a much more entertaining way.

The message I was left with after reading Mary Oliver’s piece reminded me of a very popular piece of literature that mirrors a similar theme: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. In this novel, Jay Gatsby attempts to rekindle his past in order to win back the love of Daisy Buchannon. Jay was a very poor man when he and Daisy were together, as he knew he couldn’t support her and an eventual family. His ultimate goal, or destination, was to become rich enough to please and support Daisy. In his effort to create a life satisfactory to Daisy, Gatsby became involved in illegal gambling and bootlegging as a means of income (part of his journey). As we see by the end of the novel, the life Gatsby chose to live ultimately led to his death, all focused upon this one girl he was trying to impress. In this instance, as well as the message reflected in the Oliver’s poem, the journey one takes is more important than where they might end up. Gatsby went through a multitude of trouble to try to go back into the past and woo over Daisy. However, the means by which he attempted to make money and restart his life proved to be too risky. Although the outcome in the poem and novel differ, the correlation regarding the underlying message - the importance of the journey taken - is quite intriguing to the reader. 

Unquestionably, Mary Oliver’s The Journey is a piece of literature intended for any audience and relates to the struggles that people might go through each and every day. Not only does Oliver do an efficient job of getting her ultimate point across, but she does so in a way that is both unique and intellectual. The idea of one fighting through every situation is apparent throughout the text, but it is the figures of speech that really create and establish the big picture. From the first step of the journey until the final destination is reached, what occurs in between will prove to be most valuable. The strength, creativity, and determination it will take to power through difficulties along the way will build character and perhaps, at the conclusion of the journey, help one recognize who he or she truly is.
