
“The journey” by Mary Oliver is comprised of various literary devices. Oliver uses tone, personification, and imagery to create an extended metaphor that is fluid throughout the entire poem. Oliver tells an impactful story about finding one’s individuality because it is a journey that everyone takes throughout their life.

Oliver uses two tones throughout “The Journey,” which are sorrowful and free. Tone is important in this piece because it helps the reader to see the point where the person is set free and finds their individuality. A hint of sadness is first realized when Oliver says “though the voices around you/kept shouting/their bad advice” (Oliver lines 3-5). Oliver continues the tone of sadness by using words such as cried, melancholy, and terrible. These words impact the poem because they are words that individuals associate with sadness. The same voices that were shouting bad advice are now crying out “’Mend my life!’” (Oliver line 10). With these few lines Oliver is trying to prove that individuals are surrounded by people who will try to hold them back and keep them from doing what they desire to do. In order for one to make progress in one’s journey to find individuality, one must block out the bad advice from others. The person’s mind must be open enough to hear the good advice, but closed enough to weed out the bad advice. Eventually, “there was a new voice/which you slowly/recognized as your own” (Oliver lines 27-29). However, this is a different voice than the voice that was shouting bad advice at the begging of “The Journey”. The voice is now keeping “…you company/as you strode deeper and deeper/into the world” (Oliver lines 30-32). At the point in “The Journey” the person Oliver is speaking to finally recognizes that in order to find their individuality, they must block out the voices of others and listen to themselves. This “new” voice is the product of the individual finally listening to their inner thoughts. The person no longer has to listen to the harshness of others and can now continue in their journey to finding individuality. As the reader, we know the person is now free of the bad advice from others when Oliver says “But little by little/as you left their voices behind” (Oliver lines 23-24). This is the turning point of the poem when the tone changes from sorrowful to free. Along with tone, personification and imagery are also used to describe the difficult journey an individual will go on to find individuality. 

In “The Journey,” Oliver uses personification to add human like qualities to something nonhuman. Personification is first used when “…the whole house/began to tremble” (Oliver lines 6-7). The house in “The Journey” can be considered a person’s body. This individual Oliver is talking about is about to embark on a journey to find their individuality. This journey is new and scary to most individuals and can physically affect them. The fear of the unknown is enough to make an individual tremble. The second occurrence of personification is when “…the wind pried/with its stiff fingers/at the very foundations” (Oliver lines 14-16). In nature, wind can be considered a strong force and is capable of destroying many material items. In “The Journey,” the wind is personified into a hand that is trying to pry its way into one’s life. If one was to succumb to the prying of the hands, the ability to be oneself, find oneself, and to help oneself is taken away. A person could easily get wrapped up in the prying hands and blown away with the wind. It is important for one to realize that the people who surround them are the wind of their life. The wind of people that could potentially prevent an individual from finding their individuality with their prying hands. Unlike wind in nature, which destroys material items, wind in “The Journey” will destroy one’s mind. 

Imagery is used in two specific places throughout “The Journey”. The first instance of imagery is used towards the beginning of the poem when Oliver says “and you felt the old tug/at your ankles” (Oliver lines 8-9). The tugging at one’s ankles symbolizes the people who are holding one back from finding their individuality. The person has to make the decision to continue to let the needs of others bog them down or to break free and accomplish their needs first. The second instance of imagery is used towards the middle of the poem when Oliver says “and the road full of fallen/branches and stones” (Oliver lines 21-22). The fallen branches and stones represent all the people who are facing the same obstacles as the reader on their journey to individuality. However, one has to realize that they cannot help others find their individuality if they have not yet found individuality for themselves. If one was to stop and pick up these fallen branches and stones, their journey would take far longer. A person has to make the executive decision to do what is best for themselves without stopping to consult others first. Both instances of imagery interact with each other because the fallen branches and stones will tug at an individual’s ankles as they are trying to pass by. These people who have fallen down are trying to hold onto anything they possibly can in order to save themselves, even if it means taking another individual down with them. The individual must power through in order to save themselves. 

Oliver makes great use of a single extended metaphor throughout “The Journey” by comparing a physical journey to a spiritual journey towards finding individuality. Tone, personification, and imagery guide and complete the extended metaphor through the entirety of the poem. These literary devices are used to describe words and physical objects that will hold an individual back from their journey. However, all of them intertwine because they represent something greater than just words and physical objects. Tone is used as more of a mental obstacle when the voices “kept shouting/their bad advice” (Oliver lines 4-5) and cried out “Mend my life!” (Oliver line 10). Personification is used when “…the whole house/began to tremble” (Oliver lines 6-7) and when “…the wind pried/with its stiff fingers” (Oliver lines 14-15). Imagery is first seen when “…you felt the old tug/at your ankles” (Oliver lines 8-9) and then when “…the road full of fallen/branches and stones” (Oliver lines 21-22). Personification and imagery are used to describe the physical part of the journey. The winds stiff fingers are tugging at the individual’s ankles, while the fallen branches and stones are hard to manoeuver around. The wind is representing others trying to get into your mind, while the branches and stones represent other individuals that are experiencing the same obstacles. The tone of the poem changes when the individual decides to push through these obstacles. These are all obstacles individuals must face in order to become their true self. 

Oliver uses tone, personification, imagery, and an extended metaphor to paint a picture of the difficult journey a person will face to find their individuality. It is up to the individual to choose to be their own person and ignore all the obstacles that are put in their way. “The Journey” that Oliver is writing about is impactful to the reader because everyone goes on a journey to find their individuality at some point in time.
