
What is the purpose of life? Philosophers have struggled with this question for centuries. Antiquated philosophy was more about ethics than about our purpose in life. Socrates once said “The unexamined life is not worth living” (Quotes).  New age philosophy is vaguer, but much broader, encompassing all of humanity. One view is from the 2013 film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life (Quotes). People other than philosophers have taken a shot at this broad question, and one of them is the poet behind “The Journey”. In Mary Oliver’s poem, she takes us on a virtual tour of life; a speedy and vague look is all we get. However, by examining the text, we can see that this poem makes strong connections between life and a physical journey, and these connections bring up the question “what is the purpose of life?”

Oliver begins her poem not at birth, but at a more abstract date in life. Rather than starting at birth, she starts at a moment of realization. The day when you “knew what you had to do” is, according to Oliver, the day when your journey begins (Oliver). Oliver chooses to start at this day because it’s the day when life becomes real; the journey only begins when you realize your true calling in life. For some people this may happen at a young age, and for others it never comes about. For those who never have this day, Oliver implies that their journey never happens. Much like Socrates says, “the unexamined life is not worth living”, Oliver says that a life without a calling is not a journey (Boeree). She continues through the poem, by addressing the “voices around you/ [that] kept shouting/ their bad advice” (Oliver). During childhood and teenage years, all the way up through college, people, especially parents, are always telling the younger generation what is important and what they should mold their life to be. Although most of the advice that parents give us is not bad, Mary Oliver still says that it is, and has a purpose for it. In my opinion, Oliver uses the term “bad advice” because advice is not good until something good comes from it. She continues through the younger age and more bad advice when people come to you and say “Mend my life!” (Oliver). Oliver takes a step back from looking at the self, and speaks to others in life. Others may not be doing as well in their journey; they may not have the ease that you have had. And some have even turned around and given up. This unfortunately happens way to often in our day and age. People are given great opportunities in life and squander them all for personal pleasure or personal gain. They could make something great out of their life, but instead focus on what is currently before them, rather than the end goal, the destination of the journey. And Oliver polishes off her study on the first chapter of life on a positive note. She said that all these things happened to you, you’ve chosen what you want to do with your life, you’ve listened to advice and seen people quit, “but you didn’t stop” (Oliver). Through all the things that have happened through the first stage of life, Oliver reminds us to look back at all that we have accomplished, and admire what we’ve overcome. For most people in today’s society this is about twenty to twenty-five years. And although it may seem like life is just beginning, the things that you have achieved in your twenty years are more than some people will accomplish in a lifetime. However, the air of positivity surrounding the end of this stage of life, there is still much more of the journey to come.

Even though at this point in the journey, you’ve accomplished a lot, you still have the hardest part of the journey, adulthood. Part of any journey is not just the endurance but dealing with the elements. In the second part of the journey, “the wind pried with its stiff fingers” trying to knock sojourners off their course. (Oliver) Older generations are constantly looking for a younger person to impart their knowledge on. To young adults, this is usually old and out-of-date information. However, they “knew what they had to do” (Oliver). Especially in our society, the prime attitude for a young adult is one of confidence and very self-starting. Typically speaking millennials think that they will have an enormous breakthrough in their line of work and will become wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. This is not the case most of the time. Older generations know this to be true, but with the condescending attitude that society has imparted on young Americans, we tend not to listen to them. Then, after speaking to the melancholy reality of adult life, she notes that “it was already late” (Oliver). Oliver is commenting on how fast life seems to go by and how the years seem to slip from your hands. I think Ferris Bueller said it best when he said “life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Then the journeyman looks back on the road and sees “fallen/branches and stones” (Oliver). Just as in the first stage of life, when we look back at what we’ve done in our life, we can see the struggles and problems that we’ve overcome.  The typical ending to an Oliver stage of life leads to the final stage.

She then begins her commentary on the twilight stage of life when “the stars begin to burn/ through the sheets of clouds” (Oliver). At this point the clouds that once blurred the journeyman’s vision have gone away, and the stars are visible, telling him what direction he is going. Just like in life, at an older age, the mistakes become less frequent because you have the wisdom and clarity that only experience can provide. However, the advantages of old age may be evident, the risks creep in almost undetected. “there was a new voice/ which you slowly/ recognized as your own” (Oliver). The voices of childhood slowly creep back in your mind as you get older, but instead of being the voice of a mother, father, or sibling, it is your own voice telling you what to do. There comes a time in one’s life where the voice of reason changes. What used to be your father telling you not to eat a cookie before dinner turns into your own voice telling you to not eat a cookie at all. This again comes with age, and can be both a positive and negative transformation. For some it is a comfort, listening to your own conscious. For others, it’s scary to hear your own voice “as you [stride] deeper and deeper/ into the world” (Oliver). Oliver winds up this poem in a very unconventional and confusing way. Most people would expect a journey to end with an epic homecoming as in Homer’s The Odyssey. Some might expect heartbreak and tragedy as in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. But instead Oliver speaks on “the only thing you could do” and “the only life you can save” (Oliver).  An interesting ending to an otherwise great journey, some might think it stands out in the poem. But isn’t that life? Isn’t life just as unpredictable as the end of “The Journey”? Oliver “throws us a curveball” at the end of the poem because that’s exactly what life does all the time. Nothing in life goes exactly according to plan, and adaptability is a major component of success in life. So instead of ending at the end of life when your journey is complete, she refers you to the beginning. Instead of keeping all the experience and wisdom for yourself, she challenges the reader to give advice to the younger generation, because not all advice is bad advice.

In the end, Mary Oliver’s poem “The Journey” is not just about a man trying to find his way to a physical location, but find his way to a state of mind. Not one that is selfish and unforgiving, but one that helps people in need. Instead of looking back on life and patting ourselves on the back, Oliver encourages us to use our experiences to help the younger generation. Oliver answers the age old question with a simple answer: life is not about making money, or finding happiness, or as Socrates would suggest, examining our life. Life is about learning from our experience. We come all the way through the life not to make it to an end, but to help people at the beginning. Life isn’t about the destination, it’s about the journey.
