Mary Oliver’ poem, The Journey, introduces the universal experience of self-discovery as a journey that involves many difficulties. The hardships of this self- discovery are strongly emphasized allowing the audience to recognize these emotional difficulties that are fought throughout the whole journey. Mary Oliver constantly changes the tone of her poem to allow the audience to clearly see the different stages of emotional hardships an individual goes through in the journey of self-discovery.  Repetition is used throughout the poem to emphasize words that influence the individual in self-discovery the most. The author using the comparison of an individual to nature gives a better visual understanding of specific emotional hardships the individual goes through. 

Mary Oliver is quick to allude to an intense and overwhelming tone of negativity she sets forth in the beginning of the poem. The audience first encounters this when Mary Oliver states, “the voices around you/ kept shouting/ their bad advice” (1-3). Right away the audience gets surrounded with a feeling of overwhelming negativity from the forceful bad advice that is being vocalized to the audience. Mary Oliver influences the audience to feel this way on a greater level when she states, “though the whole house/ began to tremble” (6,7). The use of the words “whole house” and “tremble” in the next two lines allows the audience to clearly envision this scene of a house shaking, directly relating to emotions of this overpowering feeling of negativity inside one’s mind that is about to explode. Mary Oliver uses the imagery of “the old tug at your ankles” (8,9) immediately after to add an emotional layer of pressure that includes direct contact the audience feels. The author proceeds to add dialogue for the first and only time throughout the poem, convincing the audience to feel an abrupt sense of drama from these voices that have been influencing the audience’s emotions from the beginning. Mary Oliver incorporates an exclamation point at the end of the dialogue to put an emphasis on this dramatic tone, allowing the reader to react in an overwhelming way to the level of power the voices of society have. In the following line the author ends with the word cried, triggering the audience to feel a continuation of the dramatic dialogue in the previous line. 

Towards the climax of this journey Mary Oliver uses a single rhythmic line, “you knew what you had to do” (12), making the audience recognize the switch of tone from overwhelming negativity to a sense of self-determination. Mary Oliver uses repetition and perspective to effectively adjust the tone of the poem in one line. The word “you” being repeated twice, convinces the audience to now embrace this emotion and tone of determination. The audience recognizes that it is specifically self- determination because this line is spoke to oneself, in addition to the repetition. The tone of confidence and self-determination is made even more apparent to the reader towards the end of the poem when the author states, “the stars began to burn/ through the sheet of clouds”(25,26). Mary Oliver convinces the audience to embody this realization of a new voice through illustrating the idea of confidence being built and confusion being destroyed. The word “burn” allows the audience to see the quick destruction of these voices and confusion that have been present for so long. As a result, the reader gets a sense of relief as they virtually step out of the darkness into a new world that embodies positivity and self-confidence.

Mary Oliver uses repetition of words and phrases to clearly exemplify the significance each has to the contribution of this journey of self- discovery. The word “voice” is repeated several times throughout the poem allowing the reader to understand the significant impact society has on this individual through finding one’s voice. In the beginning of the poem, “voice” has a negative connotation due to the words Mary Oliver associates with it each time. The first time “voice” is introduced in the poem it is shouting bad advice, triggering a feeling of overwhelming negatively. The second time this word is mentioned, the voices are crying for help, causing the audience to continue feeling overwhelmed with negatively. The meaning of the word “voices” changes significantly when repeated a third time toward the end of the poem. Mary Oliver describes these voices as getting left behind, making the audience feel a strong sense of confidence and determination as the individual slowly starts finding her own voice. The final time “voice” is repeated the author makes it clear that the individual has finally found her own voice by describing this voice as “new” making the reader react in an exciting and relieved way since the goal of this journey was finally accomplished.

Mary Oliver repeats the word “determined” twice in the last four lines of the poem to emphasize to the audience the end result of this journey. As a result of finding one’s voice one is determined and confident in their actions because they are listening to their thoughts, not societies. The author repeating this word only at the conclusion of the journey allows the audience to clearly understand that this trait and feeling of determination would not have been acquired by neither the individual or audience if one didn’t go through and recognize the multiple hardships were overcome. In both instances “determined” is followed by the word “to” making it clear that one is using this determination to make an impact. As a result, the audience gets a feeling of self-determination and confidence implying that one can accomplish anything with this trait. This allows the reader to understand that going through this journey brings out a more confident, mature individual convincing them to believe in this process of self-discovery.

The author uses the comparison of nature to an individual multiple times to help the audience visually and physically embody the specific hardships an individual encounters throughout this journey of self-discovery. When Mary Oliver states, “though the wind pried/ with its stiff fingers” (14,15), she is giving the brutal wind a human characteristic of fingers that won’t let go. Being able to visually see and feel these fingers grasping on to oneself, results in audience feeling like their determination is being tested by these never ending voices. Mary Oliver continues to use the comparison of an individual to nature when she states, “and the road full of fallen / branches and stones” (21,22). The word fallen triggers the audience to feel a sense of helplessness, failing to keep the determination that was pressed upon the audience previously. The author foreshadows this emotion by using the words late which the reader corresponds with darkness and wild night which implies the thought of commotion in previous lines. This idea of determination quickly disappearing allows the reader to comprehend Mary Oliver’s point of how difficult it is to have enough confidence to find and believe in one’s own voice. The author uses the comparison in a figurative way when she states, “the stars began to burn/ through the sheets of clouds” (25,26). This specific metaphor is used for the climax of the poem to ensure that the audience clearly understands and visually recognizes that the individual has finally found their own voice. Mary Oliver combines the object, stars and the action of burning to strongly emphasize this natural brightness both given off, alluding to the sudden clarity that occurs in this unforeseen world of clouds and confusion that has been present for so long. Immediately the author gets this overwhelming feeling of relief after leaving this dark place one has been in for so long. 

Mary Oliver uses tone, repetition, and comparison to effectively convince the reader that this journey of self-discovery is difficult, but worth it in the end. The way the author uses these rhetorical strategies throughout her poem allows the audience to understand and embody the hardships that are faced throughout self-discovery. From the beginning to the end of this journey Mary Oliver uses pathos to successfully engage the audience to feel as if they were going through this journey themselves. Convincing the audience to go through this long journey and stay emotionally engaged until the end is something that Mary Oliver does very well.
