In the poem “The Journey” by Mary Oliver, she speaks of a journey of self-reflection. Throughout the piece, she highlights the importance of transforming one’s life for the better. Oliver does this by including many different rhetorical strategies; for instance, imagery, personification, and extended metaphors. She easily paints a mental picture for the audience that translates her message in a successful way. By doing this, the reader can feel a sense of emotion in the poem. This text is effective in appealing to pathos in order to let those facing life-altering decisions know that it is alright to defy conformity on the path to self-transformation.

Oliver’s use of imagery regarding nature is extremely successful in her appeal to pathos. She supports her argument by showing the audience that the person changing in this poem is not conforming to what society believes is right, but what he wants to do in his life to make himself happy.  In lines 19 to 24 she says,” It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn...” In this quote, the author uses her words to paint a picture in the readers’ minds of a late night with a road full of debris. She then follows this with a breakthrough of a bright, shining star. This discovery moment encompasses the significance of her main idea.  Oliver shows us this image to illustrate that even when it is late in life and things are messy, it is possible to rise above social norms and prevail on their spiritual journey. That it doesn’t matter when a person decides to make a change. No matter how early or late, he or she can still improve the quality of their life. The audience can feel the emotion because most people can relate to the sense of social constructs. When social norms guide you in one direction it’s hard to find your inner voice. This entire poem puts the audience through the thinking process that one goes through when making life changing choices. Since Oliver chose to write in this style it strengthens her argument because it allows the audience members to put themselves in the shoes of a person dealing with inner turmoil’s. This strategy makes this piece extremely applicable to audience members. Overall her use of imagery helps the reader feel a strong sense of self- reflection. 

The use of a personification plays an important role in the effectiveness of pathos seen by the audience.  In the quote, “You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible.” (Ln.13-18).  Oliver uses the wind to act as a stiff object to show how wind in this case specifically guides you in one direction rather than another. This exemplifies how the person in this poem has no internal freedoms but recognizes the need for change. The audience gets the sense that the speaker is facing inner struggles because he is being guided by the “stiff wind” in one direction. As a member of the audience one can relate to the speaker and the emotions he is going through. The audience may be thinking back on a time when they felt they were being forced in one direction when they really wanted to do something different. But after self-reflection, realizing it is okay to go in a different direction regardless of the one being forced upon you. Because the audience can feel this sense of revolutionizing ones’ way of life, Oliver is extremely successful in her writing. 

As whole, the poem “The Journey” is composed of an extended metaphor. The story is used to encompass the idea of inner personal challenges that could happen to a person. In life people are constantly faced with challenges, but it is how they overcome them which is what really matters. The poem depicts a trembling house, vicious winds, and broken branches, all of which are metaphors for the physical journey someone takes to make changes in life. By using the quote “But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn…as you strode deeper and deeper into the world…”(ln.23-32). Oliver establishes both the physical and spiritual journey the speaker goes on. The speaker physically leaves the voices and opinions he or she hears behind, but comes to the spiritual conclusion of his own voice that he has his own voice and doesn’t need to consider the opinions of others. As a person it is easy to get caught up in what other people think. Instead of doing or thinking what you want people’s opinions can make a person think about life differently. Audience members can relate to this because at one point in time a person has thought one thing, but after hearing the thoughts of others decides to change their mind instead of sticking with their gut and doing what they believe is the right thing to do. The feeling of self-doubt and coming to the conclusion that it is best to follow your own voice is the message that Oliver is trying to convey to the audience. The speaker in the poem overcame life obstacles and came out as a better person in the end.  Oliver evokes a sense of pathos in audience members by depicting the message of self-reflection. 

Throughout the poem “The Journey” Mary Oliver choses many tactics to establish pathos for her audience. Her use of imagery, personification, and extended metaphors are extremely successful in allowing the reader to understand her message. The message of self-transformation is a message easily relatable to all audience members. Most people can think back on a time when they were facing inner struggles and how they overcame them to preserver. By writing this poem Oliver makes the readers feel a certain way about self-reflection. All three of these strategies come together to paint a mental picture for the reader. She is saying that it is alright to go against the grain of social norms and become an individual person with individual thoughts and ideas. Mary Oliver’s choice to use pathos in her writing is very successful. By tugging on the audience’s sense of emotion her poem becomes very relatable and easy to comprehend.  Oliver’s use of rhetorical strategies overall is very effective in her appeals to pathos in her poem “The Journey”. 

