In life, you are the only one in control of the way you deal with the adversities you face. 

Finding oneself is very important to face and overcome obstacles. In Mary Oliver’s poem, she presents the important and vigorous process of finding oneself. As we encounter hardships, we learn about ourselves more and more and learn how to deal with life better. Although there can be tough times, dealing with these problems we face makes us stronger, even if we feel weak. In “The Journey” by Mary Oliver, she uses imagery and word choice to convey the journey of life and the introduction of the overcoming power of hope while encountering obstacles during this journey of finding oneself. 

With intense imagery, Mary Oliver creates a physical image of the struggle of finding oneself. Oliver compares the process of finding oneself to a storm that has left debris and destruction. She starts the poem with a destructive image of the storm that is terrorizing a house and the roads. It starts off very hopeless and sad, but eventually describes overcoming the storm and destruction. Learning that you are the only one in control is how one fixes the damage and overcomes the storm. Oliver describes life as the “wind [that] prie[s]/ with its stiff fingers” and tries to break you down. She also describes the obstacles we face as “fallen/ branches and stones” from the storm. These obstacles may seem impossible to overcome, but there is hope that you must find within yourself. Although at first it can be hard to find the hope that gives you the ability to overcome adversity; finding oneself can be the answer to discovering that hope within you. Although the “whole house/ began to tremble”, we have to find it within ourselves to face the storm. Not only does Oliver argue that hope will be the saving grace to overcoming the “storm”, finding and accepting that you are in control of your life is powerful enough to face the storm. She also describes society and all its pressures as the “voices around you” that “kept shouting/ their bad advice”. This image of people shouting their bad advice is very accurate to what society really does do.  The response to these “voices” is said in the middle of the poem with “But you didn’t stop.” This response is very firm and secure and corresponded with the turning point of the poem where positive starts to leak in and take over the negative picture she creates at the beginning. 

Mary Oliver also uses specific word choice in her poem to develop the mood. She uses word choice to break the poem into sections, with each section having a certain mood. Oliver choses very descriptive words to depict the intense scenes of debris and destruction in the beginning part of her poem. She uses “shouting”, “tremble”, “cried”, “pried”, and “fallen branches and stones” to describe the beginning scene. At first, the language is very harsh and intense. There seems to be no hope to fix what has been ruined by this storm or obstacle in life. With the use of these specific words, we get the tone of the beginning of the poem. The language reflects the lack of self that people have when they first face difficult obstacles in life. In the middle part of her poem she uses more natural words and phrases such as, “you left their voices behind”, “new voice”, and “slowly”. In this part of the poem, she creates a more hopeful image and there is a sense of determination to mend the destruction and face whatever is to come. With the use of these words, there is less negative emotions attached to the words. The process of finding oneself can be overwhelming, but with hope, there is a chance. In the end of the poem, she uses very positive words such as, “determined”, and “save”. By the end of the poem, determination is the overwhelming theme. The end of the poem contrasts a great deal with the first part. Reading the first part of the poem with the harsh words that Oliver uses, it is surprising the poem ends the way it does with such positivity. With the specific word choice that Oliver picks, the specific tones of each section of the poem are emphasized. 

Along with word choice, Oliver synthesizes syntactic structure in her poem. The structure of the sentences helps add to the tone and journey of the poem. The beginning portion of the poem consists of a long sentence with the introduction to the “storm”. I think this works with the poem because the introduction seems so negative and end of the world like, that it seems it will never get better, and never end. This long sentence contrast well with the rest of the poem. The next sentence is a very short sentence that simply says, “But you didn’t stop.” This is the point in the poem that the tone switches to a more positive tone. The reparation of oneself is starting at this point in the poem. I think this sentence structure is appropriate as the turning point of the poem because it is short and contrasts greatly with the first and ending part of the poem. This sentence splits the poem in half, with the first part being harsh and hopeless, and the second part being more hopeful and positive. This sentence also comes as a surprise because of how tragic the first part is. The next portion of the poem has two normal length sentences. This section of the poem is growing into a more self-confident sense. The line after the turning point sentence reads, “You knew what you had to do”, this reflects more determination to fix the destruction described in the beginning and seems to take responsibility for oneself and the challenges ahead. The end of the poem is one long sentence. 

In Mary Oliver’s powerful poem, she creates the drama with the use of sentence structure and word choice to express the journey of life as a storm, and the obstacles we face as the debris and destruction left behind by this storm. The imagery she creates with comparing life and all obstacles to a storm is a very powerful image. Through these choices she makes, she has created different tones and images to make her poem even stronger and more impactful.  