
    Live your life by your means. Don’t let others affect what you do or hurt you. This is the message within the poem “The Journey” by Mary Oliver. If one figures out how to help himself and solve his problems, he will grow and learn more about himself from that journey.

    “One day you finally knew / what you had to do, and began,” this is how the poem starts and how it effectively creates the central point. Oliver is trying to say that everybody has their journey they will discover. It is up to him to start. The way she begins by addressing the reader is what gives it power. The reader is immediately involved and made to wonder what their journey is.

    She goes on to say, “though the voices around you / kept shouting / their bad advice / though the whole house / began to tremble.” In many writings, home is used as a reference to the heart. This explains that “the voices around you” could mean the people one will meet in his life. The reader can grasp from this that the voices are people who want to lead him astray. She makes it a point that the whole house began to tremble. Use of the word tremble does not only resemble a house under pressure but can also show an emotion of fear or weakness. The inclusion of these emotions shows a sort of struggle. The battle of life.

    “‘Mend my life!’ / each voice cried / but you didn’t stop / you knew what you had to do.” This line is written, seemingly, to gain pity from the reader, but on closer reading, one can grasp that this is the right choice. As is shown before with the word tremble, life has taken its toll on the reader, and now, others are trying to get help from him. This is reinforced with repetition of the phrase, “you knew what you had to do.” The author makes a point of restating this to remind the reader that they have a goal. The goal being that of life, to make it. It is important to remember, in life, that one cannot help the less fortunate and struggling until he has made it. If one cannot help themselves, how can he or she help others?

    “It was already late / enough, and a wild night, / and the road full of fallen / branches and stones.” This is simple to understand but a powerful line. If the reader believes that this poem is about life’s journey, they would be able to grasp what the night means. Night has many meanings, but one of the most common is that of death or coming to an end. Just as night brings an end to the day; Mary Oliver uses the night to symbolize an ending to life’s journey. The road can be understood to be the path one took through life. Showing that it is full of fallen branches and stones give the idea of a struggle. Storms that have shook his life. An effort to make it. Life’s journey is a tough one that not all can survive.

    “As you left their voices behind / the stars began to burn / through the sheets of clouds / and there was a new voice / which you slowly / recognized as your own.” This piece is the turning point of the poem. Any reader could grasp from the dark words such as “terrible” and “melancholy” used earlier in the poem that there was a dark and sad tone to Oliver’s words. This piece, however, holds an entirely different connotation. “The stars began to burn, through the sheets of clouds.” The clouds in this sentence can be understood to be the struggles, sadness, and evil that one will encounter through life. The stars come in and burn a light through the darkness. The light of the stars symbolizes the goodness in life and a completion of a tough journey. Good overcame evil. The voice in this is the most dominant word of all. In the poem, Oliver uses the word voice multiple times to show an existence that wishes to prevent one from completing his journey. This use is completely different. This voice is not that of one who wants to deceive or take advantage of others. This is the reader’s voice. A voice that has shown that he or she has done it. The reader has discovered who he or she is and completed the journey of life. 

    Oliver finished this poem with one last sentence that truly drives her point home. “Determined to do / the only thing you could do / determined to save / the only life you could save.” This piece draws the conclusion that one should live life how they need and help oneself first better than any other phrase could. It is understood that this poem is about one’s life and the journey it takes at this point. What is being said is that man can only do so much. When it comes to life, one can only do so much. One can only make it through life, if they make sure only to live their own. 

    In the poem “The Journey” by Mary Oliver, she tries to explain that one should focus on living his life. One should not listen to the bad words and advice of others. This poem uses powerful symbolism and repetition to form the idea that those around one will try to hurt him. Everyone has a goal in life. It is up to that person to survive the onslaught of “voices” in the world that want to hurt him, and make it to his goal. 
