
Within all of our favorite stories lies a central hero, a person who challenges adversity to eventually overcome and prosper in the face of evil. What most people do not realize however, is that our favorite heroes tend to fit into a mold, defined by the Writer’s Journal as the Hero’s Journey, that every hero follows to varying degrees. But the Hero’s Journey is not limited to our favorite characters in books, TV shows and movies; the Hero’s Journey is incredibly applicable to poetry as well. Mary Oliver’s poem The Journey is no exception as the speaker of the poem experiences the classic fundamental stages of the Hero’s Journey. However, it is Oliver’s unique usage of language within the poem that merit the speaker suitable to fulfill the Hero’s Journey. Oliver’s repeated usage of voices and surrounding text illustrates the speaker’s expedition through the various stages Hero’s Journey as the speaker embraces the daunting task to find his own path through life’s challenges.

    All heroes begin their journey in the Ordinary World. Within this Ordinary World, the first step in the Hero’s Journey, the hero is contrasted against the background of the normal environment (Writers Journal 1). The hero does not fully adapt to society, as there is a certain polarity in the hero’s life causing uneasiness. The hero’s misplaced role in the Ordinary World is shaken by the 2nd step in the Hero’s Journey, the Call to Adventure. The Call to Adventure is a variable, in most instances external pressure, that forces the hero to face the beginnings of change (Writer’s Journal 1). The opening lines of Oliver’s poem closely follow the Hero’s Journey’s first two stages as the speaker experiences similar difficulties. The speaker comes to a brash realization to become determined to change from the ordinary world. Here Oliver first uses the word voices to initiate the Hero’s Journeys first two stages, the Ordinary World and Call to Adventure simultaneously. The speaker realizes, “one day you finally knew/what you had to do, and began,/ thought the voices around you/kept shouting their bad advice” (Oliver 1). The usage of the word voice establishes a society the speaker clashes with, causing discomfort. From this uneasiness, the voices “bad advice” begin to cripple the speaker as, “though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles” (Oliver 1). As the speaker feels the external pressure from the voices, the speaker uses this pressure as his Call to Adventure, an agitating variable urging change in his Ordinary World. The intensity of the voices will also become a benchmark for comparison as the speaker moves into new stages to determine if any change had been achieved. 

The next major step in the Hero’s journey following the Call to Adventure is Crossing the Threshold. Within this stage, the hero is fully committed to leaving the Ordinary World to a point of no return (Writer’s Journal 1). The new environment has unfamiliar rules and conditions that the hero has not experienced but nevertheless must be able to adapt to overcome the challenges faced in the Call to Adventure (Writer’s Journal 1). Oliver represents this Crossing the Threshold stage of the Hero’s Journey by again using the word voice. The speaker experiences desperation as, “Mend my life!’/each voice cried” (Oliver 1). The final cry of the voices pushes the speaker across the threshold as, “you didn’t stop./You knew what you had to do,” (Oliver 1). The speaker is determined as he crosses the Threshold into unknown territory with unfamiliar conditions as, “though the wind pried/with its stiff fingers/at the very foundations,/though their melancholy/was terrible” (Oliver 1). The speaker successfully enters a new region full of rigorous trials that have only just started. However, the stage of Crossing the Threshold is significant as now the speaker cannot back away from the challenges; it’s a fight to survive.

Now that our hero has crossed the Threshold, the true trials begin. With no return back to the Ordinary World, the hero must venture into the next stage of the Journey called the Test, Allies and Enemies. Within this step, the hero is severely tested and strains the new knowledge the hero has with the new Special World (Writer’s Journal). Coinciding with this stage can be the Ordeal for the hero as well. The Ordeal is when the hero enters the central space of the Special World and faces the ultimate test, usually directly in the face of evil with the imminent possibility of death (Writer’s Journal 1). Oliver emphasizes the stages of Trials and Ordeals in her poem as the speaker travels into the depth of the special world as, “it was already late/enough, and a wild night,/and the road full of fallen/branches and stones” (Oliver 1). Here the speaker has persevered rough conditions in an unfamiliar environment as, “little by little,/as you left their voices behind,/the stars begin to burn/through the sheets of clouds” (Oliver 1). Although there was not an imminent threat of death, surviving the Trail and Ordeal allows for the speaker to continue onto the next stage of the Hero’s Journey.

     Finally, the hero’s exhausting efforts begin to show beneficial results. Following the Ordeal, the Hero begins on the Road Back back towards to the Ordinary World with the certain possessions or knowledge that was gained from the Trails (Writer’s Journal 1). While the Road Back can be blocked with a final test as the hero is on the cusp of returning, called the Resurrection, this is not the case for the speaker in Oliver’s poem (Writer’s Journal 1). At this point in the speaker’s journey, the speaker has finally banished the crippling voices that previously plagued him. Free from any constraints, the speaker begins to realize that, “there was a new voice/which you slowly/recognize as your own” (Oliver 1). The speaker’s new insight from experiencing the Trials and the Ordeal is an inward sense of his voice that he can dictate and apply to all situations. Recognizing his own voice transitions the speaker into the final stage of the Hero’s Journey called the Return with the Elixir. Within this final stage, the hero returns home bearing the treasure of the Ordeals that transforms the Normal World (Writer’s Journal 1). In Oliver’s poem, the speaker’s transformation comes as he recognizes his own voice and can shift through the external pressure. With this new information gained, the speaker bravely decides to continue his journey as his voice that he, “recognized as your own,/that kept you company/as you strode deeper and deeper/into the world,/determined to do/the only thing you could do-/determined to save/the only life you could save” (Oliver 1). The speaker has full consciousness of his own voice that he will utilize as he moves towards an advanced stage in his life. 

Whether intentionally or oblivious, Oliver has expertly taken elements from the fundamental stages of the Hero’s Journey and applied them to the speaker in her poem. But by fitting the speaker’s experiences into a mold does not limit the meaning that can be taken from the poem. Even though the Hero’s Journey has been used countless times with almost every story concerning a central hero, the underlying messages portrayed are as varied as much as there are stories. So when you next read a book or watch a movie, be aware of the stages of the Hero’s Journey and how each stage is intended to convey a particular concept or message.       
