In Mary Oliver’s famous poem “The Journey” she recounts the “journey” of her life and the lessons she learned along the way. These lessons were not only for her to comprehend, they were meant to be shared with the world. She wants the reader to identify with her mental and emotional voyage. Oliver spreads her message by writing about an extremely tough time in her life and how she overcame it. The tone of the poem is a journey in itself: starting out with a passive message regarding the realization of the need for change, rising through the pain and struggle, and climaxing at the point of her accomplishment of self discovery.  She pulls the reader in by writing in the second person, referring to “you” throughout the poem, making the reader feel as if they went through the journey with her. The use of the word “you” also entices the reader into self-introspection.  She makes her poem accessible to the reader as she writes in free verse, and uses straightforward vocabulary full of imagery, describing trembling houses and burning stars.  The poem flows and takes you down the path of life.  Oliver utilizes a simple, vivid style of writing and the word “you” repeatedly to connect with a broad audience to show the reader that this difficult journey does not only apply to herself, but relates to many others, in order to advise her readers, that although they may experience difficult periods in life, they can overcome them, be comfortable with their own identity and excel in life.

In the first few lines of her poem, Oliver sets the tone for her metamorphosis; the “you” Oliver writes about is referring to her, but she is also providing advice to the world.  As she starts the poem off with the line, “One day you finally knew/ what you had to do” (Oliver 1-2), she is previewing that she experienced a time of trouble. Oliver was a gay woman in the mid-late 1900’s and faced many internal struggles. This lifestyle was not accepted in western society at that time but she realized that she had to make changes in her life. This wording gives the reader a sense of what is to come, but the reader is still confused about who “you” is since typically “you” refers to someone else. The use of the word “you” raises the curiosity of the reader regarding whom Oliver is speaking to or about. This confusion may cause the reader to self-reflect and question themselves regarding how they feel about their own struggles.  Oliver details her difficult time when writing “The voices around you/ kept shouting/ their bad advice”  (Oliver 3-5) but again wants the reader to contemplate this situation in their own life. This connects to Oliver’s struggles and what happened to her during this rough patch of her life as she was an easy target for many people. Thus, there were many derogatory terms thrown at her and many “voices” who “kept shouting their bad advice”. Oliver expresses her difficult time to the reader by putting the reader in her position when using the word “you.” She makes the reader feel like the target as she felt all those years. 

In the middle of the poem, the meaning of “you” continues to evolve but Oliver introduces the word “my” saying “Mend my life!” (Oliver 10) so the reader may think she is speaking about herself.  However, she is speaking about others looking to her to help fix their lives as she writes, “each voice cried” (Oliver 11). However, by continuing to use “you” throughout the poem, she is telling others, as well as herself, that “you” need to be the one to help yourself. 

Oliver begins to show a switch in her attitude through a change of connotations. She writes, “You didn’t stop. You knew what you had to do” (Oliver 12-13). This sense of determination reinforces the realization disclosed at the beginning of the poem and Oliver has found the strength to work at gaining power and control. The “you” represents herself in this line as she is explaining that she went through tough times but that she would not give up. Eventually, things finally started to turn around for Oliver but moving forward was a slow process. She describes that “little by little, you left their voices behind” (Oliver 23-24). Again, the reader can identify with this statement, applying this sentiment to his/her own life. She also adds visuals, such as an ominous image of a burning house, roads covered with rocks and branches, and burning stars, to represent her escape from turmoil and the difficult path she had to take to reach the positive turn in her life. Oliver reflects on her change of mindset in the poem by changing the mood of the poem from the voices “shouting” to putting them behind her. Life improves as eventually Oliver writes that she found a “new voice” (Oliver 27). This is the biggest turn of the poem as the poet has now forgone the old negative voices of her past and has transitioned to this “new” voice that supports her through her conversion. She has taken control and now listens to her voice stating she “recognized [it] as your own” (Oliver 29). This makes the transition from a difficult time in her life to a place of hope easy for the reader to empathize with and apply to their own life as it feels like we are on this “journey” with Oliver.

Finally, after her transition, the meaning of the word “you” continues to involve the reader. Through taking the “journey” of reading the poem, the reader identifies with the struggles and conflicts of life.  They interpret Oliver’s message and the “you” now becomes the reader through self-reflection. Oliver gave the reader a sense of connection to her by placing herself as the “you”, and now her “journey”, as told in her poem, feels as if she is pointing her finger at the reader to make them feel as though she is talking to them, telling them to listen to their own voice and be their own person. Oliver ends her brilliant, touching piece by giving advice to the reader by stating, “Save the only life you could save” (Oliver 35-36).  She is reaching out to the reader, as she wants them to learn this life lesson after understanding the path she went through to find it and gain the strength to be comfortable in their own skin. Oliver makes it easy for the reader to trust her after connecting to them on a personal level. This makes her advice seem very real as it feels like, by this point of the poem, she really seems to care for the reader. She makes her stern point very thoroughly and that helps the advice get to the reader quickly and smoothly. In order for Oliver to help the reader with their life, she first had to gain their trust by putting the reader in her position by understanding her “journey”. She did this by placing herself as the “you” in her poem. Now, the “you” is the reader and she wants “you” to listen to her final advice. 

By using the technique of writing in the second person and utilizing the word “you” throughout her poem, Oliver not only articulates the way her life had changed but is able to talk to herself and also entrench the reader in the message. She demonstrates that her life was full of conflict and how she had to fight to overcome a difficult period, but does not leave the reader hopeless. Oliver explains the transition she went through and the challenge presented to find herself.  Because of the specific writing method she uses to tell her “journey”, Oliver is able to communicate and provide advice to her readers in a deep and personal way. The “journey” might not have been an easy one for Oliver, but it paid off by learning life lessons herself and convincing the rest of the world that, in the end, you are the one who controls your destiny.
