While reading the piece "The Journey" by Marry Oliver, one could come up with many interpretations of the text. One of which give the text a meaning of perseverance. The whole piece has a central theme of perseverance and not letting anyone one or thing stop the individual in there preverbal tracks. Marry Oliver achieves this effect with her use of personification and diction throughout the piece. Mart Oliver uses personification to relay a sense of humanism to the voices that are call for her to stop her advancement through her journey but with her positive mind set and drive to keep moving forward she will over come the obstacles that face her. 

Oliver’s writing is a direct representation of her life. During her life Oliver faced many oppressions not only for being a female writer but also for being a homosexual (Wikipedia). She faced these struggles and chose to write this piece to give hope to those who have faced these struggles. Oliver writes "though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice" (Oliver 3) this is the first instance of personification in the piece and what it gives so much to the poem. Giving the human aspect to the voices gives a sense of realness the exert and lets the reader see what Oliver is facing. It gives the writing a sense of intensity and adds conflict to the work.  It makes the reader truly understand just how impactful outside elements can be on one’s life. Oliver does this with several uses of personification throughout the piece. Oliver carries this same idea of overcoming negative elements through one’s life or “journey.” This use of personification gives so much to the piece and it makes the reader know how hard these challenges could be.  

Oliver also states “Mend my life!” (Oliver 10) each voice cried” keeping with her central theme of how aggressive outside elements can be. One can infer that Oliver is relaying to the reader how severe outside forces can be on an individual. Notice how Oliver ends the quote with and exclamation point: Oliver wants that line to stand out. Throughout the entire work there are no other exclamation points. Oliver did this on purpose to add emphasis to her words so that that the reader remembers them. For Oliver to do this one can infer that   The way she wrote this just furthers her idea of overcoming challenges not to mention the use of personification which lets the reader know that the voices are crying out in such an aggressive manner.

Further into the poem Oliver writes "though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundation." (Oliver 14) this excerpt continues the central theme of overcoming challenges. Oliver use of personification in this excerpt is extremely strong. The reader can actually feel the wind and this gives the reader a sense of just how hard some challenges can be. The way she words the piece of personification is beautiful it makes the reader feel which is important for this piece. The diction of this passage is so powerful that it could make the reader feel the forces Oliver is facing. One could feel the hands pull at them and rock the foundation of the individual. It makes the reader feel the obstacles that Oliver faced and it connects the reader(s) who have faced struggles. It gives the reader a sense of understanding, that they aren’t alone, and that they can make it through the obstacles facing the individual. Oliver gives to the entire writing in this one line: it gives the piece a meaning which is crucial for good writing. Throughout the entire piece there are several instances of personification, but this one is so strong and it is just worded so perfectly that it makes the reader feel and continues to keep the general theme of the work by showing how Oliver’s use of personification can make the reader feel the severity of the situation she has faced. 

The last piece of personification that Oliver uses is “and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company” (Oliver 27) which completes her general theme of perseverance. Throughout the entire writing, Oliver speaks on how hard her “journey” is but soon after all the obstacles are gone she is only left with her own positive outlook. The piece beautifully reflects life and all the things that one will face throughout it. Everyone will face challenges in their life and one will have to overcome them if one wants to be truly happy. Oliver knew this so that everyone could get something out of the writing. 

Oliver also supports her theme by using diction very cleverly throughout her writing. Throughout the start of the piece much like in life it was harsh and negative; however, near the end of it one will realize that if one keeps going and stay positive life will be easy. Much like in the end of the poem the diction is happy and positive. She does this on purpose so that she can truly connect with the reader. This piece is a beautiful example of how life imitates art or in this case art imitating life. All Oliver is doing in this piece is talking about how life can be bad at times but no matter what one can never stop one must keep pushing and never give up. Oliver wrote this poem so beautifully and it truly works.

Mary Oliver uses Personification to relay the idea that keeping a positive mind set is what one must do to overcome challenges one will face in one’s life. She explains this idea in her use of personification this gives so much to the piece. Oliver does a great job throughout this piece keeping her theme. She uses her literary devises and diction expertly and creates a true piece of art. There is a substernal amount of meanings one can get out of this poem and its truly just a wonderful example of the human life in literary form. Oliver writes about her life and doing so gives so much to all her readers. It is truly beautiful. 
