There is a moment in every one’s life where they find themselves in a bad position or a place where they know they do not belong. Some people choose to do something about the setback while others continue to be unhappy and do nothing. “The Journey” shows how one person decided to take herself to a better place although she faced many challenges along the way, and she wants the reader to feel how she felt. She wants the reader to be able to put themselves in her shoes, so they can go on this journey together. In the poem “The Journey” by Mary Oliver, there is a constant use of words with a negative connotation to show how her journey was difficult, but ultimately, lead to a revelation within herself. 

Mary Oliver uses words that have a negative connotation that have a deeper meaning and starts with human-like examples. To show how powerful the voices are, she uses the line “… the voices around you / kept shouting / their bad advice…” so the reader can picture what it is like having constant confusion in her head (lines 3-5). Mary Oliver is trying to show the reader how hard it is to shut out other people’s voices because they are everywhere, and they are extremely loud. Next she shows an example of what the voices want from her. “’Mend my life!’ / each voice cried” (10-11). Mary Oliver presents this conflict within herself between helping others or helping herself, and she has a hard time deciding what to do. She utilizes the word “mend” to show how they need lots of attention and trying to help each voice will not be a simple task (10). 

Oliver uses words like “shouting” (4) and “cried” (11) instead of said or uttered which shows how she wants the reader to realize how they are obnoxious and never ending. She wants the audience to notice how it feels to have something always screaming at them except it is just in their/ her head. 

Not only does Mary Oliver use human-like examples, but she also uses inanimate objects to show her “journey.” Oliver mentions how “fallen / branches and stones” (21-22) are in her way, and she uses branches and stones to mimic the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones.” She chose this to show how nothing can get in her way anymore because she is finally moving past all of the sticks and rocks that were originally holding her back from getting to where she really wanted to be. Oliver also uses a house to represent the foundation of what she knows (6), and then says how she feels the wind prying at the foundation which symbolizes her about to leave everything she already knows (14-16). She says how “the whole house / began to tremble” which may symbolize her nerves before she actually is able to leave and find her next destination (6-7). 

Mary Oliver moves from inanimate objects on the ground to the sky. She talks about how “the stars began to burn / through the sheets of clouds” (25-26). These lines are towards the end of the poem which could remind the reader of the saying “there always is light at the end of the tunnel.” Oliver chose “stars” instead of sun which is interesting because stars are smaller, so she is saying how there is not much light, but there is something to look forward to (25). Also she picked the word “sheets” to show how it is a long and tedious process trying to get through the layers of the clouds (26). The last important word is “burn” because she could have said shined or appeared, but instead she utilized a word that showed effort and how time consuming it is to finally be able to see the lights through the clouds (25). 

After all this negativity, Mary Oliver finally comes to a realization within herself. Instead of hearing all of the “voices around you” (3), “… there was a new voice / which you slowly / recognized as your own…” (27-29). This is at the very end of the poem, and, after the difficult journey, she finally figured out what she really needs to do: save herself (35-36). She becomes “determined” and will not let anyone or anything get in her way now. Oliver now realizes that she cannot always please everyone, and she has to shut all the other voices, and finally let her own voice take top concern (33). She even says how her voice starts to keep her “company” which could show that she finally feels that she is doing the right thing for herself (30). She shows her audience that once they can finally hear themselves, they have made it to their final destination. 

Ultimately, through her hardships and struggle, Mary Oliver prevails. She uses words that show her struggle and the effort that she had to put in to get to where she is now, but it is all worth it. Mary Oliver’s diction is very important because she wanted to take the reader on a journey with her to a better place, and she chose words that have deeper meanings in order to really show the reader how long and hard the process is. Although she uses “you,” Mary Oliver is trying to put the reader in her shoes to paint the picture in their heads of how the stars burn (25) and the voices swirl around (3). Luckily Mary Oliver was able to find her way on this hard journey, but will the reader be able to when their time comes?
