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” by Mary Oliver shows how one person decided to take herself to a better place although she faced many challenges along the way. She wants the reader to be able to put themselves in her shoes, so they can go on this journey together and show them how she was able to finally prevail over all of the challenges. In the poem, the author, Mary Oliver, constantly uses 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). 

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 struggle through the “journey” by presenting objects that the reader knows to relate with the audience. 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 also mentions how “fallen / branches and stones” (21-22) are in her way which mimics the phrase “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” which many children heard when they were younger. She chose this phrase 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.

In order to continue showing the reader what it is like to go through this dramatic change, Mary Oliver moves from inanimate objects on the ground to a more uplifting idea. 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 something bigger, such as the sun, showing that the tunnel does not have a lot of light, but she has something to look forward to in the end (25). She uses “sheets of clouds” to depict a long and tedious process trying to get through the layers of the clouds in order to see the light (26). Lastly Oliver uses “burn” to show how the process takes time because she could have used a less intense word such as shined that has a more positive connotation, 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 quote appears at the very end of the poem, and, after the difficult journey, she finally figures 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, so she can get to where she needs to go. 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). Oliver tries to take the reader along with her by relating things to images that the audience would be familiar with. In the end, the reader should feel like they prevailed alongside Mary Oliver. They were able to go through the journey together, and now they have made it to their next destination. 
