Everyone in the world uses word choice, or commonly called diction in the literature community, for their own creation of emotion and physical reaction. Some people use to without knowing it while some others actually know how to use diction in their favor. For example, if someone talks about a scary event that happened, then that person would use words with a scary connotation without knowing her diction is causing the listener to have an emotional relationship with fear. However, someone who knows how to use diction in their best interest, for example, an author, uses word choice to make the listener or reader understand a relationship that the author is trying to make the reader feel. This relationship could either be a physical or an emotional connection. Mary Oliver is an author who uses diction in her poem “The Journey” to let the reader have an empowering messaging through her words. She does this by using pronouns, like you and my, to engage the reader in past experiences that cause a positive healing for the reader. It’s not just personal pronouns, she uses words with a confident connotation as well. Analyzing Mary Oliver’s “The Journey”, uses unique diction, primarily her usage of secondary personal pronouns and overly positive connotational words, we can observe how the author uses those specific words to create a positive emotional connection with the reader; thus, causing their confidence levels to rise.   

In the opening of her poem, she begins her message by describing how the reader struggles with “voices” and how negative people can affect one’s life. However, Oliver depicts how the individual in her literature overcomes these struggles. For example, Oliver’s opening sentences illustrate the speaker, which is the reader themselves due to active pronouns she uses, Oliver says, “One day you finally knew / what you had to do, and began, / though the voices around you” (92.1-3). The reader can personally relate to this poem causing themselves to have an emotional reminder to an event that they went through. Her diction has a theme of self-empowerment. Her words act as a trigger for an individual  who understands how to make difficult decisions. The reason for her words having a confident connotation is because the words actively grab the reader and shine a light on a past obstacle that they accomplished themselves. Thus, after completing said struggle, the reward is gaining new confidence in oneself and being comfortable in a situation. Looking at the quote itself, mainly at the “One day you finally know / what you had to do” (92. 1-2), clearly explains how the speaker goes through a similar process of struggle and understanding what the problem is. Oliver uses other positive words throughout her poem. There are many other instances. 

In the middle of her poem, she explains the struggles of overcoming a problem. She writes, “And there was a new voice / which you slowly  / recognized as your own” (92.27-29). Unfortunately, this quote is also the darkest quote in her entire poem, but this is the highest point of individuality. Oliver makes this quite dark by letting the reader understand most self-caused problems or severe problems can only be fixed through individuality. She informs the reader that, depending on the circumstance, it’s wise to leave people behind and only listen to oneself. Only one knows what oneself truly want and it is not always beneficial to listen to others. Accomplishing a difficult task can be satisfying and a boost in confidence because she encourages the reader to be this independent entity by identifying issues by one’s self.

Mary Oliver uses a unique form of diction to grab the reader whereas most writers fail to capture their readers. She uses secondary pronouns throughout her entire poem targeting the reader. This, plus her lack of details, allows the reader to relate physically and emotionally to most of the instances discussed. For instance, Oliver quotes, “The only thing you could do- / determined to save / the only life you could save” (92. 34-36). Her usage of “you” and her vagueness in details are very important in this poem because it is a means of boosting the reader’s confidence. When one reads this quote, one can relate because every individual has dealt with an obstacle in their lives. And with her diction of the pronouns, it allows the reader to remind themselves of how they accomplished that obstacle by themselves gaining confidence through their own individuality.  

 Ultimately, Oliver uses specific words and details for the reader, so they can gain more confidence by their individuality. Oliver uses pronouns like “you”, “your” and “me” to put the idea of individuality in the mind of the reader while analyzing the poem. This, plus the vagueness in her sentence structure, allows for most people to relate to what she is writing about. And she uses this  mechanism of diction throughout her entire poem to relay that fact that individuality is extremely important. Oliver uses diction to her best interest to interact with the reader that most authors fail to do at the ability that Oliver can use it. The reason for her diction is so important for the reader is because it can cause an empowerment outcome for the reader. However, most authors do not use the strong diction that Oliver uses which is a mistake. It’s a mistake because it’s important for the reader to feel some kind of emotional or physical connection. 
