Life is never a smooth, straightforward ride. There are constantly obstacles, inanimate and human alike, that attempt to deter one off their path. In “The Journey” by Mary Oliver, the author illustrates how although these obstacles exist, one must block out what others say and stay true to oneself in order to persevere. This theme is clearly conveyed through the visual structure of the poem itself, the words chosen, and the literary devices throughout the poem.

This poem consists of choppy and short lines which brings about the main theme. The point of the short lines in the poem are to make the reader think about every line and consider what could be said next. Making the reader pause and think about every line is one effect that the short bursts have on the reader. Another reason that the quick word bursts are used is because life can be represented in those lines. As mentioned before, life is not a smooth ride and is rather bumpy, as these lines portray. There is a quote in the first part that breaks up the poem that reads “Mend my life!”. This quote creates an emotional draw from the reader and it makes the reader think about why this person said the quote. This person may have chosen the wrong path which led to this life of sadness. The grab that this poem has is through the setup and pattern that it presents. The short lines remind me of a heartbeat on a monitor that would be seen at a hospital. The in-and-out style it presents looks similar to a very rapid heartbeat. The short bursts are also reminiscent on the fact that life is short and that we as people make our life choices that define us.

Mary Oliver chooses certain words for a reason. A lot of the diction that she uses correlates to literary devices that are common in poems. A few of the literary devices used are imagery, personification, and repetition. The imagery is strongly seen in the word choices that Oliver uses. She chooses very emotional words to describe basic words. She likes to give words human characteristics. An example of that would be “stars burning”. This brings a human feel and understanding toward these words. When she mentioned your “whole house”, it actually means the reader’s foundation and morals as a person, not his or her literal house. The next literary device that the reader should notice is the personification that Oliver uses. The main one use was that the “wind pried” with its stiff fingers. Oliver is trying to show how nature can affect the reader and lead to fear. She again gives words human traits which can cause fear. The last literary device that the reader should notice is the repetition Oliver uses. Repetition is used to show emphasis. Oliver says three times that the reader knew what he or she has to do. She does not say it the same way all three times. This shows that, in life, something either good or bad will happen and you will know what to do immediately after. The first two ‘parts’ of the poem have a very negative annotation, the last ‘part’ of the poem provides a contrast with the happy words it provides.

Mary Oliver does something very interesting throughout the poem. She makes it so that the reader pauses to contemplate what has been said after a thought provoking line. Immediately after that line, the reader is forced to put himself or herself in the position of “you” that she is talking about the whole time. Oliver makes the “you” in the poem actually become you the reader. She does this by using various themes. Oliver illustrates many different themes that point back to the much bigger main theme throughout the poem. The much bigger main theme of the poem is that people and things will try to hold you back but you must keep going and stay true to yourself in order to persevere. A subtheme is that you have control over your own life. Some other themes are that this is about the journey to becoming your own person and that the only life that you can surely save is your own in this cruel world. This poem is not about being selfish though. It is about how to achieve safety with yourself despite all of the bad possibilities that could happen. In life, sometimes you have to ignore the cries for help and the evil voices and keep going. You must overcome diversity throughout your life and learn when to help others and when to run to protect yourself.

“The Journey” has transparent patterns, literary devices, and subthemes that point to the main theme and are clear throughout the poem. Oliver uses very simple words in an easily understood context. The main point of this poem is to stay true to yourself. No one in the world owes anything to you. This should teach us that no one has to do anything for us, we are in this world by ourselves. The poem is not saying to be selfish, it is explaining that people and things will try to drag you down and you need to persevere through it all and stay true to yourself. If we do all of the things that Oliver says to, then we will keep moving on and become our own person.