In Mary Oliver’s “The Journey “, the word voice is interpreted in different ways to improve the text. Oliver teaches us in this story that we face many challenges in our journey to success. But when we stay true to our voice and don’t let distractions get in our way, anything is possible. The author repeats this word, voice, to create a better understanding of the text. The word appears 4 different times in the poem, but has a different meaning every time and has its own role to effect the story. Mary begins with a large and loud representation of voices but slowly narrows it down to a lonely voice in the end.  She uses devices, such as metaphors and repetition, to increase the meaning and strength of the poem. Using these literary devices with the word voice, makes a difference on the text. In this paper I will analyze and interpret each use of the word voice throughout the text, to determine how the repetition of the word improves the text. 

The first time we see the word used in the text is line three, with “though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice”. I interpret this meaning of voice to represent the hardships and challenges that we face every day. The “bad advice” these voices are shouting at us, are the distractions and tasks that are separating us from achieving what we want. The voices are trying to convince us to change and fail, because they don’t want to see us succeed. In this situation we can say that “they” represents the world. The natural world throws challenge’s our way, and presents us with these obstacles that we have to get through. I know this because the poem starts off with the realization of a goal that our writer is trying to chase, but shows us that the voices are shouting to try to get us off track. She uses the word shouting to show how extreme the challenges can be. In life, there will never be an easy route to get to what you desire, and there will be times that you fail. The line from “The Journey” that says, “the whole house began trembling” is a representation of how hard and difficult the obstacles will be, and that we will fail at times. Life is not meant to be easy, it’s supposed to be a long journey that presents us with different obstacles in the way of reaching our goal. The key is not to avoid failure, but how we respond to the voices that are trying to hold us back. 

The next time we see voice is in line eleven, “’Mend my life! ‘each voice cried.” In this context, I believe voice is used in a more literal form to represent all the opinions of your peers and family that try to change you. By this I mean that usually the people that bring down dreams are assumed to be people outside our lives. This text is saying that it can also be the ones that are close to you. Since they’re so close to you, they believe that they know what’s best for you and try to lead you in a direction that they want to see you go in. Oliver is warning us to be aware of this because even though they’re close lovers or friends, they can’t decide what’s best for yourself. You have stay true to who you are and not change under any circumstance. Changing to satisfy others would take you off the track to your own success. This idea still supports and furthers the main theme of being independent and believing in yourself, but surprises us to see that even those who are close to us, still want to see a change in approaching our goals. I know this is the main point because the author describes the voices as melancholy, showing that they are gloomy and tearing down the hopes of our dreams. It reveals that you can and will reach points that make you want to give up, but even hearing “give up” from the ones closest to you does not mean stop. Regardless of how much you value someone else’s opinion, you need to value your own. 

Finally, we see voice in line twenty-seven, “and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own”. This meaning of voice is a symbolic for yourself, beliefs, and determination to overcome all the other loud voices. Oliver starts this story off with multiple loud voices, but through the story she shows us in the end that there is only one solitary voice. I believe she does this to emphasize how important and powerful your own single voice can be, while struggling through all the other voices and challenges in our life. Once again this point supports the main idea by showing that through the dark skies, the only light you can find is your own. The author goes through the poem describing how loud others “voices” are, leading to the obvious answer that your voice is the only one that matters. The author says that your voice will keep you company as you go deeper into the world, and that your life is the only life you can save. This evidence from the text supports the idea that committing to yourself will grant you success, and following other voices has no chance to guarantee progress. Also, Oliver is showing a little red flag to not become hypocritical and steal the voice of others. Leading others to your goals, will not lead them towards their own happiness. If you go through life and try to guide along other’s opinions and values, you will crash because you are the only guide to your own success. You have to be your own voice. 

The word voice is used in different ways in this poem to show differences in the interpretations of voices we hear every day. Not all of these voices are literal, but metaphorical also. For example, in the first interpretation of voice the word is metaphorical for challenges and hardships that we face presented by the world. The voices in this journey represent any obstacle or challenge that you have towards achieving any goal. They also represent literal voices that are meant to distract us from our goals, or finally our determination to fight through the distractions to reach success. It’s clear that each meaning of voice differs in the poem, from different interpretations. These interpretations of voice show how the repetition of the word improve the text. By using repetition and different meaning of the word voice, the author creates emphasis on the fact that your voice is the strongest and most powerful tool you have. They also support the author’s main theme to take a leap of faith in yourself for what you truly want and believe in. Analyzing the text, we notice the use of a strong word to describe the voices. The author stresses the meaning of voice with “cried”, and “shouting” throughout the lines of the text. Oliver using the words of shouting, crying, etc. is a representation for the level of difficulty these voices will push you, and influence you to stay away from your inner knowledge. We see through this text to put trust in ourselves and our own voice. Staying with our beliefs and committing to our voice, will lead us to through our long and tough journey to success. 