As we go throughout our lives, we have good moments and we have bad. These bad moments can sometimes be the rock bottoms of our lives, although they can also be the turning points to the good as well. In Mary Oliver’s, “The Journey,” the theme of persevering is displayed in the poem through the character’s drive to overcome the bad influence of others and begin to make his own decisions. Oliver gives the reader a sense of a gloomy and miserable tone at the beginning of the poem which then is turned around at the midpoint into a realization of one’s inner voice. The voyage that this character is going through can be compared to that of a teenager in high school figuring one’s true self. Throughout the thick and thin, the inner voice and the conscious of himself overcomes the others opinions and actions to find his own.  

The quote, “one day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice,” (Oliver 92) gives a sense that the character has self-motivation through the hurtful voices of others. To get this emotion, usually there must be something that generates it like a pep talk or realization of a goal. This realization could be compared to a young teenager fighting the urge to go along with a bad group of friends and fighting peer pressure. As he is trying to fit in with the cool crowd of guys within the school, he is brought down by their bad actions and the bad things that are said to him. The motivation that is believed to be felt by the character is used to help propel them forward in this journey to find his inner voice and to get to where he can make the right decisions with his own consciousness. 

During his journey, he feels the “old tug at your ankles,” (Oliver 92) which is interpreting that there is someone or something that is holding him back. This is feeling of being held back could be due to the friends that he has and how he wants to do other things with his life and go out of his way to fit in, but the overwhelming fear of being left out makes him stay back and forget about himself. The two words “old tug” (Oliver 92) stands out with the fact that it sends this idea that a situation like this has happened in the past. The only difference this time, is that it is about truly finding himself. 

Continuing through the poem, a voice is heard that says “mend my life!” (Oliver 92) This voice is his in the fact that it is telling him that he needs to fix his life for the better. The bigger picture of the message is that his inner voice is telling him to get away from these friends of his and go find the people that he needs to repair his life. The sad thing is however, that he completely ignored this voice that he heard. The pressure around him was too much that the only voices and influence he had was the bad ones around him. It was if the only way to become “cool” was to ignore himself and become just like the outside opinions.  

  As the reading continues to when he was looking back on how the night had been a late and wild one, he is talking about how it had been terrible night and that he had been torn apart. He is telling the reader that this was his rock bottom and that everything in his life had been wrecked into pieces relating his life to the road and everything in it as branches and stones. It’s as if the friend’s actions around him had caught up and he finally broke down. When he breaks down he feels as though there is no turning back and that the people around him are who he is now stuck with and a part of. The person that he thought he could be with this outside influence of people was a rude awakening into a life that he did not want to be a part of and with this made him to be a better person in the end. 

Although this moment was the breaking point of him, it was also the turning point to finding himself. He shows that he kept moving and with this he “left their voices behind” and then interprets his own voice to that of stars, and the bad voices of those around him as the clouds disappearing. By listening to himself, the stars are burning through the cloud cover which has been hovering over him this entire time. This turning point of the journey that he goes through is the meaning behind listening to one’s self and making the decisions on his own. Without the drive and the movement forward to listening to that faint voice, there would be no getting out of this. 

The final thought that shows that he has certainly found himself, is that he realized that he was “determined to save the only life you could save,” (Oliver 92) being himself. When the journey has finally come to its end, he has revealed his own true self and has listened to what he wants to do by going through the trials and tribulations of others surrounding him. This process was a learning experience and a self-revival that could only be done by going through the toughest times of his life. For him to rebuild, he had to breakdown, which he did. This action caused him to make his life mend for the healthier and move on to the virtuous things in life. 

In conclusion, it is clear to see that Mary Oliver has shown in many different parts of this poem that the character is thrusted by this inner voice to get through his harsh times to eventually break through and find himself and begin to make his own decisions without the fear of getting disapproved by others. The several symbols including the stars being this inner voice and the clouds being the outside bad voices, the poem has had a shift that was clear to see. All in all, we can see that the inner voice has led this person to the end goal which was to fight off all the bad advice and miserable time that the person was in and listen to that small inner voice that has been there the whole time which was his to make his own and thoughtful decisions. 