Mary Oliver’s The Journey is a poem about adversity and triumph over the voices telling the speaker to quit. The poem itself is a journey on its own, one the speaker goes on from the beginning in which he/she is listening to the voices and being deterred by them to the end in which the voices no longer have a platform to be heard from. It is a journey of growth for the speaker, one in which she overcomes the adversity that surrounds her at the beginning and allows the voices to turn into his/her motivation. The journey that Oliver is describing is one every person goes through at some point to beat adversity and move past the negativity of outsiders trying to deter them from reaching a set goal. 

In “The Journey” by Mary Oliver, Oliver writes “One day you finally knew / what you had to do, and began, / though the voices around you / kept shouting / their bad advice –“ (1-5). This idea of “they” represents anything in an individual’s life that could possibly be holding them back, including society, family/friends, or even the negative thoughts one has about him or herself. Oliver is trying to say that even though everyone around you may not see the path you see for yourself or support the decisions you make that shouldn’t change your plan or your path. No one knows yourself better, and once you come into yourself or figure out your own wants/needs you shouldn’t let anyone deter you from attaining those goals. Oliver specifically mentions that the voices are giving “bad advice” which is obviously stating that the people around you will say things specifically to deter you and stop you from reaching your goals and the only way to get where you need to be is to ignore everyone around you and focus on yourself. Oliver specifies that the voices “kept shouting,” rather than just talking. The choice of the word “shouting” represents the strength that “they” have and how loudly the doubt comes across to the speaker. 

The second instance that Oliver refers to an outside force trying to deter you is done in a more abstract way than blatantly saying “they.” When Oliver says “You knew what you had to do / though the wind pried / with its stiff fingers / at the very foundations,” (13-16), the wind is the image that is representing the “they” and the stiff fingers can be paralleled with the voices mentioned earlier in the poem. The “wind” and “its stiff fingers” are metaphors for the previously mentioned “voices” that attempt to halt your success. Thinking about these lines literally brings up what wind physically does to basic foundations of buildings and structures. It creeps its way in like nothing else can and manages to cause immense damage – especially considering that it is an entity you can’t see or touch, only feel. Metaphorically, the “stiff fingers” of the wind can be meant to deter you from moving forward by ripping through your “foundation” – or the base of what drives you towards your goals. When looking at it as a metaphor of people and voices trying to hold you back, the “stiff fingers” takes on the image of being the fingers of those around you and not just the wind. In either case, it is clear Oliver meant for these lines to represent the driving force that does what it can to undermine your path to success, whether it be people or things.

As the journey of the poem continues on, the voices mentioned previously begin to weaken and fade. Oliver says, “as you left their voices behind, / the stars began to burn / through the sheets of clouds, / and there was a new voice / which you slowly / recognized as your own,” (24-29). This is the major turning point of the poem because of what it represents to the person on the journey, or even the reader going on this journey while reading the poem. This is the first moment the voices are represented in a way that is not holding you back, but turning into your own encouragement. The voices change from the entity that is stopping you from reaching your goals and continuing on your journey to success to your own supportive voice. As the poem progresses, the speaker gets stronger as the voices get weaker – almost as if they are inversely related to one another. It changes from voices you are not meant to listen to, to the only voice you are meant to listen to – your own. Oliver chooses to reference a simile in this instance of “the stars,” and this is representative of your own voice breaking through the “clouds.” The “sheets of clouds” can be seen as the voices of everyone else, and this moment in the poem is when the speaker breaks through the clouds like stars on a cloudy night. This moment in the poem is what was being lead up to the entire time – the point of the journey is not to reach the destination, but the journey itself.

Mary Oliver’s use of this symbol accurately depicts the meaning of getting yourself to the intended destination without being deterred by outside forces that try to hold you back. Each time the voices, or in the second instance the wind that represents the physical aspect of the voices, is mentioned they are weaker and less able to do damage. The first time they are described as shouting, the second time they are described as wind, and the third time they are described as no longer being what they were. They transform from something negative to the most positive possibility – from your discouragement to your motivation. The entire poem is a journey in itself, from being unsure of your actions to being confident in them. 
