Growing up did your parents ever constantly aggravate you to start thinking about a career and maybe they suggested a few they think best suited you? In the poem “the Journey” by Mary Oliver she describes what it is like for a teenager to be influenced into choosing their career path in college by family and friends. In the poem she argues that you should listen to your own voice instead of the people around you, because you know what is best for you. Even in adulthood people are still trying to persuade you to do things but you can ignore them better when you are an adult because you are used to making your own decisions. Unlike while you are a child when your parents make most of the decisions for you. Throughout this poem Oliver explains that and this is why I chose college because it is the bridge between childhood and adulthood. This is a very strong poem that everyone can learn something valuable and help change their lives. In the poem “The Journey” Mary Oliver uses voices to show how throughout life the people around you are going to try and persuade you to do something, but the only person you should listen too is yourself because you know what is best for you.  

Throughout the poem “The Journey”, Mary Oliver describes a voice that is heard repeatedly by the speaker. The first instance of the voice is “though the voices around you kept shouting” (Oliver 3-4). The author uses the word shouting to emphasize how the voices of others are constantly forced at you and you can’t do anything to stop them. The use of the word shouting adds to the theme that the voices do not stop and it is very hard to control them and not be persuaded by them. In this instance Throughout your life you will hear people’s opinion about what you should do with your life, but the only voice you should listen to is your own. In the poem the author describes the voices as shouting, the author does this because it adds emphasis to how strongly and how frequently the voices are heard by the speaker and how she can't get them to stop. A good example of this is while I was in high school, I was constantly harassed by my parents to start thinking about becoming a lawyer because they thought I would be really good at it, but I have always wanted to work in sports so I would try to ignore them. 

The next instance of the voice is “Mend my life! Each voice cried, but you didn’t stop, you knew what you had to do” (Oliver 10-13). When the author says the voices cried, she is saying that the voices were almost begging her to go with their decisions, almost trying to force her to choose their decisions. In this instance the author is talking about how even though the speaker never stopped, the speaker did what they had to do and never gave up on what they wanted to accomplish. When the author says “Mend my life!” (Oliver 10), I think the author is saying the voices are trying to persuade her to choose the career they suggested and not the one she would like to pursue. When the author says mend she is saying to the voices can you fix my life, because I am lost and do not know what to do. This is an important lesson that can apply to everyone which adds to the theme of this poem, which would be, as long as you pick a career that you appreciate, and you put the work in, you will be happy with your life choice and be driven to achieve your goals. One example of this in a person’s life is maybe when you were a kid your parent’s forced you to play a sport or join a club.  

The last instance of the voice in the poem is “and there was a new voice, which you slowly recognized as your own” (Oliver 27-29). In this instance of the use of the voice, I think the meaning of this is as the speakers journey progresses she starts to lose the voices of her parents and friends and her voice starts to overpower the others and she will make your own choices. The author also states “that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do, the only thing you could do” (Oliver 30-32). The author uses the word determined in this quote to describe how the speaker is set on the career she wants to do and the voice is now starting to support her and push her to do what is best for her. This is saying that this new voice that is your own, starts to guide you through life and is there whenever you need advice or are stuck. A good example of this is, now that I am in college and living alone, the new voice is starting to appear in my head and now I am making decisions that I think will help me best instead of asking for help from parents or other family members.  

Throughout the poem “The Journey” Mary Oliver uses the voices in the speaker’s head to portray how all the outside influences we encounter, can shape who we are as we continue the journey through life while finding our place. By using the multiple voices, the author is able to add to the theme and the central message of the poem is your career should be your choice and you should not give in to peer pressure just because the ones close to you do not agree with your career path. Even though the voices keep agonizing her to change her career path, she stays true to who she is and she makes the decision that will suit her best and as the story progressed, the voices in her head started to vanish and turned into her voice, which supported her decisions and pushed her to do what she feels is best for her. This is something that everyone can relate too, because we all go through these stages in our live when we learn to make our own decisions.  Even though I chose to use college and your career to show the voices, there are multiple ways of interpreting this. The author could be talking about life choices like drinking or smoking and how as a kid you are told no, but when you get old enough you can choose for yourself if you would like to participate in those activities. I chose to write about the college aspect because it most relates to me and the experiences I have and are going through. 

     

 