Do you listen to the people around you or do you listen to yourself? People are constantly hearing from others, what they should do, how they should behave, what they should be interested, and how they should be. Well what is the right answer? In Mary Oliver's, "The Journey" she is trying to get the reader to listen to themselves instead of other people and not to fall into peer pressure. After reading the poem one could conclude that the poem is about being true to yourself and not falling to peer pressure because of her use of imagery when describing situations of hearing voices in your head and her mentioning listening to the voices around you.

In the beginning of the poem Mary Oliver mentions the voices around people and how they influence people to do and act a certain way. Mary Oliver uses imagery such as, "Though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice- though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles" (Oliver). Oliver is saying that people constantly hear negative advice from people around them, such as peers. When reading the poem one could infer that Mary Oliver is trying to say that people hear this negative advice all of the time and that we know it is not good advice or something that someone should do. She also knows that people are very likely to cave in and listen to those people and take their bad advice. When she says, "You felt the old tug at your ankles" (Oliver) she is proving that people constantly fall on the wrong path and people do it repetitively. The "old tug" represents the past feelings of making the wrong choice again an the awful feeling of doing it again. She uses that analogy to emphasis the fact that if people continue to listen to all the negative voices around us then people will be dragged down with them. Mary Oliver wants people to listen to themselves and for them to be their own person and not rely on others to tell them what they should do and how they should act.

Most people find it very hard to block negative influences out of their minds. Mary Oliver wants people to see what a relief it is when you actually listen to yourself for once by using vivid imagery. She states, "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" (Oliver). In this part of the poem Mary Oliver is using imagery to explain the feeling of finally hearing your own thoughts and not hearing everyone else's. In this quote the stars represent yourself and the sheets of clouds represent the outside voices and opinions. The quote exemplifies the effect of finally hearing your own thoughts by using the stars and saying that they burn through the sheets of clouds meaning, that once you stop listening to the people around you then how you actually feel and who you are outshine everyone else. Oliver wants people to realize that once you stop listening to all of the negativity around you, you can finally start living and be who you truly are.

Throughout the poem Mary Oliver proves that each and every person has their own voice and that they have the opportunity to listen to it. She knows that there are so many influences on how people think and how they see themselves. Oliver also knows that it is solely up to oneself to make up their mind if they want to be themselves or if they want to be how society thinks that they should be. Oliver mentions at the end of the poem, "Determined to save the only life you could save" (Oliver). In this direct quote the only life you could is your own. She means that only one person can determine who you are and who you are going to be. There are constant influences on how people should live their lives in everyday life and there is no getting around it. She mainly wants to point out that ultimately people make their own decisions. Yes there are so many influences on us but we make our own choices. It is just up to people to choice to do what they think is right or they can just do what someone else thinks they should do. Mary Oliver wants people to realize how much happier they will be if they just be themselves. 

"The Journey" by Mary Oliver is all about ignoring all of the negative influences from society and to listen to ourselves instead of being someone else. In todays society there is so much negativity in the world so it is extremely hard for people to ignore all of it and for people to constantly be positive and be true to themselves. In this poem Mary Oliver uses imagery when describing situations of negative influences and when hearing negative voices in your head to clearly state the importance of being yourself and not crumbling under peer pressure. She wants people to stay true to themselves and be happy in their own skin. 
