Do people listen to others around them or do they listen to themselves? People are constantly hearing from others, what they should do, how they should behave, what they should be interested in, 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 what their hearts and mine are telling them instead of what other people are telling them what to and not to fall into peer pressure. After reading the poem one could conclude that the poem is about being true to oneself and not falling into peer pressure because of her use of imagery when describing situations of hearing voices in one's head and her mentioning of voices around someone. 

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 in the poem to exemplify voices in one’s head, “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 92). Oliver is saying that people constantly hear negative advice from people around them, such as friends, family, and peers. When reading the poem one could infer that Mary Oliver is trying to say that people hear negative advice all of the time and that people know it is not always good advice. Oliver also knows that people are likely to cave into peer pressure and listen to those around them and take their bad advice. When she says, “You felt the old tug at your ankles” (Oliver 92) she is proving that people constantly follow that wrong path and people do it repetitively. The “old tug” represents the past feeling of making the wrong choices again and with the awful feeling of doing so. She uses that analogy to emphasis that fact that if people continue to listen to all of the negative voices around us then people will be dragged down with them. Mary Oliver wants people to listen to what they think they should do and how they should act. 

Most people find it very hard to block negative influences out of their minds. Mary Oliver uses imagery throughout the poem for people to see what a relief it is when people actually listen to their minds for a change. Oliver 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 recognize as your own” (Oliver 92).  The use of imagery in this part of the poem is to explain the feeling of finally hearing your own thoughts and not hearing everyone else's.  The stars in the poem represent oneself and the sheets of clouds represents 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 someone, the they can finally start living their own life and be who they really are. 

It is proven throughout the poem that people each have their own voices and 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 uses a direct quote to close off the poem, “Determined to save the only life you could save” (Oliver 92). Oliver wants to get the point across that only one person can determine who they are and who they 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 choose 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 who they are as an individual. 

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 today’s 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 their own. 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 who they are and to be happy in their own skin by doing so in poem form and using so many literary devises. 
