Physical Journeys – Essay Plan Physical journeys define and shape our understanding of who we are, through not only an exploration of the world but our inner self. [Direct answer to question]. Responding to the numerous aspects of the journey demonstrated throughout texts, audiences are able acknowledge the worth of physical movement as it also catalyses change in intelligence, psyche or emotion. Peter Skrzynecki through his poems “Crossing the Red Sea” and “Immigrants at central station 1951” conveys the idea that the physical journey and the challenge of obstacles, enlighten the traveler in many aspects exceeding the physical realm. Similarly, Rob Reiner’s film Stand by Me(1986) and lyrics to Iggy Pop’s song The Passenger illustrate how embarking on physical journeys can extend mankind’s understanding on human condition.
More than anything else, physical journeys are about the interpretation of the new. Do you agree? Argue your point of view. When going on a physical journey, one can face an assortment of new experiences. The traveller on the journey also can take on an inner more personal journey at the same time.
Journeys are made up of choices and decision that make up our life, some of those choices right and the others not, but it is these choices that we face along our journey that shape who we are. The statement “the journey’ is a concept that can be interpreted in many different ways” states that people perceive journeys in different ways. In the film Schindler’s List directed by Steven Spielberg and the novel The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas written by John Boyne the composers both have different interpretations of journeys and communicates these views and the effect this has on the audience. Such as the ideas of how an inner or emotional journey can change a person, the acceptance and understanding the characters go through, and how physical journeys lead to discovery. These three ideas will be discussed as well as different interpretations of journeys and how the composers have analysed in the two texts.
Can a journey really be defined by the distance travelled? Or can we gain a better understanding from the experiences we encounter along the way? In many cases people focus their attention on a destination and disregard the passage in which we are taken there, the exhilaration we feel, the things we learn and the positive and negative complications we are confronted with. Journeys possess the power to reveal the importance and significance of each experience. A journey can be very simplistic or it can be very complex, a journey can be triggered by an unconscious compulsion or we can find ourselves propelled into new circumstances forcing us to embrace the journey.
However the failure of Hardy’s pilgrimage, similarly to Orpheus’, is inevitable, as Hardy is visiting the place in order to leave his courtship but by looking back at the hillside Hardy experiences the precious memory of his angelic wife Emma. Hardy also experiences the journey of reminiscing and how idealistic and romantic their relationship was, “Something that life will not be balked of”. The adjective ‘Fading’ suggests increasing distance and fading light and therefore the lessening importance of present reality. The word “Fading” also suggests the time f day being dusk, which has connotations of death. The words “drizzle…bedrenches” are negative onomatopoeias which present use of pathetic fallacy to suggest a sombre and melancholic mood to the poem.
His journey is cyclical as he ends up close to the same point as he started. This contrasts to Dr Sawyer, whos journey is progressive – as he changes permanately after his interaction with Leonard This film raises ideas about the power of human interaction & the overcoming of obstacles in order to sustain & participate in the journey. Dr Sawyer and Leonard share a powerful connection to parallel journeys that has ongoing and significant ramifications. THEMES: * Human Interaction * Overcoming Obstacles * Growth – revelation * Change * Isolation – otherness These themes are prominent throughout the film & are displayed through the characters, settings & plot Connections to Othello: * Journey of descent – Leonard aligns with Othello, as he journeys into his comatose state. Similar to Othello, he descends into an irrational behavior.
But what sets these journeys apart are their purposes. The purpose for a journey to be undertaken can vary greatly from religious enlightenment and colonising to seeking knowledge and psychological growth. On all types of journeys, the traveler is in search of identity. Sometimes, the “search” is not intentional, but results from reaching the goal. This search can involve the traveler understanding both positive and negative facets about themselves, including articles, perspectives and traits.
Travellers can respond to hardships in many different ways. They can respond to them as an overcoming obstacle, in which they are optimistic about and can pull through. They can aslo respond to these obstacles with pessimistic thoughts and beliefs, that they see their hardships as being to difficult to overcome. In the anthology: Sometimes Gladness by Bruce Dawe, Dawe explores the way travellers respond the challenges in many different ways. In the poem 'Last seen 12.10am...' Dawe examines the response of the protagonist whether they are positive or negative.
Villages, towns and cities! I am here today and off to somewhere else tomorrow!”. The use of the exclamation mark shows that his excitement highlights his eagerness with beginning an adventure. As for Ratty he is unwilling and dislikes taking the first step and just wants to stay in his river, the use of dialogue, “I am going to stick to my old river and live in a hole and my boat as I’ve always done”, shows that Ratty negative attitude towards change. Kenneth Grahame presents these ideas: the companionship and the preparation using a variety of techniques which include: anthropomorphism, humour, symbolism, third person narration, contrast, dialogue and lastly descriptive language.
Conrad’s use of the frame narrative provides multiple perspectives to the text. An adventure story at the superficial level, the text delves into the consciousness of the traveler and raises very important questions regarding knowledge of the self and the other. The interior depths of a person’s psyche seem to of more interest to the writer. The nautical action in the text seems to be secondary to the psychological turmoil in Marlow’s mind. The narrative unfolds through bits and pieces of Marlow’s psyche.