Journey Essay
Journeys Essay
Journeys are often undertaken by the need to escape the tensions of our realities. Either the physical or metaphysical challenges one experiences on a journey evoke self-reflection and internal realisation, assisting the individual to resolve previous tensions and gather new outlook on life. This is evident in Tim Winton’s novel “A Big World,” Phillip Hodgin’s poem “Dirt Roads” and the film “Into the Wild.”
Winton’s “A Big World” expresses a journey as a physical experience prompting self-reflection and a new perspective on life, through the road trip of the two adolescent boys, the narrator and Biggie. The tensions prompting the protagonists’ escape from their home of Angelus are established at the start of the text through the sensory images of confinement and boredom which reflect the character’s perceptions. The personification “misting drizzle wafts in from the sea” creates a tone of dullness and depression, suggesting their need to escape from the town. This prompts their journey, beginning when the boys purchase the Kombi van, which becomes a symbol of escape and perceived freedom for the boys, conveyed in the quote, “mad feeling… the road flashing under your feet.” The narrator’s acknowledgement of the expanding landscape that he experiences whilst on the journey is a recurring image, with the liberating potential of the road trip connoted through his reference to the “blue sky,” “hot weather” and “sunshine,” as a contrast to the deplorable weather of his home town. However, it is the experiences of his journey that ultimately challenge this impulsive belief in the salvation of escape and emphasise Winton’s representation of journeys as a means to prompt self-reflection. When the boys collect Meg the hitchhiker, the narrator feels isolated due to Meg and Biggie’s almost instant close relationship, “Meg, this mouth-breathing moron, is staring at Biggie like he’s a guru.” The narrator sees the parallels between their relationship and
Journeys are often undertaken by the need to escape the tensions of our realities. Either the physical or metaphysical challenges one experiences on a journey evoke self-reflection and internal realisation, assisting the individual to resolve previous tensions and gather new outlook on life. This is evident in Tim Winton’s novel “A Big World,” Phillip Hodgin’s poem “Dirt Roads” and the film “Into the Wild.”
Winton’s “A Big World” expresses a journey as a physical experience prompting self-reflection and a new perspective on life, through the road trip of the two adolescent boys, the narrator and Biggie. The tensions prompting the protagonists’ escape from their home of Angelus are established at the start of the text through the sensory images of confinement and boredom which reflect the character’s perceptions. The personification “misting drizzle wafts in from the sea” creates a tone of dullness and depression, suggesting their need to escape from the town. This prompts their journey, beginning when the boys purchase the Kombi van, which becomes a symbol of escape and perceived freedom for the boys, conveyed in the quote, “mad feeling… the road flashing under your feet.” The narrator’s acknowledgement of the expanding landscape that he experiences whilst on the journey is a recurring image, with the liberating potential of the road trip connoted through his reference to the “blue sky,” “hot weather” and “sunshine,” as a contrast to the deplorable weather of his home town. However, it is the experiences of his journey that ultimately challenge this impulsive belief in the salvation of escape and emphasise Winton’s representation of journeys as a means to prompt self-reflection. When the boys collect Meg the hitchhiker, the narrator feels isolated due to Meg and Biggie’s almost instant close relationship, “Meg, this mouth-breathing moron, is staring at Biggie like he’s a guru.” The narrator sees the parallels between their relationship and