Discovery Essay

The personal journey’s we undertake and the self-discoveries made along the way are what shape us into the people we become. In Robert Gray’s suite of poetry, in particular his poems ‘Journey: The North Coast’ and ‘Late Ferry’ as well as the film ‘Stand By Me’ directed by Rob Reiner, we discover that personal quests challenge beliefs and shape us into the people we are destined to be. In these three texts the composers, Gray and Reiner, through use of language and filmic techniques illustrate that intimate journeys, motivate and inspire us to challenge our philosophies about ourselves and life around us.
The train ride in ‘Journey: The North Coast’ symbolises the persona’s personal embarkment to escape tedious fast paced city life and reengage with his inner beliefs. Gray illustrates the fast pace yet monotony of city life through the use of onomatopoeia of words ‘booms and cracks and tears the wind apart’. The use of strong verbs such as ‘swing out’ and ‘rattle up the sash’ to express the initial anxiety of shifting from one place or state of mind to another. As the train ride progresses the persona’s internal quest does also. The natural imagery of ‘flees on the blue and silver paddocks’ contrasts sharply with the dissonance of the onomatopoeia expressed at the start of the poem. This brings a sense of relief, which is reinforced through the use of first person. The use of first person in the phrase ‘I rise into the mirror, rested’ shows us how this personal quest has changed his belief from being unengaged with himself and the world around him to engaging with his true state of mind. Through the combination of these language techniques we begin to see the persona challenging his original beliefs and again engaging with himself and life around him.
In stand by me the discovery of a dead body demonstrates how personal attitudes are altered through intimate journeys. At the start of the movie, the director, Reiner, uses a long camera shot of a treehouse, a symbol