People Develop New Understandings Through Journeys

People develop new understandings through journeys.

Journeys can be reflections of life.They can either be physical, inner or imaginative. Such physical journeys create challenges when people travel to new places, and inner journeys create opportunities for people to develop and examine different perspectives and insights of the world around them. These notions are explored in Bruce Dawe’s poems drifters and migrants, and Cradle, Grave by Michael Leunig. These various composers have all presented journeys in different ideas.

Individuals’ perspectives about the same journey can be very different. A good example in drifters would be the oldest girl is ‘close to tears’ while the youngest one is ‘beaming’. This contract in emotive terms shows their different reactions to the same journey. The small children wouldn’t be upset by having to move again, in fact they’ll be excited as they think it is fun. Instead of excitement, the old children feel unhappy while they have to leave their friends or schools.  Because of their different experiences, the family members’ reactions for the same journey would be very differently. Therefore, people will react very differently through it is the same journey.

Living a life of journeying can prevent people achieving their goals which is shown in the poem drifters. In the fourth line of the “green tomatoes” and unpacked “bottling-set” are the examples. These words show the mother has to pick up again and be ready to leave although she wants to stay. Also, the direct speech ‘make a wish, Tom…’ at end of the poem reminds what the mother spoke back when they first moved to this place—where she once felt hopes to settle down. However, as they leave, like the ‘last shrivelled fruit’ which symbolises her dream to settle down is broken. As a consequence,  journey may come as an end to people’s hopes and dreams.

The poem migrants conveys