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A Journey By Colm Tóibin

Satisfactory Essays

We do not have control over what will happen to us or around us in life, but we do have control over what we choose do with our own lives; how we want to write our own story, what goals and accomplishments we want to achieve. In this short story “A Journey” by Colm Tóibin, we follow Mary’s journey towards taking control over her own life from looking at her past.
Mary is the wife of Seamus, and together they have a son named David. For a long time, Mary and Seamus thought they were not able to have children but after almost twenty years of marriage, Mary gets pregnant. P.1, ll. 10: “she had long given up hope of ever having children.” They have accepted they would never get children so they are not at all prepared to have a child now. Mary …show more content…

The flashbacks create contrast and she starts building up ambition to change her life. Towards the ending, Mary realizes she is alone, and that she must start to take charge of her own life. This is her journey in the story.
P. 1, ll. 22-24: “She found it difficult to concentrate, and even though she knew the road very well, she had to drive slowly.” This symbolizes how uncomfortable she feels in this situation. It is also a reference to the title, as she is on a journey to get her son - but also a journey to change her life.
The main theme of the short story is the circle of life and death. Death is repeated many times throughout the story; in the beginning when David asks Mary how people die, the “death” of Mary and Seamus’s freedom, the “death” of David’s childhood, their dead house, Mary’s dead parents, Seamus’s death, and Mary choosing her new life at the end.
We cannot control everything, and some things in the past just cannot be changed. But learning from the past and taking control over the things you can, can get you very far. You must take charge of your own life and change things you are not happy with. This is what Mary realized. It gave her new hope and a new look on her

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