English Essay dealing with ”The journey” by Colm Tóibin ect.
Steven Tyler once said that life is a journey, not a destination. What he meant, was not the exclusion of life itself nor that life takes no end. He meant that life is difficult beyond imagination, filled with obstacles and unanswered problems. As our journey through life begins, we have faith in our own ability to solve these problems and undoubtedly expect to receive happiness at some point. As we get older though, we learn that happiness is not gained without sacrifices, if gained at all. So we mingle our way through this journey, only to discover that life is nothing of what we expected and that sacrifices are not only made for ourselves, but also for the love of others.
We see this in the short-story “the journey” where a struggling mother named Mary fights to keep her family together, especially because of her son’s depression. David has been in hospital for seven months and the story primarily takes place in the car on their way home. Except from chain smoking, David is awfully quit on the back seat, remaining silent and refusing to establish a conversation with his mother. Repeatedly he states that no questions is allowed, which causes great frustration inside the mother. This is obvious in both her frequent attempts at talking, but also in the general approach to the situation.
The mother’s frustration makes her further desperate to connect with David and so she goes to great extends with her behavior. Stating that the silence makes her uneasy and weary, she continually asks David to sit in the front seat. To her this is not only about position in the car, but perhaps a symbol of whether or not David accepts and recognizes his mother. As her desperation grows, the search for recognition is emphasized when she asks him to light a cigarette for her, despite her hate towards them. Unfortunately none of her attempts seem to work, probably because she fails to accept the fact that David is sick...