School: Journey Essays

Journey is usually defined as a physical journey i.e. moving from one place to another. This term though can also be defined as emotional, mental and/or spiritual. Through these types of journeys we gain a greater understanding of how characters interact with the world around them and others involved in their lives. The responder can predict how each character will change over time through the development of their journey. Journey can be seen through the play ‘Away’ by Michael Gow, the novel ‘Hiding Edith’ by Kathy Kacer and an excerpt of the poem ‘The Wind In The Willows’ by Kenneth Grahame. There are also numerous literary techniques which further broaden our knowledge and understanding.
In Away, an emotional and mental journey is evident in Coral’s life. Coral is mourning the loss of her son, however is finding it extremely difficult to move on and go on with her life. As result of her withdrawn, depressed behaviour, her husband, Roy, is being left in the dark and therefore finds it difficult to communicate with her. “Do you want to me to send you a doctor? Do you want to see a doctor?...Look at you. Look at me” Roy is frustrated and through his anger and sadness is having a harsh argument with Coral although the message he is trying to get across to Coral is that he is desperate to get his wife back both physically and psychologically. The repetition of referring to the same question emphasises that she needs help. He is also incorporating himself in the statement initiating that the death of their son is not only affecting her only but him too, however Coral has taken the wrong turn on things excluding herself and everyone else around hers. This leads to Coral having to examine the alternatives whether she will dwell on the past and give her marriage a break or to try hardest to cope with the fact that her son is never coming back. Coral though is reluctant and prefers to stay close to her dead son. However through trial and error, Coral acknowledges she has made an irresponsible decision by not moving on and re-establishes where she and her husband stand in their relationship. When Coral states “I’ve started taking such interest in the world around me”, it clearly shows that she is beginning to open up and take in what she missed out on due to her world looking grey but now can finally see colour again. She is proving to Roy that she is moving on. Coral’s changed values and self-realisation relates to journey as without taking an emotional and mental journey she would not have learnt from her mistakes and therefore only dwell on the past. She has realised that sometimes good things come out of bad situations.
The novel Hiding Edith links to the concept journey as physically Edith is moving from place to place and metaphorically this journey teaches her about the world around and what measures she must take to keep herself alive. Hiding Edith relates to the play Away as like Coral, Edith too must get used to living without a significant other; in this case it is her father, Both are leaving behind all the troubles at home in hope to find a place that will help them all reconnect with each other. Hiding Edith is in first person witch gives it a personal view as it helps us understand the characters feelings and emotions in much more depth. “What’s the use of thinking of the future?” this statement said by Edith herself evidently relates to Coral in her early stages of her grief. She saw no hope in living life without her son and Edith too felt the same when she had no support from her family. However whilst going on their physical journey; Coral to the Gold Coast and Edith to a safe home, they have been able to look past the bad things and look further to a brighter future.
In Away, an emotional and mental journey is also manifested in Harry, Vic and Tom’s life. As parents of Tom, Harry and Vic have been struck with their worst nightmare, that Tom only has little time to live. Harry however is adamant that Tom

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