Need help on Jurney to the interior (1 Viewer)

[Mr.Brightside]

i have read it few time and reading study notes about it, but it still confuses me quite a bit, can anyone kindly make a study note explaining the general concept plus what techqic the compose used to indicats its journey and etc? i am in ESL by the way, thanks in advance.

 

[Dr_Doom]

Journey to the Interior

Journey to the Interior by Margaret Atwood is a journey to the unknown, a journey within. This poem describes the human psyche by comparing it to the Canadian environment and natural landscape. Journey to the Interior is an inner journey of self discovery.

The title ‘Journey to the Interior’ implies of a journey from the exterior reality to the inner depths of the human psyche. In historical times this phrase would imply the discovery of a new land, venturing into the unknown which could involve danger. This idea is similar in this poem, Margaret Atwood is delving into the mysteries of the human mind, uncertain and apprehensive “many have been here, but only some have returned safely”.

The first stanza talks of the similarities between the human psyche and the environment. The images conveyed here are dark, this is no romantic bucolic picture of nature: here the “trees grow spindly; with their roots often in swamps”. It is a “poor country”. If this is a metaphor for her interior self, it is a cutting rejoinder to the glossy, self-help pop psychology that abounds today. Rather the interior self is vast, perhaps murky and sometimes deficient. The scene developed here is harsh and real, this place is not fertile, it is false and misleading, a place where you cannot rely on conventional things “the travel is not easy going from point to point”. This is a decaying world.

The second stanza shows the differences between the interior journey and all others. This journey is not defined with “the lack of reliable charts;” this is unknown territory. This stanza introduces some strange images to the responder; “your shoe among the brambles under the chair where it shouldn’t be” this appears to be a domestic image, but when examining the definition of brambles we discover that this image is not normal. This line is then followed by other surreal images “a sentence crossing my path”, these are distractions preventing her from seriously examining her inner self. She knows she must not take herself, her journey, too serious because “the danger: many have been here, but only some have returned safely”. Here she is saying how others have tried to explore their psyche and as a consequence have become lost in themselves and their inner psyche – this consumption is not in vain rather a neurotic, desperate and depressive experience. As sort of an escape she lightens the mood “have I been walking in circles again?” this aside is an attempt to exit the dark and depressive world that is surrounding the subject, the world of herself.

The final paragraph shows another example at the author’s desperation to escape the seriousness of her inner world; “whatever I do I must keep my head.” This is a dangerous journey “ I know it is easier for me to lose my way forever here, than in other landscapes”.

This poem is full of visual imagery, referring to the landscape and environment. These images are dark and unusual which adds to the eery feel of the poem “I move surrounded by a tangle of branches, a net of air”. The sound imagery throughout the poem is erratic, with no pattern or structure, which reflects what the poet is saying. Alliteration is used rarely, one example “wall welded” is perhaps to create emphasis that even the physical world is in itself constructed rather than just found. There is no flowing rhythm through the lines, the poet’s thought continues throughout lines which disorientates the reader, the rhythm is also unsettling.

The use of the first person pronoun “I” makes the poem personal and individual. The use of this pronoun is not intrusive though, it could be anybody – the universal “I”.

The atmosphere seems surreal. The poet shares her experiences in a strangely matter of fact tone, there is no surprise or astonishment – although there are questions the poet does not seem fazed by the occurrences.

Margaret Atwood attempts to chart the dark mystery that is ourselves in this poem, The Journey to the interior. She uses irregularity in rhythm, visual and sound imagery to create an atmosphere of uncertainty and danger. Atwood effectively examines the journey of the human psyche by comparing it to familiar landscapes.

I got this from some other thread

 

[Dr_Doom]

Journey to the Interior
By Margaret Atwood

• Free verse – multi-dimensional exploration of journey
• Monologue – natural pauses/hesitations
• Stream-of-consciousness where one idea fuses with another

Journey
• ‘endless as prairies”
o uncharted unexplored territory
• “the hills
which the eyes make as flat as a wall, welded
together, open as I move to let me through”
o changing perception as she progresses through her journey
• “The trees
grow spindly, have their roots
often in swamps”
o origins undefined, always shifting
• “that this is a poor country;”
o metaphor: no opportunity to grow, no progression
• “that a cliff is not known
as rough except by hand”
o experience helps the person recognise new objects
• “travel is not the easy going
from point to point, a dotted
line on a map”
“lack of reliable charts”
o A messy path, hard to find by taking set instructions
• “there are no destinations apart from this”
o Journey creates/becomes the destination
• “words here are as pointless
as calling in a vacant wilderness”
o A lonely journey – self discovery warrants no assistance
• “Whatever I do I must
keep my head. I know
it is easier for me to lose my way
forever here, than in other landscapes”
o Dark realms of the mind – getting lost in imagination
o Affirmation

• Contrast: “there are similarities” and “there are differences”
o Shift/renewal of thought in reader
• Domestic imagery: shoe/chair/mushrooms/knife/kitchen)
o Suggests persona has been daydreaming
• Cyclic nature of journeys: “have I been walking in circles again?”
o Repassing of the sentence

I also got this from another thread

 

[mr_brightside]

HEY FUCKER

change your screen name

 

[Dr_Doom]

Yeh I thought I had seen mybrightside post more than 2 things. Maybe it's just a coincidence :O