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Physical Journeys; Peter Skrzynecki and Related Texts Essay

Decent Essays

Physical journeys also involve emotional and spiritual journeys

A physical journey brings inner growth and development from the experiences a person encounters from a physical transition from one place to another. All physical journeys include obstacles and hardships however they also involve emotional and spiritual journeys along the way. Peter Skrzynecki’s poems “Postcard” and “Crossing The Red Sea” are both examples of an emotional journey within a physical journey. A feature article ‘A Desert Odyssey’ reported by Sue Williams and Robert Frost’s poem ‘The Road Not Taken’ also involve emotional journeys within a physical journey.

‘Postcard’ is a poem by Skrzynecki about the arrival of a postcard for his parents. As Skrzynecki’s …show more content…

On this extensive journey it allowed for an emotional journey to take part between immigrants, shown by the metaphor “silence fell from it’s shackles” showing readers that they were finally able to talk about their past experiences and emotions, which allowed for emotional release. The lengthy journey also allowed for Skrzynecki to allude back to his past life remembering both good and bad memories.
“I remember a field of red poppies” is a pleasant allusion that Skrzynecki had about his past life but is then juxtaposed by “Blood leaves similar dark stains”. The juxtaposed quotes shows the emotional impact his past life as had on him, as he remembers the happy memories he quickly replaces them for memories of lives and blood that has been lost. This emphasises that even though you can leave the past behind you, past events and memories can still be the cause of an emotional journey that must be overcome, as emotions can also be an obstacle that has to be faced on a physical journey. “The equator still to be crossed” shows that the immigrants have a long way to go and still have many obstacles to face including their emotions. Crossing the Red Sea therefore shows that a physical journey can be epic and momentous in both literal distance and process but also with relation to emotional change that inevitably accompanies such a situation/event.

My related text ‘A Desert Odyssey’ is a feature

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