Bypass_Suggests_That_the_Journey_Is_More_Important_Than_the_Destination

“Bypass suggests that the journey is more important that the destination” For Michael McGirr, his odyssey along the Hume Highway is evidently more important than the destination: Melbourne. McGirr undertakes a journey which for him is both physical and personal. His departure from the Jesuit priesthood after 21 years left him comparing his withdrawal to a ‘divorce’. No longer being a father of the priesthood McGirr finds that he must now make his own way in life without the church. With this McGirr chooses to purchase a ‘cheap Chinese bike’ and slowly ride the length of the Hume highway from Sydney to Melbourne towards his partner Jenny. This journey allows Michael to explore the enriched history of the Hume and ponder his own predicaments as he struggles to reconcile his spiritual beliefs and to find a place in the wider community. McGirr’s journey was one that started as a spiritual journey, where he Cliff Young’s heroic story of being an underdog who never really fit in in his community- being a potato farmer who still lives with his mother, provides as a catalyst for inspiration. Although he was doubted Cliff came out on top, winning the Sydney to Melbourne marathon along the Hume and winning the hearts of the nation. Young was a humble person who never wanted the glory or fame that came from winning the marathon as shown by his announcement “that he would split the prize money with others”. McGirr likened himself to Cliff Young as he could be seen as a younger version of Young, merely a ‘simple man’, therefore he drew motivation from this as Young proved that age and fitness (McGirr is extremely unfit) cannot dictate whether an individual can or cannot perform in an activity of such endurance. McGirr originates each of the six chapters in Bypass with an installment into Young’s journey along the Hume. In doing this is draws the story back to the basics; it reiterates the concept of the Hume as the physical structure on which both Young and McGirr’s treks took place, providing the story with a lineal structure that makes more impact when compartmentalized as it keeps the idea of the journey fluent throughout each chapter rather than isolating the destination as the desired point of interest. McGirr uses the road as a handy metaphor in the context of his developing relationship with Jenny; roads are like relationships, there are always “a few potholes along the way”. This is alike his relationship with Jenny as he finds it difficult to become intimate with Jenny in such a modest sense that simply sharing a bed with another person was “new” and “terrifying” to McGirr. However, as his physical journey along the Hume continues he finds a sense of contentment with Jenny. “As I grew closer to her, I felt less anxiety to know everybody else” further identifying how Jenny’s companionship along his odyssey served as a point of security, and thuds be became less self-conscious about himself and more comfortable and contempt with his life. Ultimately Jenny’s company along the Hume plays an essential role in McGirr’s self-discovery; with Jenny he found his place in the wider community, with her. Along the journey many tolls are met in the form of truck drivers who work continuously driving up and down the Hume supporting the notion that “the road is a monument to restlessness”. However, within McGirr’s construction of the hybrid-memoir Bypass, these truck drivers are perceived as stoic individuals, providing no interruptions and enticing society with their nomadic styles of living. The way McGirr illustrates these individual’s stories and their circumstances, admiring the “most ordinary moments” in everyday life such as “a truck driver elegantly tossing an apple core into a rubbish bin” highlights that he is not as critical towards our society as he is towards himself. Along his slow journey, McGirr enriches his story with tales of history related to the Hume. While McGirr touches on brief historical aspects of the Hume he learns about the roads development and influence on the nation. One of the most horrendous historical events that McGirr visits along his journey is the story of Ivan Milat, from this McGirr learns that “the Hume Highway has a dark side”. Where the road was Milat’s “playground” and the Belangalo State Forest (just off the highway) was his “underworld”, where he subjected his victims to their horrific deaths. This story brings negativity to the Hume Highways rich history as it shows that not all aspects of the past shape society for the better. Michael also touches on the contributions of Hume and Hovell, where he gives them both personalities within the text and details their exploration of Australia in order to form the foundations of the Hume Highway. In some ways I believe that McGirr is grateful towards the two explores because if it weren’t for them his journey could not have occurred and thus he would not have had the time or space to reflect on his life and explore his newfound insecurities after the priesthood; essentially McGirr would not have been able to build a stable new life as he did with Jenny and their son Benedict. Ultimately, Bypass stresses the importance of the journey rather than the destination as McGirr knew he belonged “at one end of the road” he just didn’t know which one, until he stumbled across it while peddling down the Hume on a “cheap Chinese bike” as a fat, unfit 41 year old, searching for his lost identity and ended up deciding “to live in the middle”.