Journey_Essay,_Motor_Cycle_Diaries_+_Another_Ordinary_Rainbow

Journeys are the backbone of all changes in the world, and without change the world would be entirely different. At the core of all forms of literature, journeys are always present, change is what makes them more apparent. The destination of these journeys are what creates change, but with one persons journey creating many more for those around them it becomes the more important factor. Physical journeys are often used as the foundation for a more valuable inner journey, ‘motorcyle diaries’ a film dikrected by walter salles is a perfect example of this.T the film follows tow characters, Ernesto and alberto who travel across south America. Throughout the film the pair face numerous challenges and are foced to rethink a lot of their ideas and beliefs. This is magnified in Ernestos case, being the one who transforms the most. The opening line describes how this story isn’t of “heroic feats” but just of “two lives running parallel for a while” just as a journey does not have to be a spectauclar event for an incredible change within one person or the whole world. The start of the film marks the befining of several journeys that in turn trigger more. Ernestos ideas of what he is capable of changes throughout the film as he incounters new cultures and people. Before setting out on this trip his only plans were to finish his mediacal degree, that he was hesitant to complete. Through the characters they encounter on their journey, he learns the injustices the impoverished face and are exposed to people they wouoldnt have encounteres in their hometown, such as the mining couple who had there land taken away from them. With this new knowledge and experience he decides he wants to help people by getting into politics. on his birthday he makes his first political speech saluting the people of south America. Multiple scenes of the pair walking down long, dusty roads, empty with the exeption of a passing truck and in one case a little man carrining a heavier load who still mangaes to pass them represents the assured moment in all journeys when it feels not worth it. The pair of them push through and manage to make it through stronger on the otherside which is the basis of every journey. To get through the challenge and get to the destination better, a point that opposes the original statement that the journey matter not the destination until these moments are looked into deeper. During one of these long excursions they meet the mining couple whos experinces helped Ernesto come to the resolution that he wanted to get into politics. These scenes immediately flip the opinion to say journeys are the more significant part. Towards the end of the film they travel to San Pablo, a leper colony in peru. Here Ernesto is able to re analyse his way of thinking and changes in him become more apparent. COomming into contact with people and cultures he had not had the chance to see before had an effect on his attitude towards all people. He was forced to change the way he judged people in relation to their social status. As he met more people he learnt more and by the time he had reached the leper colony he was able to understand that he is no different or better then those on the ‘sick’ side of the river that not only physically divides the patients from the doctors but also metaphorically doveds the two social statuses. On the night of his birthday he decides he would rather spend it with the leper colony rather then the doctors and nurses. The visit to San Pablo brought upon a change in how Ernesto sees his health. Before he had thought because of his sthma he had rather bad health, however after seeing the state in which the leper colony were in he became aware that his health was not at all bad. As though to symbolicly prove that he was healthy he swam across the river ignoring claims that he would not make it. The film showed how without journeys, some destinations or changes are unable to be made. A simple moment in one persons life can have a significant impact on anothers as shown in the poem “an Ordinary Rainbow” By Les Murray. It describes how one man is able to change the opinion of many by the simple act of crying. The journey of those around him are effected by a challenge in his, further implyin the statement is true. Comparing the poem, set in 1969, to life today, you are able to see the change in society, on a journey becoming more open and aware of our emotions. A crowd begins to gather around the man as the word spread around the town. Police officers try to stop him but find that they are in awe of the mans tears as described by Murray in the key sentence “their minds longing for tears like children for a rainbow”. They back into the crowd and watch on ‘with amazment’. The crying man causes a realisation that they want to be able to cry, the idea of them in uniforms a symbolic restraint against this. This cliché of being an officer but still being chained by the social shame of crying. The rest of the crowd has mixed opinions on the man weeping, showing the journey civilazation has gone through and is still going through. There are those who turn there nose up at the man, disgusted and horrified in the man who should not be crying in public. Then there are those that accept his crying but refuse to show it in fear of not being accepted by the people around them. And those who do accept it and show it, “many weep for sheer acceptance, and more refuse to weep for fear of all acceptance” The smallest of children are the only ones who come near the weeping man as they are the only ones with clear thoughts and ideas untouched by the opinions of others. This is the point in which every human starts and possibly a suggestion of where humanities journey through public displays of emotion should finish. The poet uses repetition of the word ‘weep’ to show that he cant be stoped and to help the reader picture the way in which the man cries. It implies the mans crying is ongoing and constant or over and over again. Whne he stops he simply walks through the crowd hurrying down the street. Just as quickly as a journey can appear so can it leave though it can leave a great impression on the people around them. The journey of one person can prompt journeys in others, another reason why journeys matter more then the destination. The destination can often lead to great change and without change nothing would evolve or develop, making the world an uninteresting, repetitious place. However to get to this ultimate fate one must endure the chanllenges and conflict within the journey, creating journeys for those around them therefore the journey is the much much more important factor making the statement true.