Thinh Tra

Ms. Holt
English 1P; per 6
June 9 2017

Success Is Working Hard

Arthur Ashe states, Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more

important than the outcome. From this quote, it states that success is continuously working hard

and enjoying it throughout. It is not a set place that the person will end up at. Whatever someone

goes through, they can find the experience to change their life. In the story The Odyssey,

Odysseus went to Troy to fight a war and on the way home, he had to go through many

obstacles in order to come home to his family. The poem The Journey is about a narrator who

succeeded by not listening to the negative voices in life. He was able to find his goal of saving

his own life, which is the beginning of how to win at life. Throughout both of their journeys,

Odysseus from The Odyssey changes by becoming more humble after being so selfish and the

narrator from The Journey changes by becoming more thoughtful towards others.

In the Odyssey, after Odysseus went through all the obstacles after returning home from the

war, he changed by realizing what is important in life, his home and family. Before Odysseus had

a change in attitude, he was overconfident in himself. The story states, Cyclops, if ever mortal

man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took

your eye: Laertes son, whose homes on Ithaca!(Homer, 384). This quote shows that Odysseus

was only concerned with his own glory and to tell the Cyclops that his name is Odysseus, so that

he can brag about his victory. Odysseus did not care how many of his men died and did not fear

the Gods. This matters because it shows how selfish Odysseus is and how he did not fear
Poseidon, Cyclops father. On the other hand, at the end the of the story he obeys Athena and

trusts her to help him regain his home and family. We can see how he changed from being self

proud to humble when he says, We are Achaians coming from Troy, beaten off our true course

by winds from every direction across the great gulf of the open sea, making for home, by the

wrong way, on the wrong courses. So we have come. So it has pleased Zeus to arrange it.

(Homer, 385). This means that Odysseus was up to the task to find glory in the challenges that

the gods gave him, but that he was always worried that he may never get back home if Zeus

willed it. Zeus and Poseidon taught him a lesson to respect the gods as they punished him

throughout the story. Odysseus seems like he is a better person since he learned to care more

about others rather than wanting glory for himself. By the end, Odysseus learned that family and

home are the most important things to fight for, and so she too rejoiced, her gaze upon her

husband, her white arms round him pressed as though forever (Homer, 416).

In the poem The Journey the speaker changes from being attacked by others voices and

ideas to showing self confidence. For example, the narrator says, And there was a new voice

which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company( 28-31 ). This shows how he

got to be self-reliant when he stopped listening to other people and began to listen to himself.

This is important because this change helps him be a better person and now he can be confident

to himself. Furthermore, we can see how the speaker also changed from scared of the peoples

ideas to escaping from them. She says But little by little, as you left their voices behind( 24-

25 ). This means that he started changing and not listening to other people anymore. This is

important because now he is becoming his own person and can be more confident because the
journey has ended and helped he realize that listen to people is the worse. These changes make

the character a better person by believing in herself and having self confidence and trust.

In conclusion, a major theme in life is that people can change: sometimes for the better or

some for the worse. In the story The Odyssey, Odysseus changed by becoming more humble

because on his journey he got punished by the gods because he was selfish and did not get to see

his family and homeland Ithaca for 20 years. Also in the text The Journey, the narrator get

changed to be more confident because he get attacked by what people said. Throughout both the

story The Odyssey and the text The Journey we can tell that journey can help people learn how

to live and respect life. The Journey important because if people do not go out to see and to learn

how people living in this complicated life then they will not change, get more humble and more

confident to live.