A Comparative Study of Journeys within Different Texts and Text Types: Skrzynecki, Atwood, and Grenville Bill Yang 11th Grade

The process of overcoming different challenges faced in a journey has the potential to transform an individual’s identity and morality. Peter Skrzynecki’s ‘Crossing the Red Sea’ (1975) recounts the journey taken by the refuges from the horrors of World War II to convey their change in identity upon surpassing the challenges of liberation. On the other hand, Margaret Atwood’s ‘Journey to the Interior’ (1965) outlines the persona’s journey across the metaphysical world to delve into the moral transformation upon overcoming the imagination. Comparatively, Kate Grenville’s ‘The Secret River’ (2005) stresses both of these ideas through the protagonist’s journey of colonization, where the obstacles faced through settling are able to evoke reformation in both identity and morality.

Skrzynecki’s ‘Crossing the Red Sea’, outlines how by overcoming past sacrifices, an individual is able to transform their identity. The poem is a powerful biblical allusion to Exodus, where the Victims of World War II are presented with many traumatic hardships during their journey to seek refuge. The outset of the journey is shown through the retrospective tone in ‘many slept on deck, because of the day’s heat, or to watch a sunset they would never see...