Carmodys Journey

A famous Chinese proverbs states that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Mr Curran, Miss Calendar, fellow students.

The word journey originates from the French word "jour" meaning 'the duration of a day.' A journey suggests the idea of a somewhat prolonged travelling for a specific object, leading a person to pass directly from one point to another. A journey can be something we undertake with a distinct goal in mind, however some journeys are so insignificant they may go unrecognised.

A journey is not just simply a distance travelled from point A to point B, but it is more an experience. Along the way, all the people one meets, all the skills one gathers and all the knowledge collected, shape and mould that person into who they become at the end.
Journeys surround us in everyday life. From day one life pulls us into a windy road scattered with obstacles along the way. This is a journey we all experience. This journey is called life.

Experiencing a journey is not only limited by being on a trip, and physical travel is certainly not a requirement for journeying. In fact we all journey every night in our dreams. These dreams are specifically know as imaginary journeys.

The imagination can be defined as being "the formation of a mental image of something that is neither perceived as real nor present to the senses."

An imagination is a place inside everyone's mind where things that do not exist in reality come to life. The human imagination has no restrictions and is limitless in what it can generate. It is disordered, complex and compact.

Wallace Stevenson, an American poet, once said, "The imagination is the mind pressing back against reality."

This idea of an imaginary journey can be seen in Isobelle Carmody's graphic novel "Dreamwalker." Ken, a high school student, takes on the role of the narrator in this adventure fantasy. Ken is an outcast and he uses his drawings to escape from reality to venture on his imaginary journeys.

Ken drawings are exceptional and his imagination is so elaborate that he is able to visualize a parallel world, which he has created through his drawings.

Ken awakes one day, and to his perplexity, he finds himself trapped in the world in which he has created. There, he meets one of his characters, the beautiful Alyssa, who claims to have imagined him in a dream. This novel at first seems to be a straightforward story, however, it doesn't take long for the plot to turn very confusing. We the audience are left wondering who is the dreamer, and who is the dream?

This novel is a perfect example of an Imaginary journey.
Ken has ventured out from the guidelines and experienced things that are neither real nor logical. He has not been limited by others beliefs and judgements, but has let his imagination run wild.

Carmody has used many techniques throughout her novel and an example of sound imagery, or more specifically alliteration, can be found when used to describe the white moths. "Large pallid eyes that gave off a sweet, suffocating smell."

The active writings of Carmody accompanied with the exquisite drawings allow this book to be enjoyed by those of all ages.

Engaging on a journey, be it in the dream world or the physical world, broadens our concepts of thinking. Journeys penetrate deep inside us and reveal what can be found within. As Jan Boddie, a writer for "the share guide magazine" once said " Journey goes beyond the restraints of physical time and space. Journey feeds the soul."

In this world there lives a sorceress and her "hungers." The hungers are vampire like creatures that have been born from the sorceress' greed and they are given shape, and become real, due to her dreams. The "hungers" visit those who sleep and feed upon
them.

an insomniac, meaning he only requires a few hours sleep a night. This disorder has held him back throughout his life and as a result has become an outcast. So during the long lonely nights Ken