Self-Journey

One of the major themes of Carver: A Life in Poems is self-journey. Carver takes a self-journey throughout his life in which he examines himself closely. He starts by taking a literal journey on a search for education. As a black youth, he cannot find a school that will educate him. He must live apart from the Carvers to be educated. When he goes to college, he is initially rejected by the white administration. But that does not stop his journey for education. He goes to Simpson College as an art major. He must stop his self-journey and reflect upon his brother's death. He realizes this is not the right life journey for him. He transfers to Iowa State College and becomes an agriculturalist.

As he continues his pursuit of education, his self-journey begins to take the form of self-introspection. He teaches at Tuskegee Institute, an all-black college...