Its good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end. To what extent do the texts you have studied support of challenge the above assertion?
             It is not so much the destination that matters, but it is the journey itself which matters as this is where understanding and development is gained. J.G. Ballard's Empire of the sun, Gus van Sant's Finding Forrester, T.S. Eliot's Journey of the Magi and Margaret Atwood's Journey to the Interior, all show how the journey itself is what matters in the end, as it involves and exploration of the self, as individuals review their growth and development in the light of experiences which challenge and inspire them.
             For Jim, the protagonist of the quest narrative, Empire of the Sun, the journey is much more important than his reunion with his parents at the end, as on this journey Ballard shows how the war changes Jim from a naive and arrogant young boy to a mature and very different young adult at the end. Ballard does this by highlighting very explicitly his naivety at the beginning of the novel. While discussing with Mr Maxted the vastness of the Chinese population triggered by Chinese women weeding the grass, Jim asks "they could weed the whole world?" Also, Jim requests almost smugly to himself, that he 'wanted the war to end soon, that afternoon if possible." As well as naive, Jim is constructed as arrogant and extremely protected in his Amherst Avenue home, highlighted by Ballard when he threatens the Amah "Don't touch it, I'll kill you". This arrogance and nativity sets up the journey to come by Ballard, as there is plenty of room in Jim for new insights and understanding of the world and himself.
             The development of himself and understanding of his identity is one way in which Ballard shows the journey is what matters in the end. Ballard does this through the symbolism of mirrors in the novel,...