An individual’s relationship with others and the places which surround them can have an effect on the individual’s sense of self-worth and their feelings of belonging. This notion is conveyed through the use of language techniques in both the set of poems “Feliks Skrzynecki”, “St Patrick’s College” and “Migrant Hostel” from Peter Skrzynecki’s anthology Immigrant Chronicles (1975) and the novel The Story of Tom Brennan (2005) composed by J.C. Burke.
One’s connection to a place greatly impacts on their sense of security and belonging. This idea is explored in Skrzynecki’s poems “Feliks Skrzynecki” and “St Patrick’s College”. In “Feliks Skrzynecki” the composer uses the metaphoric representation of the word ‘world’ to convey the thought of…show more content… Similarly the idea of a person’s relationship with others allows them to feel a greater sense of self-worth is tackled in the novel. Tom’s ever evolving relationship with Chrissy Tulake allows Tom to move from a sad teenager to a man with a much more optimistic outlook on life. The composer uses the motif of the colour black and darkness in ‘black cloud hanging over [me]’ to convey the way Tom feels most of the time. At this time in his life , Tom ‘hates [his] life’. Tom has no strong positive relationships in his life . It is this absence of a meaningful relationship that keeps Tom in the dark place. Tom’s relationship with Chrissy and how it affects his feelings of self-worth is shown through Tom’s thoughts. Thoughts such as ‘When I was with Chrissy I was me again’ and ‘You helped me find my old self’, demonstrate the positive effects the relationship with Chrissy had for Tom. Again this demonstrates that relationships and connections to people are able to change one’s feeling of self-worth.
People who share a connection through cultural or social factors often relate well together. This is demonstrated in the poem “Migrant Hostel” through the use of the simile ‘Nationalities sought each other out instinctively like a homing pigeon’, this likens the behaviour of the migrant searching for other people with whom they shared a connection with, to the action of a bird driven by instinct. This shows that by the different