Essay on Belonging, Romulus My Father

Sophie introduces herself in the story as a nerdy, outcasted teenage girl, “I always thought of myself as a free-floating one-celled amoeba, minding my own business. The other kids at school were all parts of a larger organism. . . Not particularly noticed, definitely not appreciated, just an amoeba swimming around aimlessly” (9). Sophie feels as if she does not belong where she grew up, she has always felt like she was on the outside. Her father, a drug dealer and felon, left her mother when she was first born. Because of her extreme self-esteem issues, Sophie blames herself for her father leaving. She recalls what she believes happened when she was born, “When Mom was a teenager, I started making her belly fat. And then my dad left. And then I was born too soon. And he came back to get us.

An individual’s sense of belonging stems from their notions of identity, personal context, and place. A lack in any of these areas may result in a thorough sense of alienation and pose as a barrier, which prevents belonging and facilitates an individual’s decision to exclude themselves from their surroundings. However, ironically, these barriers that present hardship can truly liberate an individual and help them in finding a more fulfilled state of belonging. These ideas are explored in Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It and Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner.

Teenagers don’t like being their true selves as they often under-estimate themselves and think that they are not ‘cool’ enough. At the start of the story Brenda portrayed Aston as a generic teenager. Like any other teenager, he was trying to find the right fit for him. He under-estimated himself and thought being himself was not cool. Due to this, he tried being like his friends and hid the fact that he is an asthmatic: “If it weren’t for this madness” (90). This means he doesn't accept himself into the community just because he is an athematic. His stature is more important than himself. I think through this quote the author is trying to show us that teenagers these days don’t have self-acceptance and as such they give up on life. However they need to understand that if they don’t accept themselves, how will the

Although her shared race inherently secures her place in the group, she actively seeks further acceptance and affirmation from the other girls. Her longing for community results in her continued involvement with the group, as being outside the group implies an undesired sense of isolation. Laurel continuously strives to be a part of the community, even though she does not like its members and compares their caliber of friendship to being “bunched-up wads of tinfoil…or rusty iron nails you had to get tetanus for” instead of precious metals (190). The need to identify as part of the group causes her to passively dismiss not only the blatant rudeness towards her and other members but also their obvious character flaws. Yet it is in this respect that her less aggressive and kind temperament distinguishes her from the rest of the group, indirectly disrupting its cohesion. Although she realizes that “quiet people like [herself] were better off quiet alone,” the fear of being excluded will lead her to comply with group actions and thoughts that would likely not occur if she were acting as an individual (187).

Good Afternoon teachers and students, The following texts express how an individuals understanding of belonging can quickly be changed by the people and place around them. “Jasper Jones a novel written by Craig Silvey”, it is a short story of a boy named Charles Butkins and the events that occurred because he helped Jasper Jones mask the death of Laura Wishart. “Australia by Ania Walwicz”, is attacking the people of Australia in the form of a poem, because of their point of views and attitudes in life. She also hates Australia itself because the people are not welcoming, this is the main point of this poem.

One’s understanding of belonging can broaden their understanding and acceptance of themselves and the world around them. The statement that we all strive to belong is true, however it may take time to belong to a certain person, place, group, community or even the larger world. This issue is explored in Raimond Gaita’s biographical memoir Romulus, My Father and Khaled Hosseini’s confronting novel The Kite Runner. Throughout these texts, the themes of personal relationships, migrant experience and morals and values arise from the concept of

People have the longing to belong and to be accepted by a group or community. A sense of Belonging can emerge from the connections and acceptance we have with other people, communities and the larger world. These ideas of belonging are represented in texts which explore aspects of belonging and an individual’s potential to challenge or improve a community group. The film ‘Strictly Ballroom,’ directed by Baz Lurhman, the film ‘Looking for Alibrandi’ directed by Kate Woods and the exaggerated true story of an African American youth’s fight to belong in the song “dance with the devil” by immortal technique all represent ideas of belonging formed by life experiences.

Belonging can be defined as the process of the association with the human race as socially active characters. It is part of the human condition which represents the need for security, safety and acceptance. An aspect of belonging such as isolation can be associated with the concept of belonging, as not belonging is a reciprocal process of belonging. Belonging allows for the authentication of characters through the formation of identity and connections.

Aurora believes ?with all [her] dad?s crazy friends coming over all the time and [her] crazy little sister running around naked and failing the first grade? (93), that she can not be kind to her. The majority of the time people expect or at least for it to seem normal for a child to run around half clothed. Here again, Aurora exaggerates her sister?s because who actually believes she runs around naked? She even goes to the extent to call Annie, again a six year old, ?a slut? (95). Aurora also feels that Annie will ?do anything for attention?that?s why she failed the first grade? (95). It is possible that Annie failed the first grade because of this reason but one would doubt that this is the only reason or at least the reason to blame. Aurora constantly over dramatizes the events or stories like any teenager does. Aurora constantly over dramatizes the events or stories like any teenager/adolescent does.

An individual’s sense of belonging is determined not only by their own choices but also by the attitudes of others.

Humans need social interaction to flourish and they tend to select a few people to become closest with. They share secrets, gossip about others, and support each other in times of need, but how well can someone really know another person? In Nineteen Minutes the reader watches Josie Cormier get ready for school, hiding her private personality away for the day. “Either Josie was someone she didn’t want to be, or she was someone who nobody wanted” (Picoult 8). To all of Josie‘s classmates, friends, teachers, and even her own mother she seems like the perfect child. Josie hangs out with the right crowd, gets great grades, and follows all of society's rules perfectly, but no one really knows who she is. Behind the mask perfection Josie is just another teenager struggling with depression and identity issues. The author chooses to make the most popular girl in school also one of the most depressed to show that although things may seem beautiful on the outside, they can be rotting from the inside. Picoult is proving how that easy it is for people to hide their personalities to the world.

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.’

There are many things about the Bechdel family that set them apart from the average American household. The most the obvious difference is that they run a funeral home. Her childhood memories are of her and her brother being the home and among the caskets. One of the most important moments with her father, in fact, was when there was a body in between them and her father asked her to hand her scalpel. Their actual home however was also quite extraordinary due to her father's consistent and almost compulsive modifications to their home. Later on she will realize that her own sexuallity makes her unusual and her family has to deal with that as well. Alison is no stranger to the feeling of being “the other” however in her family, these feelings

There are many scenes where Alison has different hair colors and looks, and at one point she even takes on another identity. Her alter ego was a girl named Vivian Darkbloom, and Alison made Vivian into everything that she wanted to be, but wasn’t. There is one scene were Alison is talking to Hannah and she says “Sometimes I like pretending that I’m somebody else, haven’t you ever tried it?” (King, 2010). When Alison says this to Hannah, she says it in a tone of voice that makes the audience believe that Alison believed it was normal to take the place of another.

It also showed that her character had the hardest time accepting reality because her shyness sheltered and kept her from exploring the world outside of her home. This was emphasized by Amanda’s lack of concern for her children as she was blinded by her own needs.