The, As You Like It, And Khaled Hosseini 's The Kite Runner

‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging.’ This statement can be readily depicted through various texts which include Raimond Gaita’s memoir, Romulus My Father and Universal Studio’s 2004 film, Hating Alison Ashley. Both of these texts involve various techniques that assist in portraying the concept of belonging to both an environment and to relationships. Belonging is a concept that is more complex than it first appears. It may be experienced on many levels between belonging and not belonging, be it to a family, a friendship, a place or a surrounding environment. It is a perception that is shaped within personal, cultural, historical and social contexts. Belonging

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a structural progression of psychological and physical needs. Maslow hypothesized that there were two distinct types of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs2. The deficiency needs,

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.

Both texts effectively explore and convey that an individual’s sense of belonging lies fundamentally with their acceptance and place in the world.

With these few thoughts in mind Abraham Maslow made up a hierarchy of needs. (Boeree, Page 2) The hierarchy of needs has five levels: the bottom one is Physiological Needs, the next one up is Safety needs, the next one is Belonging needs, the next one is Esteem Needs and finally the last one is Self-actualization needs. As Maslow thought he “saw human beings needs arranged like a ladder”, the most basic needs at the bottom and at the top the need to fulfill yourself. (pbs.org, Page 1) Below is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

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.

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

“We belong … like fish in water. We’re in our environment.” This quote from the New York Times shows the perception of belonging as the idea about connecting to a place, person, group or a community. 'Feliks Skrzynecki' by Peter Skrzynecki, 'I'm nobody! Who are you?' by Emily Dickinson and 'The Rabbits' by John Marsden & Shaun Tan show the concept of belonging as being contrasted towards the New York Times quote, showing the alienation and non-existent connection towards it. These texts have furthered my understanding on the perceptions of belonging by recognising the different concepts of connection to people, places and things.

Belonging is shaped by the experiences he or she encounters with others, and within the two poems ‘Migrant Hostel’ and ’10 Mary Street’ by Peter Skrzynecki, and the film ‘Looking For Alibrandi’ directed by Kate Woods, the characters’ personas are moulded by their endurances of alienation and barriers from mainstream society due to their personal and cultural differences.

Concurrently, a full sense of belonging is therefore achieved. This is evident in ‘Neighbours’ by one incident which requires a thorough deconstruction and full understanding of the text to see that there is a sense of acceptance within the community. Belonging in this story is achieved when the young man evolves and understands the generosity of the neighbours. ‘On

An individuals sense of belonging relies on a sense of character and stability in their environment. Stability is built upon the way people connect with themselves and others while still holding onto their social identity. The play ‘Cosi’ by Louis Nowra and and Bruce Dawe’s poem ‘drifters’ both present a similar ‘no belonging’ type relationship with society. They show a lacking ability to develop relationships, connect within their community and build upon a healthy social

Belonging is an issue that plagues the minds of teenagers everywhere. The desire for most teenagers is to belong amongst their peers and be accepted, even if that means changing who they are. The need to belong is a very symbolic theme in the novel The Kite Runner. Hassan was a Hazara that lived among Pashtun. All he wanted to do was make Baba and Amir happy. Amir on the other hand, strived to make Baba proud throughout the entire novel. Lastly, Baba was a character that wanted to belong so badly, to the point that he took the secret of Hassan to his grave. The need to belong is a prevalent theme and was exhibited through the actions of Hassan, Amir and Baba.

Maslow's foundation tier, the one upon which all others are built upon, is the physiological need. Air to breathe, food and water, and adequate sleep are all basic biological needs that the individual must have met. Not only to be motivated by the next level of need in the hierarchy, but to survive. The body's biological drives to fulfill these needs will predominate all other activities, as the very life of the organism is at stake. ( Boeree 1998, 2006)

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model is implemented off a hierarchal pyramid which is renowned as one the most motivational theories, it is mainly incorporated with business dynamics, and it can also be used when relating to cultural diversity. Maslow 's hierarchy outlines in a hierarchal order as drawn upon by (Patrick.A.G, 2003) quoted by Maslow that the needs are ' 'Physiological, safety, social, self-esteem, and self-actualization ' '. The physiological needs are the basis that an individual will attain such as, basic human needs which incorporate survival, food and shelter. After the physiological needs have been met, safety and security is the next priority need on the hierarchy,

A.H. Maslow, a famous social scientist, has given a framework that helps to explain the strength of certain needs. According to him, there seems to a hierarchy into which human needs are arranged as shown in Figure.