The Need to Belong Essay

A common human characteristic is the yearning to feel a sense of belonging through connections and different forms of relationships made in life. A sense of belonging or not belonging can emerge from feeling connected to people and places, whether they have been freely cast there or not. An individual will only feel a true sense of belonging through the understanding of those connections, which are created by experiences and can only come within.

Belonging and alienation is the process of being either excluded or accepted by the society in which you live. Belong is a human conception,mostly considered a fundamental human need and a source of survival, safety, protection and happiness. To belong is usually considered positive and essential for a successful existence:however a negative sense of belonging:found among the displaced, marginalised and uncared for can lead to many social, filial and personal problems that can be almost insurmountable for the individual. The short trop fest film “Be My Brother” by Genevieve Clay 2009, represents these ideas through the films central characters. The film deals with society and people with disabilities feeling displaced within society due to

The slowly widening generational gap between father and son and between cultures is explored in “Feliks Skrzynecki”. Although full of tender admiration for his father, who spent “Five years of forced labour in Germany”, the poet comments on his father’s strong need to focus only on his pre-war Polish culture, choosing to purposefully exclude himself from main-stream Australian society. Ironically, this caused a growing distance between father and son, as although his father feels he does belong and is content in his exclusion from Australian culture and society, Skrzynecki

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

Yes, It IS an essential human need, but…. then…. What happens when an individual doesn’t feel like they belong. What if… this same “essential” sense of belonging, the same “need” to belong, is what barricades and imprisons us? What effects can not belong have on individuals?

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

Belonging requires an individual to build a connection with another person or group over time, these connections are often developed through shared experience and understanding. Peter Skrzynecki’s poems; “Feliks Skrzynecki” (1975) and “Migrant Hostel” (1975) offer various perspectives and representations on this concept. Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A clean well lighted place” (1926) and the picture “Berlin Wall” by unknown (1973) compliment these perspectives and representations further.

Belonging is the connection to person place, or thing. Belonging can have a positive impacts for example, immigrants arriving in a new country and bad examples can include someone blending into a bad population. Poems 'Migrant Hostel ' and '10 Mary Street ' portray belonging via literary techniques by Peter Skrzynecki, and also 'The Lost Thing ' by Shaun Tan convey belonging and how ones choices and attitudes of others affect the sense of acceptance. 'Migrant Hostel ' includes poet Skrzynecki and his family living in a hostel along with other Polish migrants, Peter Skrzynecki documents his experiences, as well as the

A link here ... Perceptions of belonging can change and remain constant due to many things; two important causes can include your family and heritage. Feliks Skrzynecki is a poem which highlights Peter Skrzynecki’s admiration of his father but the inability he faced when trying to connect to his heritage. Skrzynecki uses the colloquialism “kept pace with only the Joneses of his own mind’s makings” to metaphorically show how his father hadn’t changed over time and didn’t care to conform to community expectations as he was comfortable in his own surroundings and within his own self. The composer then uses the simile “Loved his garden like an only child” to show his father’s devotion to his home, which establishes a warm, reflective connection. The composer also uses the hyperbole “I often wondered how he existed on five or six hours sleep each night – why his arms didn’t fall off”, which indicates the extent of adoration he held for his father and that he saw him as a very strong figure. However although the poem remains quite positive throughout its entirety, at the end of the 7th Stanza it changes tone

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 to place/culture is a major concept in ‘Migrant Hostel’ to show how the migrants use their background as a sense of affiliation and belonging. This can be seen through the use of a in “Nationalities sought each other out instinctively like a homing pigeon circling to get its bearings” This example shows how the migrants felt isolated and alone when they first arrived at the migrant hostel. As they came together the “sought each other out” through the use of nationally and culture which made them fit in and feel excepted into the place.

Belonging brings to our attention the potential that all individuals are affected by not only their choices but the attitudes of others. The Notion of time allows for an individual’s perception to change and in-turn, form different attitudes towards people as we see through the characters in Rainbows End by Jane Harrison and Othello by William Shakespeare. An individual’s choices and the attitude of others plays an important role in shaping the way that characters perceive their sense of belonging, in both negative and positive ways in “Rainbows End” through the Koori women, Nan Dear and Gladys and in

Belonging is as a complex process by which people develop links with others, places and things. It is focused on acceptance and developing a connection and identity

This evident transience is perhaps symbolic of the migrants' own fleeting sense of connection as they instinctively seek out members of their own culture, efficaciously conveyed through the use of a familiar analogy – “nationalities sought/each other out instinctively – like a homing pigeon/circling to get its bearings”. These superficial relationships thus serve to hinder the development of any lasting sense of belonging – regardless of a common history and identity – as, whilst for some migrants, their time in the hostel represents a new beginning, for others the sustained sense of alienation and despair, due to a lack of strong relationships, becomes too difficult to bear, as the final lines of the poem poignantly suggest through juxtaposition – “lives/that had only begun/or were dying”. Thus a feeling of belonging depends on a strong relationship, developed over a period of time.