Belonging_Essay_Texts

Belonging is being a member or part of a certain group or form. Belonging can be found in connections made with people, places, groups, communities and the larger world. In the newspaper article “Where gays hide their pride” were we are shown how India’s gay community does not belong to their society and how they are discriminated. Another text which addresses belonging is the song "Fade to Black" from the heavy metal band Metallica from their second album, Ride the Lightning (1984). This song talks about the pain and suffering of one person’s none belonging to life and death being their only escape. As well as this I will be discussing the writing techniques used in these texts to represent belonging. “Where gays hide their pride” is an article which looks at the issues homosexuals and transvestites face in everyday life. They do not belong within their culture. They are discriminated within the Hindu religion and seen as outcasts. As well as this, they are discriminated within their villages and are forced to move to the larger cities in search of work and protection from physical abuse. They were also discriminated by the government up until eight months ago, when homosexuality was decriminalized. This has given homosexuals and transgender people more opportunities. According to homosexual activists in India “police harassment of gay people has declined significantly”. This is a sign that people in the cities are becoming more accepting of homosexuals and transgender. The dicriminilaztion of homosexuality has given these people more of a sense of belonging in society. In the past homosexuals had to conform in order to fit in. This involved hiding their homosexuality and not being able to belong. However, homosexual activist groups allow homosexuals in India to feel a sense of belonging within their homosexual community. A language technique in the newspaper article which helps represent belonging is emotive language. The article is written this way to make the reader feel the isolation the homosexual community in India is facing. The article is also written in a bias tone toward the gay people of India. This is done by the writer of the article so that we the reader can feel the sense of not belonging the Homosexual community of India feel. The Hoomosexuals of India do face not belonging and having to conform to feel a sense of belonging. The Metallica song Fade to Black talks about the world of desperation with respect to belonging. The song shows how a person’s desperation to fit into society leads them to wanting to die. This shows how important it is to someone to feel like they belong so they don’t go to these extremes. The song also talks about the person once feeling like they belonged but not anymore. This is seen in the line “I was me, but now he’s gone”. This also shows that when a person belongs they are happy, once they feel they don’t belong there only answer is to give up and die. Interestingly discussing not belonging, the song belongs to the genre of heavy metal. The song gives people a sense of belonging to a group who feel they don’t belong. One language technique used in the song Fade to Black to represent belonging is rhyme. Rhyme can be found in the lines “There is nothing more for me, Need the end to set me free”. Another language technique used in the song is repetition. Repition is used in the line “Now I can’t think, think why I should try. This represents the confusion this person is in about not belonging. This is also a representation of irony because he says he can’t think, however, he is thinking about why he should try. A persons need to belong drives them to extremes this is represented in the song Fade to Black. From the newspaper article “Where gays hide their pride” and the Metallica song “Fade to Black” we learn everyone seeks to belong and without that feeling of belonging they feel isolated. We also learn people who don’t belong are usually discriminated against. As well as this we see people choose not to belong for example listening to Metallica and feeling that sense of not belonging. In conclusion belonging is something everybody desires in order to feel they are wanted and needed in society.