Belonging_Essay

Belonging is a complex concept which, when placed in different contexts, results in different understandings of the concept’s effect upon an individual or group. (adapt to question). This is illustrated in Raimond Gaita’s Romulus, My Father, Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and Sean Penn’s Into the Wild. Furthermore, it is evident that individuals may develop a lack of belonging or alienation due to inherent differences in their character or actions. For Romulus, his passion for blacksmithing became a refuge from the alienating world outside, where he could truly immerse himself in “his joy in having a hammer and steel in his hands”, characterised by the “distinctive” onomatopoeic “rhythm of his hammering – tap tap bang, tap tap bang”. His love of blacksmithing is conveyed through Raimond’s superlative language (“my father worked furiously”) showing the intensity of his passion, and more emphatically in the fact that it was Romulus’ passion for blacksmithing which helped him mentally recover so quickly from his motorcycle accident – “when he recovered physically, his work brought my father again into spiritual equilibrium” – the spiritual allusion highlighting how his passion for work became a source for his sense of peace and belonging. His passion also gave him validation and respect from the Australian people who appreciated his “superb craftsmanship... in which he took such pride” and this acknowledgement was critical to maintaining Romulus’ sense of belonging, which otherwise suffered due to what he perceived as the moral failings of society. Leo Tolstoy’s 1873 novel Anna Karenina, stresses the importance of family as a means of obtaining happiness. Konstantin Levin, after having his marriage proposal denied, seeks solstice in the comforts of farm life. As an idyll, Tolstoy demonstrates farming as a way in which an individual can develop a sense of belonging from nature, particularly as a means of escape from estranged personal relationships. “I need physical movement, otherwise my character definitely deteriorates”. Tolstoy’s use of interior monologue, in combination with 3rd person, effectively portrays Levin’s inner feelings directly, while still being able to portray other’s. Levin’s love of mowing is conveyed through tactile imagery - “More joyful still were the moments when...the old man would wipe his scythe with thick, wet grass, rinse its steel in the cool water, dip his whetstone box and offer it to Levin.” In particular, Tolstoy identifies the joy of mowing as a unifying experience, demonstrating through Levin, a landowning aristocrat, develops a connection with the muzhiks (peasants). “The muzhiks gathered together. He did not want to leave.” Here, Tolstoy’s employment of the two short, declarative sentences is an effective means of portraying to the responder the changed feelings Levin develops as a result of his physical labour. Moreover, the act of mowing with the muzhiks becomes a spiritual experience, where Levin feels an “external force moved him”, and “as if by magic, without a thought of it, the work got done. These were the most blissful moments.” Tolstoy’s allusion to an “external force” is not dissimilar to Gaita, Tolstoy’s spiritual references aiding in portraying Levin’s knew found peace as a result of his physical labour with the muzhiks. A change in physical location can often result in the individual developing a sense of isolation.  This notion is effectively represented in Romulus My Father as the Gaita’s relocated from Yugoslavia to Australia in an attempt to flee the events of World War II.  Raimond Gaita writes of how his father’s sense of belonging was altered in the move, an unconventional experience for the typical Yugoslavian, through his description of the natural Australian landscape. “He longed for the generous and soft European foliage, but the eucalypts of Baringhup, scraggy...”. The personification of European trees here causes responders to understand the deep disconnection Romulus feels from the natural environment, and thus from the country. The effective use of the adjective “generous” which bears positive connotations evokes an understanding that Romulus may have yearned for the familiarity of his home town, where he had connections with the people, people he had made friendships with. The juxtaposition of the starkly contrasting landscapes highlights the differences in them and, along with the use of the negatively connotative “scraggy”, is a representation of the deprivation migrants, like Romulus, experienced. Gaita goes on to write that “many varieties of waterbird were attracted to it [the swamp]” which is symbolic of the immigrants who are attracted to the seemingly flourishing nation Australia but, upon their arrival, are greeted with sights like the “dead red gum tree” which is a symbol of the disappointment migrants felt after their relocation. The visual imagery utilised in the quotes evokes an understanding of Romulus’ sense of isolation and disenchantment which he had not originally expected that better helps responders appreciate the text. Gaita also write of his father’s influence on his sense of belonging – “my father’s vulnerability changed my attitude to Frogmore. In his sighs I heard our isolation...for the first time I felt estranged from the area”. Here, the symbolism of his sighs alludes to being a representation of his loneliness and isolation, a depiction of his incapability to belong to the foreign environment. The use of landscape to symbolically represent the dislocating influence of consumerist societies is vividly represented in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, a hagiographic portrayal of the life Chris McCandless. McCandless family’s New England elitism and materialistic life-style did not accord with his Thoreauvian ethic and his Jack London aesthetic. Their complicity in environmental and social exploitation of American capitalism offended him. As a result, his rock-hard integrity demanded that the have nothing to do with them. The employment of McCandless’ sister’s non-diagetic narration coupled with long shots of the countryside serve to underscore McCandless’ isolation from his family. Excerpts from Lord Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage act as epilogue to the panoramic long shot of a snow-bound landscape with a bus containing McCandless, reflecting his purposeful isolation which is echoed throughout the remainder of the film. Penn juxtaposes periods of extended silence reflective of McCandless’ comfort in his isolation with blurred flashbacks to cityscapes overladed with discordant music with louder dynamic volume, and a denser musical texture, symbolic of his alienation from his parents life style. McCandless, seeking alienation and redemption through discovery, falls into insanity similar to Romulus.  Penn portrays insanity through the use of rapid editing of juxtaposing city/country/landscape shots, in order to illustrate McCandless’ alienation from his previous home.  The multifaceted concept of belonging is effectively represented through the close study of the three aforementioned texts. All three composers represent the concept in a different light, however parallels can be drawn due to the concepts timeless nature.