Belonging_Essay

An individual’s experiences with their society shape their views on belonging, influencing the decisions they make regarding their association with their world and identity. These notions of belonging are explored by the poet Emily Dickinson through her anthology The Selected Poetry of Emily Dickinson, specifically the semi – autobiographical poems “This is my letter to the world”, “I died for beauty but was scarce”, “I had been hungry all the years” and “A word dropped careless on a page”. These texts portray how an individual’s ideals towards belonging are influenced by their relationship with their world and why some may react differently to these experiences and developed ideals. An individual’s desire to belong develops as they further experience the connection they share with their world; some may lose this desire as they are continually rejected by this world. Dickinson depicts her loss of interest in belonging to the literary world, which had rejected her poetry, in the metonymic poems “Letter” and “Word”. Indifference towards the lack of approval from the literary world and a sense of hope is instilled within this text by her reference to a prophesised future where her poetry is accepted, through the metaphor of the “hands I cannot see”. This belief is similarly utilised in “Word” as Dickinson immortalises her poetry as well as herself through the pun of the “wrinkled maker” who laid down in the metaphoric “perpetual seam”, meaning her work will transcend time and be appreciated in the future, “at distances of centuries” from her time, highlighting her loss of interest in belonging to the literary society, of that time. Extending off of this Dickinson emphasises the power of her words, as well as words in general, demonstrating how fast they may spread and affect others through the analogy of disease with “infection” and “Malaria”, despite their current rejection by the literary canon. Dickinson looked further, past her time, where her work would’ve been appreciated, which dissolved her yearning to belong to the literary world of her time. As an individual explores the void of their relationship with their world, they may satisfy that desire to belong as they realise that they’re already accepted in a different realm, relieving the yearning to belong to the other world. Dickinson relinquished her ties to and abandons her yearning to be accepted by the society she resided in and found peace with nature. In “Letter” her sense of belonging and peace with nature is emphasised through the personification of nature itself, who Dickinson glorifies with absolute “majesty”, further displaying her deep connection with nature which fulfils her desire to belong to society. Dickinson mirrors the persona’s realisation and these transcendentalist values in “Hungry”. She accentuates her desire to belong to society through the symbolic hunger the persona has felt for “all these years”. Dickinson signifies her realisation, by demonstrating the persona’s dissatisfaction with belonging to those at the feast through the contrast of the metaphoric “ample bread” and “crumb”, as the persona realises that belonging to the feast , the ample bread, was unlike her affiliation with nature, the crumb. She realises that she has already “tasted” belonging in the “Nature’s dining room” where she belongs. Dickinson portrays her belonging to nature and lack of, to society, through the juxtaposed “berry of a mountain bush” with the “road”, showing that she felt that she belonged with “nature” rather than her society. Hence, Dickinson realised that she belonged with nature, after exploring her lack of connection with her world and abandoned her desire to belong, to be with nature. If an individual is rejected by their world, they may choose to seclude themselves from that world, instead of conforming to the norm, to retain their individualism and true identity. Dickinson demonstrates her unchanging self and reclusion in the poems “Letter” and “Beauty”. She shows her untouched work and being through the personification of nature who told “the simple news”, referring to how her work and herself are still “simple” and unchanged, as well as her reclusion into nature. Dickinson demonstrates her reclusion and sacrifice for her unchanged poetry through the use of the metaphors “died” and “beauty”, where she has “died” for her “Beaut[iful]”, unchanged poetry. This concept of death as well as Dickinson’s reclusion is extended and dramatized through the use of the symbolic “tomb” where she has secluded herself from the world and “died” to protect her work. She demonstrates her sense of belonging to herself and nature through irony as the persona finds a companion after death. Furthering this, her belong to self is represented as the “truth” the persona’s companion died for, which is a metaphor for her unchanged which demonstrates how she stayed “tru[e]’ to herself. Dickinson finds self-satisfaction and a sense of belonging by isolating herself from the judgemental world, staying true to herself and her values.