Belonging_Speech_(Catcher_in_the_Rye,_the_Simple_Gift)

From my knowledge and understanding of belonging it is genuinely hard to define it as a single definition. So far I have not come to my very own definition of belonging, but I hope by the end of this topic that I have a clear insight of what it means to me. However I agree with this statement “ An individuals interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging”. By creating my own thesis statements and showing examples from two texts, which is ‘Catcher in the Rye’ by J D Salinger year, 1951 and ‘The Simple Gift’ by Steven Herrick , year 2000, I can contribute to my agreements of this argument My first statement is “without acceptance and understanding, one cannot belong”. Herrick portrays the protagonist, Billy, to the responder as a typical teenager who resents his father and does not like school. For example in the poem ‘Sport’ Billy recounts an event where his father hits him, which leads to not only ending his sporting childhood, but his childhood itself. By retelling this devastating event he used little emotive language, meaning its all facts such as the repetition of ‘I was ten’, emphasising the inappropriate father’s behaviour at such a tender age. But the little emotive language he does use gives us a sense of the reality that he comes from a violent dysfunctional home. Another example is the juxtaposition of his excitement and enthusiasm quote “ I’d already scored a goal so I kept practicing” then to the metaphor “slammed the door on my sporting childhood that disappeared into the bushes with my soccer ball”. By this, the responder appreciates the isolation and disconnection that he must of experienced and the big impact it has had on him about belonging. Holden Caulfield in ‘Catcher in the Rye’ also had a traumatic event, for him to end up in therapy, confused where he really belongs in society and his own family. Allies death, Holden’s brother, I believe was the most significant event that made him end up the way he is. Holden had a great relationship with his brother, unlike Billy and his dad, he idealised and praised his intelligence and sensitivity, and however he remains silent about his emotional reaction, to others. He alludes to his behaviour of the night he died. Saying that he slept in the garage and broke all the windows with his bare hands. Since it is a grim/sensitive topic that he avoids talking about, he too uses little emotive words, even when he states that he has passed away, a typical euphemism, instead he says ‘He’s dead now’, this creates a staggering appeal to the viewer by the short sentence, abrupt tone and wording. Idioms and a low register/informal speech are used as well to create this ‘small talk’ influence. For example quote ‘I broke all the windows in the garage, I don’t blame them” and “I did it with my fists, just for the hell of it’. Holden also mentions the age he was when it happened, using similar wording and giving the same affect as Billy’s story, ‘I was only thirteen’. Holden leaves it up to the visual imagery to recount the event, this being the main technique. It gives the responders an understanding of the dramatic affect it has had to his alienation, because hardly anyone has understood or accepted him for what he has been through, only because he chooses to avoid the topic. This is evident throughout the novel. I believe through these certain experiences from these two protagonists, we can understand these individuals and their contexts fully, shaping another’s view of their experience in terms of belonging in an instant. This then can enrich with others and the world around them as the argument assures. Both of these texts however contrast to the end result of their meaning of belonging, Billy being the one who overcomes it, but Holden is not so lucky. Though the experiences they had are equally significant to their first knowledge of belonging. Social class is another contributing factor whether we belong to others and the world around us. I agree with this statement to a certain extent. Personal, social and cultural identity is linked to this. In Western societies we correspond more closely with one's own social achievements, this includes education, occupation and income. However some traditional values of social class is another topic in ‘The Simple Gift’. Caitlin for example is not marginalized either by background or choice, as they are, however she is representative of the other society from which Billy and Old Bill are hiding. Though her parents, her dad in particular, quote “is too rich for his own good”, also accusing them of spoiling her getting quote“anything I want”. She dismisses her wealth, finding it superficial about her life and indecisive. For example in the poems ‘Billy’ and ‘Caitlin and Mopping’ it shows the first impressions of the two and their thoughts. Billy’s first impression of Caitlin quote “was to hate her because of that shiny watch and her perfect skin and I know shed call the manager and I’d be out of there” then sooner saying “ as if we were both caught doing something we didn’t want to do but had to”. The lexical chain and tone gives an emphasis on why he should hate her and the expectations of her followed, creating suspense as well with the help of shorter verses. Repetition of “clean and shiny” also adds to why he should, its so strong that even the viewer, I find, is convinced that something horrible might happened between the two, but then the last metaphor/cliché verse dismisses it all, finding that they are equal. Clichés are used most of the time, especially in this novel, as a affectionate comment, this gives the viewer a prediction of them becoming more than just friends. Holden is similar to Caitlin; he comes from a wealthy family and went to an expensive boarding school called Pencey Prep. He is full of contempt for the school, quote “they advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hot shot guy on a horse jumping over a fence” “ like as if all you ever did at Pencey was play polo all the time”, “ I never even once saw a horse near here”, “ underneath the picture it always says ‘since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear thinking young men’ “ and so on and so forth he rants about the school. By his conversational/informal tone, strong colloquialism, short sentenced based and slight vulgarity, the responder gets a development of the characters values of the social class he is surrounded by at school as well as a stronger depth and reasons of why he dislikes the school. A common word he uses throughout the book depicting any class of person that’s not satisfying to him is the word ‘phonies’. Whereas the other text its different with this view, because Caitlin and Billy are social opposites, they relate as if it were natural, Holden though blocks out everyone, rebelling to not conform to belong to society. By this the viewer then sympathizes for the individuals mentioned outlooks to acceptance and rejections on a personal, social and cultural basis, to a certain extent. Both writers overall make it clear by the dialogue and techniques applied. Therefore to Herrick’s character it enriches, but to Salinger’s protagonist it limits their experience of belonging. In general of what we have learned, I think that these two texts explore the topic of belonging quite well, even though their fictional characters and experience, most of it seems realistic where any viewer is able to shape their definition and knowledge of belonging to a certain point, even if its agreeing or disagreeing, we can learn from these texts. Thank you for listening to my speech, not that you had a choice