Belonging

Understanding nourishes belonging... a lack of understanding prevents It. The environment nourishes belonging. Understanding the surrounding environment and seeking to be affiliated to it will improve the chances of a persons’ belonging. This is validated in Skrzyneckis' poems “Feliks Skrzynecki” and “10 Mary St”, Jane Campion’s film “The Piano” and Alice Pungs work “Unpolished gem”. First of all, “Feliks Skrzynecki” is a personal recount of his father’s reminiscences, experiences and garden devotion which not only describes his gentleness but more importantly his connection with the environment and how his passion made him belong, especially to his garden. The environment can make the understanding of belonging more easily and in Stanza one we view Feliks as a “man of soil”. In the same way a Simile is effectively used to describe his devotion to the environment of his background “devoted to his garden like a parent for his offspring’’. This presents how his father was proud of what he belonged to and his favourite place to be devoted to. In a similar way, the hyperbole of sweeping his garden “Ten times around the world” helps the reader understand the level of his father’s dedication to his self imposed task and how this helped him belong in Australia. The environment nourishes differently, from one country to the next and this often brings a change in culture. In the final stanza, we see how the Skrzyneckis’ are moving away from the European culture “I forgot my polish word”. This is effectively used as we see how migrating affects our environment we live in. In a second poem by Skrzynecki, “10 Mary St” encapsulates the environment of family life, along with their garden and daily routines that they are custom to. This poem captures how the environment creates a sense of comfort because of a routine being established. The opening stanza creates a sense of security “Each morning, shut the house” which creates evidence why they see their environment as secure, comfortable and complacent to belong to. The idea of environment nourishing belonging is furthermore adapted in stanza two where Skrzynecki talks about his father’s passionate treatment of the garden “I’d ravage the backyard garden” and additionally a simile is effectively used to describe the level of which he ravaged the garden “Like a hungry bird”. Both these techniques illustrate how the Skrzyneckis’ belonged through the use and treatment of their own environment; the garden. The environment can also be connected to people through symbols and this becomes evident in the final stanza of the poem “Inheritors of a key” which symbolises belonging in a transitory environment and how the Skrzynecki had to become valued in their own environment. Additionally their idea of belonging through a symbol is recognised in the street name Mary which gave the Skrzynecki family stability and security at a time when it was most needed in an environment of belonging and not belonging. Skrzynecki wrote both his poems on personal experiences, recounting and blogging how he and his family did and didn’t belong as a migrant. In a similar way Alice Pungs story “Unpolished Gem’’ uses personal recounts but also humour to engage the audience into multiple scenes and incidents which strongly reflect the environment her and her family had to quickly adapt to, into comparison with Cambodia. Pung and her family are sometimes in an environment where barriers are hard to overcome. Pung comments, that if you spoke in correct, formal English, “the shop-owner might not understand you’’. Her sarcasm and facetious remarks are continually used as a contrast of two environments, Cambodia and Australia. The two sets of environments are again contrasted, through chapter one with anecdotes about her families amazement at the format of pedestrian traffic lights and her use of onomatopoeia to convey that wonder; “Wah!” and “Woohoo!”. This effectively shows how migrating to a new environment can carry shock and surprising ideas but can offer opportunity and new adventures which leads to belonging becoming nourished. The environment can sometimes be confusing as a migrant is displaced and doesn’t belong with a different society, and alot of the time cultural difference can play a huge role in adapting a foreign to a new land. Pung uses two examples which generate difference between two countries and their societies. Contrast is used on page 12 when Pung is describing her mothers’ preparation of the stir fry dish. She makes a connection to a television commercial which was advertising what the product actually was (animal food). This remotely describes how cultural change can often prove to be a confusing and difficult situation. Differences in the environment are further present in the short story as it deals with how a culture can interpret one thing to another. This is unfolded when Pung is illustrating the comparison of Cambodia’s conditions to Australia’s medical and health conditions “my mother wakes up, she notices the white walls, the clean room and the pastel curtains”. This descriptive language is effective in conveying differences in two countries and also how belonging to a new environment can contain positive things. On the other hand, Jane Campion’s film ‘The Piano’ is based around a mute female pianist called Ada and her daughter Flora. The plot is set in the 1850s and shows evidence in similar ways to the other texts how the environment nourishes belonging, if adapted to positively. Both aspects of belonging and not belonging are explored in the film and both Ada and her daughter at time struggle to fully adjust to a New Zealand environment compared to the conditions which they were born to in Scotland. Not belonging is represented as the piano is being played on the beach. This is viewed from a close up shot which indicates to the responder how Scottish migrants faced a confusing and anxious task of being in some way connected to their new environment. Furthermore, the Mise-en- scene also expresses how belonging was not nourished due to the mother and daughter being foreign to the environment. A high shot and also a close up reveal to us how it was physically and mentally challenging for them to belong, as they walked through muddy bushland in their unsuitable attire consisting of dresses and high heels. In a different way, diegetic sounds make them belong as the sound of the piano playing made them both feel in ways connected to each other in an abnormal environment to which they were placed within. There are many reasons why the environment is able and unable to nourish belonging, but overall Skrzynecki’ s poems, Pungs short story and Campion’s film all significant reflect how an environment can shape our nature of belonging or not belonging in a foreign landscape.