Belonging

“Happiness can only exist in acceptance.” George Orwell Through the study of ‘The Simple Gift’ and ‘Mean Girls’, we are able to make connections between the two that similarly explore the concept of belonging, particularly through text, context, ideas and techniques. These two texts surround the idea of certain relationships which have the potential to encourage and destroy our natural self, and decide upon the accepted behaviours and attitudes within those relationships. Although this idea may seem critical and corrupt, it is an aspect of our personal world that occurs indefinitely, but is within our control. Writers and composers explore these ideas to express their opinions or make satiric comments on society’s choices and consequences, and to raise questions and insight in hope to encourage change and affirm these opinions. ‘The Simple Gift’ is a novel by Steven Herrick that explores the idea of taking control of our identity, and acknowledging life’s simple pleasures. It is based in the town of Bendarat alongside the town’s rail tracks, where Billy, the main character, finds his first genuine home within an old train carriage. Techniques that successfully tell the story of Billy include writing styles, forms and structures, as well as symbolism and contrast. Herrick uses free-verse poems to tell the story of each three characters, to capture their thoughts, emotions, insecurities and ambitions, and to show various angles and opinions. With the use of these techniques, we as the responder are able to understand the vast differences between each character. A supplementing example where these techniques are used comprises when Billy first arrives at Bendarat, on the freight train. In the poem of ‘Bendarat’, Billy is aboard the night freight train after being welcomed by Ernie, the train driver. This initial welcoming creates a comforting relationship for Billy, which is in great contrast to his father’s relationship which is threatening and unsteady. Once the train has reached Bendarat, Billy leaves the train with the phrase “...dump me in another State”. This use of symbolism particularly represents Billy’s lack of control over his destiny, and his lack of care for that matter as to what this town brings him. It also represents the lack of plans and purpose Billy has for this new town, which shows his lack of faith in Bendarat and his chance of creating relationships. However, in the poem ‘Going nowhere’, Billy creates plans and shows understanding of Bendarat. He quotes, “This morning I woke and I knew where I was going for the next few months — to the Library, to McDonalds, to the river and home here to the Hilton — a circuit of plans with Caitlin at the centre, and me a badly-dressed satellite spinning crazily in her orbit”. In contrast with Billy’s last entry towards Bendarat, this poem represents his adaption to the community and his growing physical and emotional sense of belonging to the town and its people. A relationship has ‘centred’ Billy, and his life has direction, routine and meaning; he has reached a sense of belonging. On another note, ‘Mean Girls’ is a pop-culture film directed by Mark Waters that also explores the idea of taking control of our identity, and how relationships can encourage or destroy our natural self. Cady is a young sixteen year old girl who is attending a public school for the first time in her life, and discovers the cliques and roles of people within the school. Within these cliques, people are ‘sorted’ due to their sex, age, race and appearance, and are ultimately the defining points to a person’s popularity. Techniques that successfully tell the story of Cady and her new life include characterisation and contrast. In the opening scene, Cady arrives at the school for the first time. As she nears towards the entrance doors, she passes groups of students on the front terrace. Immediately, Cady’s natural and calm environment from Africa is changed to a crowded and chaotic situation. This is particularly represented by the books on fire, which are thrown across Cady’s face in shock. This initial response and introduction to her new school shows how out of place and uncomfortable Cady is, and can very much speculate how the students will respond to her arrival. Cady’s first friendships that are made are with two other students, Janis and Damien, who accept Cady as her natural self and encourage her traits and behaviours that she has learnt from growing up in Africa. An example of these behaviours is her like for math, which Damien describes as “beautiful”. This welcoming friendship provides Cady with her first sense of belonging in America, and allows her to express her feelings and true self. However, when Cady is introduced to ‘The Plastics’, her personality and traits aren’t valued by the group. The Plastics are three girls who are considered queen bee’s of the school, and dictate what is and isn’t allowed at the school. Mark Waters characterises The Plastics to create a contrast between them and Janis and Damien, and to show how Cady’s nature and attitude changes when she surrounds herself between the two. As Cady develops a friendship with these girls, she finds the relationship to be rigid, intimidating and dishonest, and avoids bringing her natural personality to the group as she is afraid of rejection. A particular scene that represents this fear for rejection is when Cady is introduced to the ‘Burn Book’ where The Plastics write mean things about girls of their grade. When Cady discovers Janis and Damien are in the book, she doesn’t defend them, which shows Cady’s lack of her values. This becomes a problem for Cady, as she adapts to this new group her obsession with being a ‘queen bee’ gets the best of her and she loses her friendship with Janis and Damien. This loss represents how an individual has lost control of their identity, and represents how relationships can encourage or destroy our natural self. In both texts, a connection can be made as the writers put each text into context. Herrick draws upon events that have happened in his life, and convey them into characters and situations within ‘The Simple Gift’. Billy is an example, which is Herrick’s representation of himself as a young boy who ran away from home and worked at a cannery. This use of reflection shows Herrick’s portrayal of belonging within relationships, and its loss and affirmation throughout the novel. Similarly Tina Fey, producer of ‘Mean Girls’, used the film to portray her concerns with adolescents, their values and personality, that may be silenced for relationships. Fey created the character of Cady to convey how young people can change or ignore their natural selves in order to fit in within society. This use of characterisation shows belonging as a concept that requires our natural self and the acceptance of others. In conclusion to this essay, both texts represent the idea of acceptance of our true self to achieve belonging, and equally suggest how relationships can encourage or destroy this acceptance. The composers’ use of context allows the responder to understand and relate to the texts in their time, and can very much be interpreted as an insight to our world and our future.