Belonging

Belonging is a complex, multi-faceted concept that highlights the inherent desire to feel connection with our peers. Belonging has the ability to transcend all social and cultural constraints, with the sense of social inclusion and exclusion colouring the manner in which individuals perceive themselves and their surrounds. Inclusion within a society can develop a procedure of education and knowledge and it is through this process that individuals may come to apprehend that they may not exhibit the appropriate characteristics to inhabit the social facet of their choice. From this it can be suggested that the notion of belonging is an evolutionary process of self-discovery, resulting in residents of a community discovering their social identity, conforming to the dominant paradigms, or remaining true to their individuality creating a sense of inclusion or segregation through the various journeys they partake. I have arrived at this understanding of belonging through the study of Emily Dickinson’s ‘A Narrow Fellow in the Grass’ and ‘A Word dropped careless on a Page,’ and through Margaret Atwood’s, ‘A Handmaid’s Tale.’ ‘A Narrow Fellow in the Grass’ explores belonging through the natural world, within this poem one may notice Dickinson utilising the imagery of a snake to illustrate how acceptance constantly evolves and develops. Within ‘A Word dropped careless on a Page,’ Dickinson demonstrates the effects of one simple word upon future contextual developments on communities many centuries to come, and through this, it can be understood that approval can be defined as an aspect that has evolved both contextually and generationally. Atwood’s, ‘A Handmaid’s Tale,’ suggests that members of a community may be deceived into believing they are acknowledged when they do not, and they can only come to this understanding through a journey. The statement put forward in the query is plausible, belonging is immortal and I believe these texts illustrate the notion of belonging being an evolutionary process of self discovery that residents of a community develop due to their social position, and the manner in which they react to such circumstances. Within, Emily Dickinson’s, ‘A Narrow Fellow in the Grass,’ belonging is explored through the persona’s attempts to belong to the natural world, ‘Several of Nature’s people, I know, and they know me, I feel for them a transport, or cordiality.’ This selection of description in the poem exemplifies the notion that the persona has developed a sense of acceptance with the natural world; the persona belongs and feels comfortable in being in the same immediacy as them. Furthermore, a process of learning and understanding is demonstrated within the text, with a result of non-belonging seen amongst the snake. The imagery of ‘But never met this Fellow, Attended, or alone Without a tighter breathing, And zero at the bone,’ highlights the conception of the persona in the verse attempting to understand and relate with the snake, however the alienation of the snake by other creatures in nature, shows the snake to be unapproachable. This mirrors the social ideology of outcasts and their separation from society through the means of social dilapidation. The imagery of ‘Upbraiding in the sun,’ withholds the perception of the snake taking off its skin to become someone else. This suggests that the snake is constantly evolving as a social enigma and due to this, the persona finds difficulty in perceiving the snake because the snake is not a constant reality, it is constantly changing. Dickinson utilises the situation of the snake’s alienation from its society as imagery, illustrating how the acceptance of the snake constantly evolves and develops. Thus demonstrating the development of my understanding of the concept of belonging to be an aspect that constantly evolves and develops, that is the notion of belonging being an evolutionary process of self discovery that residents of a community develop due to their social position, and the manner in which they react to such circumstances. Within ‘A Word dropped careless on a Page,’ Dickinson discusses the affects words can have on the development of communities many centuries to come. The metaphor of ‘Word dropped careless on a page May stimulate an eye’ demonstrates that a word dropped carelessly on a page, without thought, can inspire residents afterward and have alternative meaning. Constructing upon this notion is the imagery of ‘When folded in perpetual seam, The Wrinkled Maker lie,’ highlighting the notion that regardless of fatality, words can still have meaning. Societies can un-cover prose and find a sense of belonging to its author, much rather similar to the processes engaged within our studies. Thus, the ability of belonging to inhabitants can transcend the time you live. Therefore, belonging does not die. Furthermore, the metaphor of ‘Infection in the sentence breeds’ elucidates the conception of time altering the meaning of language and literature due to transformations within context, values, attitudes and beliefs within a culture. Belonging is conducted by these transformations, demonstrating that acceptance evolves contextually and generationally. Thus, shaping my perceptive thoughts of the notion of belonging being an evolutionary process of self-discovery, resulting in residents of a community discovering their social identity, conforming to the dominant paradigms, or remaining true to their individuality creating a sense of inclusion or segregation through the various journeys partaken. Margaret Atwood’s novel, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ demonstrates how inhabitants of a society may seek to flee against its forces of belonging in order to demonstrate isolation. Offred, the main protagonist of the novel, initiates within the society of Gilead with a wary and suspicious attitude. Although shocked, she is too reluctant to resist publicly to its agenda, as she conforms to the forces of belonging to the man within her society. However it is through her journey of belonging that she comes to realise that she in fact does not belong to her society, her despicable opinion of Gilead is portrayed mentally or when she is accompanied by people she trusts, as seen through the imagery of ‘Think of the human misery,’ this further highlights her development of unpopular views towards the state she inhabits and therefore her acknowledgement of her non-belonging to her society. Thus the protagonist’s journey of acceptance to a realisation of isolation has enabled myself to understand that belonging is an evolutionary process of self discovery that residents of a community develop due to their social position, and the manner in which they react to such circumstances. The poems ‘A Narrow Fellow in the Grass’ and ‘A Word dropped careless on a Page,’ by Emily Dickinson and the novel, ‘A Handmaid’s Tale,’ by Margaret Atwood all elucidate that inclusion within a society can develop a procedure of education and knowledge and it is through this process that individuals may come to apprehend that they may not exhibit the appropriate characteristics to inhabit the social facet of their choice. From this, the statement put forward in the query is plausible, belonging is immortal and these texts illustrate the notion of belonging being an evolutionary process of self discovery that residents of a community develop due to their social position, and the manner in which they react to such circumstances.