Belonging

A sense of belonging is important to everyone. The concept of a person having the opportunity to belong to something or someone impacts greatly on the choices they make throughout their lives. Belonging creates a sense of security and invulnerability towards the dangers that become present to some people. Brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers all have a connection through belonging to a family. Sporting teams, church groups and schools all have a connection to belonging to society. Particular suburbs, streets, all have a connection with belonging to the landscape they are surrounded by. The book ‘Romulus, My Father’ written by Raimond Gaita is a memoir that explores the concepts of tragedy and workmanship. Raimond expresses his feelings towards how he was brought up by the people around him and how his father especially helped his course of life. The short story ‘The Black Skirt’ written by Alma Aldrette expresses the technicalities associated with living in a foreign country with different cultural aspects and how South American people have learned to adapt and live in Northern America. The film ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ directed by Gabriele Muccino demonstrates how a father and son struggle to live in a society with no money and no help. Various techniques are used throughout these texts to put forth an articulate representation of how belonging is affected by family, society and landscape. A family is described as a social unit living together. Familial belonging is shown throughout the text ‘Romulus, My Father’. Everyone in the text acts as a foil for Romulus. He is shown as a masculine figure, with uptight morals, although he is a cuckold for his wife Christine who sleeps around with other men. Raimond is largely impacted by the actions of his father. After Romulus falls sick to a mental illness, Raimond is forced to make a decision either to put up with his fathers illness or to walk away from it and never return. “I loved him too deeply and knew that after what we had shared at Frogmore, no quarrel could estrange us” (page 176). This quote demonstrates the strong connection between father and son and how nothing could ever tear them apart. Hora is another significant person throughout the text that shares a strong relationship with Romulus and Raimond. He is considered to be part of their family due to the friendship they developed during their years together and the shared morals and values that they possess. During the course of the book ‘The Black Skirt’, the relationship between Mrs. Castellanos and her daughter is shown. They are a small family trying to live in a foreign place, trying to fit in and become part of American society. Mrs. Castellanos has strict morals that interfere with her daughter’s course of life. Her strict morals come about because of her fear of being caught out and sent back to Mexico. “She didn’t want to speak English and reveal her difficulty with the language.” That line clearly states the extent to what Mrs. Castellanos goes through to hide her true identity and to keep her family safe from being extradited. Familial belonging is also shown throughout the film ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’. It shows a kinship between father and son and how they stick together and support each other through hardship. The repetition of the quote “This part of my life is called…” is a distinct line in the film as it shows the transition and path of the life that the father and son are taking. Chris (the father) is a black man trying to make a living for his wife and son Christopher. The money he invests in ‘Portable bone density scanners’ only separates him further from his wife, as it puts the family through financial ruin. When his wife leaves he is put to difficult task of trying to take care of his son all by himself with no money. The experience of being homeless and striving for a better career impacts greatly on the relationship of Chris and Christopher and strengthens that sense of belonging between them. A society is known as a group of people that are generally culturally or economically associated with each other. A person may belong to a society because they are interconnected with the people that may have similar interests to theirs. In ‘Romulus, My Father’, Romulus is known as a migrant settling in Australia. During the 1950’s the assimilation act was introduced to Australian immigrants and forced them to act like Australians. This meant that they were given Australian nicknames and had to associate with Australian people. Romulus belonged to the society of Australians because of his hard work and dedication to improve the way that people lived. Also, Romulus belonged to the community of Europeans that were present in Australia, “He belonged to a long tradition of European thought which celebrated, as an essential constituent of a fulfilled human life, a community of equals, “(page 100). In the novel ‘The Black Skirt’, Mrs. Castenallos and her daughter are part of a community that does not associate with their own personal culture. They are forced to live in a place they are not welcome in, a place that excludes people of a Mexican culture because they are considered to be ‘outsiders’ and ‘different’. Mrs. Castellanos is afraid of being caught out by immigrant officials. “To her this meant that she did not look like a common Mexican.” This quote is the perfect example of a Mexican woman trying to belong to society in order to escape poverty and war. The use of Mexican language such as ‘mojado’ and ‘la migra’ creates effect throughout the story as it keeps in touch with the characters Mexican upbringing. The clash of Mexican society and American society is also shown by the food that they eat. Mrs. Castellanos and her daughter still eat common Mexican foods. The ‘black skirt’ is symbolic of the family’s culture and youth that is still present within the family. The fear of getting caught creates an element of pathos towards Mrs. Castellanos as she gives away the skirt to her daughter to eliminate the sense of her cultural identity being seen by border officials. In the film ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, Chris and his son experience a strong connection with the society they live in. ‘Happyness’ in the title was purposely spelled with a ‘y’ instead of an ‘i’ because of the personal connection found with a daycare centre at which Chris had attended when he was young. This connection with the daycare was further extended throughout the city to where, when Chris and Christopher were homeless, spent the night in the subway toilets. In the film, Chris described the fortunate people as being happy and joyful, and mentioned that he would never forget their faces and would strive to be one of those people one day. Chris wanted to belong to those types of people that had money, a perfect house, a car and a family. Landscape refers to the type of scenery something or someone is situated in. It is important to belong to the landscape as it gives a sense of wellbeing and place. A strong connection can be put forth to the Australian landscape in ‘Romulus, My Father’. The contrast between the Australian landscape and European landscape is described in chapter 3 of the book. The location of the Gaita’s house in the book becomes very significant as it is very secluded from society and has that bush type feeling. Romulus has to get used to the harsh Australian climate that is quite different to what is offered in Europe. ‘Peppercorns’ were flora planted around the house of the Gaita’s. This is symbolic of the European flora that it lush green, contrasting with the Australian outback which is dusty orange. Later throughout the memoir we find that Romulus becomes more sync with the Australian landscape, maintaining gardens at his older age which contained Australian flora. The film ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ is set in a big time city called San Francisco in the United States of America. The landscape of the city’s tall buildings, traffic jams and smoky air contrasts with the lifestyle with which Chris and his family live in. The large city creates further opportunities for the poverty stricken family, where we see Chris have the opportunity to seize a career in stock brokerage. The busy city life contrasts with Chris’s busy life as he tries to juggle the stresses of maintaining financial stability by selling his ‘portable bone density scanners’, studying for his stock broking exam and taking care of his son. The ‘Rubix Cube’ is a symbolic object used in the film as to show a complex situation being solved. Chris uses the cube to show off his mathematical talents in front of a high class stock broker which later on gives him a career opportunity. The importance of belonging is crucial in a person’s circle of life. Without it people can become lost in the world and wouldn’t have a place to turn to. The importance of having a close relationship with family means that you can express your feelings to people without being criticized for it. The importance of being part of a society is critical as people can interact with others that have the same interests and hobbies. The importance of belonging to a particular landscape is significant as it defines the way a person lives and how they are portrayed by other people. Therefore belonging affects the notions of identity, relationships, acceptance and understanding of the world around them. By Stefan Dencic