Belonging

Good morning/afternoon year 12 students. People experience belonging in a range of different ways, whether it’s through belonging to a group, school, religion or relationship, through the interactions with others, or through a lack of understanding, it will enrich or limit the individual’s experience of belonging. This sense of belonging is represented through the poems “Ancestors” and “Migrant Hostel” by Peter Skrzynecki and the film “District 9“by Neill Blomkamp. Each of these texts have many ideas and concepts on how belonging is limited or enriched. “Migrant Hostel” by Peter Skrzynecki shows us the hardships and emotional challenges that migrants have when adapting to a new environment, and how the interaction with others enriches our experience of belonging and coming to a new country with a lack of understanding limits our experience of belonging. The desire for companionship and a feeling of belonging drives the migrants to seek out those with familiar accents, nationalities or religions. The simile “Nationalities Sought/Each other out instinctively – Like a Homing Pigeon/Circling to get its bearings” shows the drive that migrants have to find any sense of belonging in an alien world. It also implies that the migrants have a desire to belong and are naturally drawn to those of the same nationality. This interaction with other migrants enriches their sense of belonging. However, When entering a new country as the “newcomers”, a lack of understanding of who, where and what to do can cause isolation and a feeling of not belonging, and through the Juxtaposition of “comings and goings” and “arrivals and departures”, there is a sense of chaos and instability which leads to a limited experience of belonging. “Migrant Hostel” both limits and enriches the experience of belonging, unlike the Poem “St Patricks” which only limits the experience of belonging. “St Patricks” By Peter Skrzynecki is a poem about a young boy starting out in a new school. The overall tone of the poem is dark, and the poet feels alienated, which is ironic considering that a school is a place where students can supposedly find belonging. The repetition of “For eight years” signifies that a large part of the poet’s life was spent at the school, but with no recognition of happiness, this emphasis the alienation and feeling of not belonging that the poet feels. From the beginning of the poem, the poet felt as if he was an outsider in an alien world, an example being the negative simile of “Foreign Tourist”.