Feliks

Good Morning Teachers and fellow students. Firstly, I’m going to culturally explore the aspects of belonging. As depicted in 10 Mary Street, Peter Skrzynecki’s migrant family portrays a sense of belonging personally and culturally. 10 Mary Street is where they kept their birth culture alive in their ‘china-blue’ house. They adapted to Australia becoming “citizens of the soil that was feeding us” and in the process of adjusting to their adoptive home. In stanza one the use of time “for nineteen years” and 1st person “we” conveys their daily routine. The use of simile “Each morning, shut the house like a well-oiled lock” also portrays a sense of belonging as Peter Skrzynecki reinforces the overall sense of family security and it’s telling us that they’re looking after the house. Peter Skrzynecki and his family belonged to that address for nineteen years. The nineteen years is a stable period which remains unchanged. In the second stanza the ‘garden’ symbolises the land, it also demonstrates a sense of belonging as the use of simile “tended rose and camellias like adopted child” conveys their love for their land. They love the land as their children. In my related material, Kite runner, Amir’s father takes soil in Afghanistan before he crosses the border into Pakistan, which demonstrates a sense of belonging culturally as it symbolises how much he loves the land and he truly belongs to Afghanistan. Now, I’m going to discuss the aspects of not belonging culturally. Feliks Skrzynecki is a poem about Peter Skrzynecki father. Although his father belongs to his garden physically and mentally, he does not belong there culturally. Pete Skrzynecki chooses not to belong with his father’s friend. The negative connotation of “violently” create a sense of his alienation from them. The high modality when he says he “never got used to” the friends’ “formal addressing” of his father as “Feliks Skrzynecki” suggests his disconnection and choice not to belong with his father’s friends. His Father does not belong to the people in Australia only his garden that he has created