Pd_Notes

“More than anything else, belonging is about finding a sense of place in the world'. Do you agree' Argue your point of view In your answer, refer to your prescribed text and at lease one other elated text of your choosing. Belonging is security. Where you belong is where you feel you are safe and so to belong to a place should mean that place is where you feel safety, security and accepted as an individual. The desire to belong has always seen as important and is depicted through the novel The Simple Gift and portrayed throughout a film, Little Miss Sunshine. These text types have various places which show how individuals can belong. A sense of belonging through connection to places serves to provide a sense of collective identify and sense of cohesion and cultural community. For a young man, Billy, a main character in The Simple Gift, he travels to 'find that place in the world' where he can feel he can belong and feel safe and secure. This idea is shown through his journey and how he got to his final destination. The novel, written by Steven Herrick explores the different types of belonging but closely looks at how locality plays a significant role in an individual's sense of belonging. Billy, who is 16 years old meets two other people along the way which help his understanding of belonging and he helps them understand new concepts. He shares his life's experiences with his close friend and lover Caitlin and helps Bill, an old alcoholic get back on track from a devastating past hard to face. Nowheresville, Bendarat and Wellington Road are all significant places which are portrayed in the novel The Simple Gift. I agree with the quote as it is evident Billy's feelings are revealed in each of these settings and from his feelings an understanding of weather or not he belongs can be seen. His actions and what he says reveals if he 'feel a sense of place' and this re enforces the quote and my belief that belonging is about finding a sense of place in the world. Nowheresville is a place where Billy initially lives with his abusive father who he is not close with. Billy feels contempt for the suburb and the people who live there. He calls the house on Longlands Road 'deadbeat no-hoper/shithole lonely downtrodden', while echoing his feelings. He calls it 'My street, my suburb', however the composer portrays Billy's attitude for the place negatively. It is depicted that Billy has no sense of belonging or a place he can feel safe and secure. The name of the place shows that the place isn't inviting and so this emphasises and reflects Billy's attitude. Billy is confident of leaving the place. “ Bunkrain, our dog, sits beside me. I'd like to take him with me. He doesn't deserve to stay in the dump, no-one does'. This is strong emotional language used by Billy revealing the extent of how much he dislikes his place, and thinking even a life like his is not suitable for a dog. There is a negative tone used here and this shows that Billy has no positive connections with his home. Westfield Creek, however proves to depict belonging for Billy. There is a great contrast between this place and Billy's house which shows how Billy finds his sense of belonging. Here in Westfield creek, he finds it by reading books. “I spent half my school days here reading books I'd stolen “. In this sentence you find out Billy is rebellious and doesn't mind stealing books but loves reading and dreaming and uses books as his escape from his home life. Symbolism is used to emphasise the atmosphere of the place. “flow of cold clear water over the rocks”, “wattles on the bank” and “lizards sun baking”. The long flowing sentences enhance the beauty of the place and show Billy is fond of the place. Billy arrives at a town called Bendarat and this becomes the primary setting for the text. Bendarat has a completely contrasting atmosphere to Nowheresville. This can be seen through the weather. The weather in Nowheresville creates a negative and sad atmosphere. This reflects Billy's mood and reflects the responders as we sense his unhappiness and share in the gloom of this environment. Whereas Bendarat is warm,sunny and full of light. Bendarat is its description is presented as a typical Australian country town. “It's an old town with stone building and wide streets and cast-iron lamps”. Billy calls it a 'perfect town'. Billy meets a homeless old man here which describes the place as thriving. Billy still hasn't felt completely like he belongs until he gets very close to Caitlin where he meets he cleaning at McDonalds. His journey to find a place to belong is nearly over. Billy is not completely satisfied until he finds a place where he can feel comfortable and this concept agrees with the quote, “more then anything”, showing that to find belonging is a journey. Old Bill, after some time, gets his life on track and decides to give Billy and Caitlin their house on Wellington road. Old Bill gave Billy a home and because Caitlin was with Billy this completed him even more. Billy and Caitlin feel a sense of belonging in the house as they clean, cook and dance together. Billy finally finds 'a sense of place in the world' and this is depicted through his happiness and confidence in the place, sharing it with Caitlin. Little Miss Sunshine produced by Jonathon Dayton / Valerie Faris is a film which deals with the concept of belonging on many different levels. There is a clear difference in the types of belonging portrayed in this film compared to those depicted in The simple gift. One major difference is that Little Miss Sunshine is based on the dynamics of a dysfunctional family, the 'Hoovers' and portrays how each character struggles to belong and how it affects their external lives outside the family unit. Although the film explores struggle within a family it then explores the notion that even the most dysfunctional family can find ways to unite and shows how each character finds a sense of place in the world especially Olive and Dwayne who have many issues which bring up the concept of belonging. Other characters which belong to the dysfunctional family include Frank and Richard, the motivational father. Frank and Richard are men who have both failed to belong to their desired fields. Their struggle and failure to belong in their career path is portrayed. They consequently both don't feel confident about themselves. Where they both work show their sense of place however this may not mean they belong where they work as they both fail and are not completely comfortable. The family house is an important place which shows how a disconnected family can belong. Although each family member has a different direction in life the gathering at the dinner table shows that at the end of the day they can sit together and eat. This traditional scene outlines the importance of a home as this chaos can mean that each family member is expressing themselves comfortably without worrying about anybody's opinion. Olive sits intently listening and asks questions which keep the family talking. The most significant part of the film was the bus ride as it portrayed scenes along the way which showed alienation and belonging. The bus ride was for Olive who got chosen because another girl could not make it to the beauty pageant, so the family decided to go, making sacrifices along the way. Dwayne discovers he is colour blind during the trip and so screams in frustration while running off. “ No you are not my family ! , I don't want to be your family”. The scene shows him separated from the family and a sense of isolation is evident. Olive walks down gently and comforts him without saying anything. There is a strong sense of belonging portrayed. Little Miss Sunshine explores the idea how a sense of belonging can be established between family members who don't necessarily connect in any other way through something as shared experience. It shows that what ever place they are at they can come together and feel like they belong. It is to say that they found their sense of place in the world knowing that where ever they are they end up together and this is the strongest forms of belonging once safety and security is felt. When Billy in The Simple Gift is with Caitlin he feels the same, accepted and a sense of place. So it is fair to say that belonging is through place when you feel comfort with those around you. There are bumpy situations along the journey of finding belonging such as those explained in LMS and TSG, but these situations are needed to find that place in the world where you feel that you belong the most.