Analysis Of The Simple Gift By Steven Herrick

English Speech
The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick is a book containing many of lives challenges dealing specifically with a verity of ideas and values that will aid us in answering the question, ‘A sense of belonging and identity can emerge from an individuals’ connection with others and the community’. Steven Herrick has formulated in his novel a sense of connection between three complex people with completely and utterly different backgrounds. Herrick dives deep into a controversial would of adult depression and young love through the eyes of a stereotypical society providing each reader with new understanding of identity and belonging in conjunction with unusual circumstances. To ensure a reliable answer to the question, my chosen related material is of the same nature, accept being contrasting. Michael Leunig’s cartoon from ‘The Age’ (18 August) newspaper displays a disconnection of people, community and society.
The simple gift by Steven Herrick explores many aspects of belonging and identity, many of which emulate real life scenarios of connections formed with individuals and community. Herrick offers diverse
ranges of identities that change in the characters throughout the book. The poem ‘Too Rich’ explores Caitlin’s initial perspective of life. It shows that she is considered successful in the eyes of society, which is materialistic, however still valued by society all the same. ‘’Bendarat Grammar School’’ and the uniform are symbolic of a conforming society. They represent the idea that one must be successful and rich to be part of a materialistic society. This is implying for Caitlin to feel a sense of belonging she must from an identity that is correct in the eyes of society.
Herrick explores the importance of relationships to individuals by exploring deep into the characteristics of humans to discover that through relationships, we develop our personal sense of belonging. “Trying to act as though nothing had happened even though we both knew it had” show relationships and belonging are an unescapable part of everyday life that should not be overlooked as they are essential to our growth and development throughout life. Through the unintentional connection between the two very different teenagers, Billy and Caitlin, a sense of belonging and identity has emerged which is in support of the question.
My related text is one of Michael Leunig’s cartoon’s from ‘The Age’ newspaper. It’s made up of four frames, the first three refer to the destruction of connections with community. The last frame provides the punch line, and shows us how this has effected the characters sense of belonging.
Frame one of Leunig’s cartoon shows a man experiencing a breaking of a connection with his community or neighbour after his neighbours cottage was demolished. Use of the technique definite article enforces the idea of friendship between the man and his former neighbour, “I go to say good morning to the man that lives next door, But his cottage has been bulldozed, And the garden too, what’s more”, notice how it doesn’t say A man or A cottage, It is the man and the cottage next door. This gives us the understanding that the man did very much in fact have a connection with his community and because this loss of connection he now has a decreased sense of belonging in the community.
Frame two and three support the idea that a sense of belonging and identity can emerge from an individuals’ connection with others and the community by contrasting effects when compared with frame one. ‘And then some men with staple guns and plywood have appeared’, this quote not only shows a disconnection to these new people next door through the use of indefinite article but Leunig has also used emotional word choice in saying ‘staple guns’ opposed to saying some men with nails or men with hammers. These same techniques are used later in frame four ‘Soon an auctioneer arrives’, it’s not the auctioneer that arrives, it’s an auctioneer stating that he didn’t know he was coming and doesn’t pretend to have a connection with this Auctioneer. It adds more affect showing the now impersonal relationships the man has formed with the variety of new people who have entered his community. By this stage the man being an individual is beginning to feel a sense of not belonging, of not being connected with others and therefore beginning to lose his identity.
Frame four offers the punch line by cleverly showing us the man’s ever decreasing sense of belonging evident by the quote ‘on-one says good morning now’ and the clearly evident change in his identity, evident in the quote ‘the folks look down at me’.
The most meaning can be gathered from looking at the graphics, the man looks a mix of sad and worried, with a hunched over body position emphasising his troubles. Leunig’s has reinforced the ideas of belonging and identity through the part of the frame where the new tenants next door are looking down at the man with a fierce facial expression. Having people looking down at you from above implies that they have a greater important is the viewers’ perspective. It’s now evident that in this cartoon a sense of belonging and identity can emerge from an individuals’ connection with others and the
community.
These two different in form texts both display key ideas in relation to the question ‘A sense of belonging and identity can emerge from an individuals’ connection with others and the community’. Both texts are in support of the question after analysing and exploring them. It can be confidently said that through a sense of belonging and identity can be created form connecting with people and community as a whole.