belonging
An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging
We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun’- William Glaser. This theory is often pondered in regards to to belonging. In essence, humanity contains a social imperative to belong to a person, place or community. If they do not obtain such a connection, the effect is detrimental. This essay will examine selected poems of Emily Dickinson: ‘I died for beauty but was scarce’, ‘I had been hungry all these years’ and ‘I gave myself to him’. In conjunction with this, Robert Redford’s 1992 film, ‘A River Runs through It’ will be referred to. Such techniques which give the notion of belonging such impact include metaphor, simile, personification and filmic devices.
Dickinson’s ‘I died for beauty but was scarce’ epitomises the view that as humans we all belong to the circle of life. The poem features two personas: one having ‘died’ for ‘beauty’ and the other ‘for truth’. They are instantly affiliated with each other as they both died of noble causes and due to the close proximity of their ‘adjoining rooms’. They form a sense of ‘kinship’ and converse until the ‘moss covered up and lips and names’. The ‘moss’ is symbolic of natures power in a metaphorical sense, to silence our voices, and thus our sense of identity and belonging. The poem has a negative connotation associated of the world; one of harshness which ultimately limits the experience of belonging.
In regards to, ‘I had been hungry all these years’, the detriment of detachment and isolation is evident. The persona of the poem longs for something that it has seen others posses. The persona’s ‘hunger’ is a metaphor for belonging. However, upon ‘dining at the table’ experiencing belonging first hand, the person feels ‘odd’, ‘ill’ and ‘hurt’. To epitomise the feeling of disorientation caused by not belong, the composer employs the simile ‘as berry from a
We are driven by five genetic needs: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun’- William Glaser. This theory is often pondered in regards to to belonging. In essence, humanity contains a social imperative to belong to a person, place or community. If they do not obtain such a connection, the effect is detrimental. This essay will examine selected poems of Emily Dickinson: ‘I died for beauty but was scarce’, ‘I had been hungry all these years’ and ‘I gave myself to him’. In conjunction with this, Robert Redford’s 1992 film, ‘A River Runs through It’ will be referred to. Such techniques which give the notion of belonging such impact include metaphor, simile, personification and filmic devices.
Dickinson’s ‘I died for beauty but was scarce’ epitomises the view that as humans we all belong to the circle of life. The poem features two personas: one having ‘died’ for ‘beauty’ and the other ‘for truth’. They are instantly affiliated with each other as they both died of noble causes and due to the close proximity of their ‘adjoining rooms’. They form a sense of ‘kinship’ and converse until the ‘moss covered up and lips and names’. The ‘moss’ is symbolic of natures power in a metaphorical sense, to silence our voices, and thus our sense of identity and belonging. The poem has a negative connotation associated of the world; one of harshness which ultimately limits the experience of belonging.
In regards to, ‘I had been hungry all these years’, the detriment of detachment and isolation is evident. The persona of the poem longs for something that it has seen others posses. The persona’s ‘hunger’ is a metaphor for belonging. However, upon ‘dining at the table’ experiencing belonging first hand, the person feels ‘odd’, ‘ill’ and ‘hurt’. To epitomise the feeling of disorientation caused by not belong, the composer employs the simile ‘as berry from a