As individuals gain understanding the connection that they may hold with people or places change, this in turn affects their identity and how they relate with other people. As people gain a sense of understanding their feelings of belonging change. Belonging is a vital concept for human interaction and allows people to feel they fit in with groups such as family and friends.
This concept is explored within the three texts, “Romulus My Father” (1998) a memoir written by Raimond Gaita about his personal life and his connection with his father. The movie “The Painted Veil” (2006) directed by John Curran which depicts the dysfunctional marriage of Walter and Kitty Fane. And the film “8 Mile” (2002) directed by Curtis Hanson which is about a young rapper ‘B-Rabbit’ trying to assimilate himself and become successful in the underground “black” rap society.
As people gain an understanding of someone their perception about that person changes. In “Romulus My Father”, Romulus’ old time friend “Vacek” seems like a crazy hermit to the young Raimond; however as time passes and Raimond gains an understanding of him his perception does change and he sees him to be a person who is very connected to the land. This is revealed when Vacek is cleaning a car and a worm falls on the bonnet “Vacek stopped to reflect on what this could mean … he followed the it and noticed an unwashed part of the car”, Vacek believes this saved him from the humiliation of not being able to wash a car properly and shows how his sense of communication extended to animals. The community also believes Vacek to be a crazy hermit because they don’t understand him, “Every so often the police from Maldon would take him to a mental hospital” this demonstrates how they believe he is mentally ill.
This notion is presented in the film “The Painted Veil” when Walter Fane first notices Kitty at a party; he