Belonging in Swallow the Air

Where one feels a sense of belonging and connectedness is largely determined by the degree to which an individual feels sense of affinity with those around him. Belonging implies a connectedness to people and places because of shared norms, values, customs and practices. Belonging also implies relationship, which involves a sense of familiarity with and often affection for the people and places we know, consequently, not belonging often engenders a sense of disorientation, rejection, despondency and alienation. For the most part, belonging is a positive experience. There are times when not belonging can be a positive thing, when belonging leaves the individual exposed to harm or damaged in some way hen e not belonging

Half cast may’s journey to find her place of belonging, in a predominantly white society, results from the disorienting experience of the death of her mother. Upon reflection may likens her mother’s death to that of the stingray she saw on the beach when playing with Billy, it was draped over rocks “Like a plastic raincoat” may’s fascination led to her slitting its skin with her switchblade and the blood that oozed from its sides symoblised the release of it’s pain. Hence May, even then, had a sensitivity to elements of the natural world, a legacy of her indigenous heritage and unwittingly a sense of the loss inherent in her aboriginality

Winch’s novel not only explores May’s search for the people from whom she is descended, but it also shows how European settlement has resulted in a dislocation and decimation of a race, it’s lore and it’s lifeblood. The narrative explores two worlds, that of mays childhood enriched by knowledge of all that has been handed down to her, culturally and spiritually, and the ugly world beyond this where she encounters the dangers of a society from which the indigenous population or outcasts seek to escape. Only at the end of her journey is may able to integrate her experiences to find a place of acceptance where she