Elephant Man Belonging
The idea of belonging is an important and fundamental value in our lives. Belonging most commonly emerges from experience and notions of identity, relationships, acceptance and understanding. Belonging also emerges in our places of comfort and security.
Today in my showcase I will be presenting to you the poetry of Miss Emily Dickinson as well as the filmic production of the Elephant man, directed by David Lynch. Through my showcase I hope to present to you a view of belonging that isn’t plagued by the stereotypes of society but a belonging that is true and real to the people that know it so intimately.
One of Emily Dickinson’s poems known as ‘my letter to the world’ describes Dickinson’s plea to society, to understand and not judge her harshly. This is evident in the words ‘judge tenderly of me’. Which shows an appealing tone and a desire for acceptance.
Likewise the filmic version of the elephant man also describes a …show more content…
desire for acceptance. This desire is seen through John Merrick who suffers from an incurable disease that leaves him terribly disfigured. I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I... am... a man!" Here we have Merrick’s plea to be seen not as an animal but as a human being.
Throughout the film we watch as Merrick is treated as an absolute freak, seen in his involvement in a circus which denotes to a sense of ridicule and also we see his worthlessness through the possessive pronouns such as ‘my freak, and the constant use of ‘it’ which dehumanises him.
As the film progresses Merrick becomes more and more publicised and soon his so called ‘isolation’ ward is packed with people who want to get a glimpse of him. He even receives a standing ovation which is symbolic of the changing attitudes of the people. But despite Merricks perceived sense of belonging to the society in which once degraded him the film concludes with the idea that to belong one may just want to be like everyone else. “I just want to be a human” Merrick says as he lies down flat as he goes to sleep. Because of disfigured head it prevented him from lying flat as he would suffocate, but the way in which the film ends is that despite the knowledge that what he will do will kill him he does it anyway in an attempt to prove that is in fact
normal.
Looking back to Dickinson’s poetry we see that like Merrick she doesn’t want to be judged. In her letter to the world which is a metaphorical idea of a plea to those out there we have the sense that she does have the desire but never quite fits. Seen in her rather negative tone ‘that never wrote to me,’ again the harsh idea that the world never acknowledged her and so in that she turns away.’
Using the juxtaposition of time through the words ‘this’ and ‘that’ we have a real sense of distance and isolation, isolation that clings to her but never seems to go away. Likewise Merrick also shows a similar idea in sentences such as ‘I’ve been such a disappointment and ‘perhaps now she could love me as I am.’ Together Dickinson and Merrick have that same sense of alienation in the wider world to which they are apart of. It was this factor that I see in both Dickinson and Lync’s film that compelled me to include it in my showcase.
Dispite both being distanced from the world we see through both the film and Dickinson’s poetry that although they are alienated there is still a sense of comfort to what is important to them.
Looking firstly to the film an interesting use of symbolism is in the biblical connotations. Although out of place physically in a society that is up bent on image Merrick does find some comfort in the book of Psalms when he quotes “although I walk through the shadow of death, I see no evil for thou art with me.” This Psalm is awfully powerful in our undertstanding of belonging because it broardens our scope of what can comfort you in times of alienation. For Merrick the spiritual force of God is that comfort and again these deep ideas make our concept of belonging deeper and so I felt it important to include it.
Likewise Dickinson also has some sense of belonging to something that is not necessarily of the human kind. This can be seen in my letter to the world in which she uses personification to highlight a connection to nature. ‘The simple news that nature told me, with tender majesty.’ Here the loving and affectionate words such as ‘tender’ and ‘simple’ highlight a sense of connection to nature which is severly contrasted with the harsher words such as never and judge. Through this contrast the reader can then identify what nature can provide compared to world which judges her.
It is this contrast between alienation and comfort which made me relish in its importance to be in my showcase.
Another of Dickinson’s poetry that deepens our knowledge of Belonging is in her poem ‘I had been hungry all these years’ which is an extended metaphor of her experience of trying out the world around her but concludes with the idea that it isn’t right for her.
Like with my letter to the world Dickinson uses personification in her poetry to symbolise the world out there. Seen for example in the phrase ‘and touched the curious wine.’ Which highlights the foreign and unfamiliar environment and emphases a distance between her world and there’s.
Throughout the poem we notice how she doesn’t really belong to that world but to herself and nature. “twas so unlike the crumb the birds and I had often shared in nature’s dining room.’ Here the personification of dining room is used as a vehicle to highlight that it is in nature that the persona belongs and is comforted.
The poem also draws on the idea that when amongst the world she is like: ‘as a berry of a mountain bush is transplanted to the road.’ Which, using similies shows how when she is amongst the world she is displaced and far from comfortable.
In all I hope my showcase has highlighted many things about belonging and that belonging really is subjective to the person experiencing it. For some such as Merrick it is the simple desire to be normal but like in dickinson’s poetry the desire to be normal and apart of something may not be as good as one hoped. It is this desire that makes us realise what belonging really is to us.
Today in my showcase I will be presenting to you the poetry of Miss Emily Dickinson as well as the filmic production of the Elephant man, directed by David Lynch. Through my showcase I hope to present to you a view of belonging that isn’t plagued by the stereotypes of society but a belonging that is true and real to the people that know it so intimately.
One of Emily Dickinson’s poems known as ‘my letter to the world’ describes Dickinson’s plea to society, to understand and not judge her harshly. This is evident in the words ‘judge tenderly of me’. Which shows an appealing tone and a desire for acceptance.
Likewise the filmic version of the elephant man also describes a …show more content…
desire for acceptance. This desire is seen through John Merrick who suffers from an incurable disease that leaves him terribly disfigured. I am not an elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I... am... a man!" Here we have Merrick’s plea to be seen not as an animal but as a human being.
Throughout the film we watch as Merrick is treated as an absolute freak, seen in his involvement in a circus which denotes to a sense of ridicule and also we see his worthlessness through the possessive pronouns such as ‘my freak, and the constant use of ‘it’ which dehumanises him.
As the film progresses Merrick becomes more and more publicised and soon his so called ‘isolation’ ward is packed with people who want to get a glimpse of him. He even receives a standing ovation which is symbolic of the changing attitudes of the people. But despite Merricks perceived sense of belonging to the society in which once degraded him the film concludes with the idea that to belong one may just want to be like everyone else. “I just want to be a human” Merrick says as he lies down flat as he goes to sleep. Because of disfigured head it prevented him from lying flat as he would suffocate, but the way in which the film ends is that despite the knowledge that what he will do will kill him he does it anyway in an attempt to prove that is in fact
normal.
Looking back to Dickinson’s poetry we see that like Merrick she doesn’t want to be judged. In her letter to the world which is a metaphorical idea of a plea to those out there we have the sense that she does have the desire but never quite fits. Seen in her rather negative tone ‘that never wrote to me,’ again the harsh idea that the world never acknowledged her and so in that she turns away.’
Using the juxtaposition of time through the words ‘this’ and ‘that’ we have a real sense of distance and isolation, isolation that clings to her but never seems to go away. Likewise Merrick also shows a similar idea in sentences such as ‘I’ve been such a disappointment and ‘perhaps now she could love me as I am.’ Together Dickinson and Merrick have that same sense of alienation in the wider world to which they are apart of. It was this factor that I see in both Dickinson and Lync’s film that compelled me to include it in my showcase.
Dispite both being distanced from the world we see through both the film and Dickinson’s poetry that although they are alienated there is still a sense of comfort to what is important to them.
Looking firstly to the film an interesting use of symbolism is in the biblical connotations. Although out of place physically in a society that is up bent on image Merrick does find some comfort in the book of Psalms when he quotes “although I walk through the shadow of death, I see no evil for thou art with me.” This Psalm is awfully powerful in our undertstanding of belonging because it broardens our scope of what can comfort you in times of alienation. For Merrick the spiritual force of God is that comfort and again these deep ideas make our concept of belonging deeper and so I felt it important to include it.
Likewise Dickinson also has some sense of belonging to something that is not necessarily of the human kind. This can be seen in my letter to the world in which she uses personification to highlight a connection to nature. ‘The simple news that nature told me, with tender majesty.’ Here the loving and affectionate words such as ‘tender’ and ‘simple’ highlight a sense of connection to nature which is severly contrasted with the harsher words such as never and judge. Through this contrast the reader can then identify what nature can provide compared to world which judges her.
It is this contrast between alienation and comfort which made me relish in its importance to be in my showcase.
Another of Dickinson’s poetry that deepens our knowledge of Belonging is in her poem ‘I had been hungry all these years’ which is an extended metaphor of her experience of trying out the world around her but concludes with the idea that it isn’t right for her.
Like with my letter to the world Dickinson uses personification in her poetry to symbolise the world out there. Seen for example in the phrase ‘and touched the curious wine.’ Which highlights the foreign and unfamiliar environment and emphases a distance between her world and there’s.
Throughout the poem we notice how she doesn’t really belong to that world but to herself and nature. “twas so unlike the crumb the birds and I had often shared in nature’s dining room.’ Here the personification of dining room is used as a vehicle to highlight that it is in nature that the persona belongs and is comforted.
The poem also draws on the idea that when amongst the world she is like: ‘as a berry of a mountain bush is transplanted to the road.’ Which, using similies shows how when she is amongst the world she is displaced and far from comfortable.
In all I hope my showcase has highlighted many things about belonging and that belonging really is subjective to the person experiencing it. For some such as Merrick it is the simple desire to be normal but like in dickinson’s poetry the desire to be normal and apart of something may not be as good as one hoped. It is this desire that makes us realise what belonging really is to us.