Mr Namdar
Belonging essay
Belonging can be understood as having a place in the society. Belonging is influenced by social, historical, cultural and personal experiences, which all help to shape our identity. Our choices can lead us to feeling like we belong, or there may be barriers preventing us as individuals from making connections to people or groups. Belonging gives us security and ensures us that we belong to place, family, and culture. While not belonging can lead to insecurities which leads to questioning yourself if your good enough for the society to belong.
Jane Harrison’s “Rainbows End” explores the concept of belong and belonging to place, culture and identity. Harrison a Morowari descendant (people within NSW) grew up in Victoria, where the play is set. She sets the play in Victoria, Shepartoon around the 1950’s, when Queen Victoria visited Australia and also when the white Australian policy was in full force. The three main characters are Nan Dear (the eldest of the three women) Gladys (Nan Dear’s daughter and Dolly’s mother) and Dolly (Nan Dears granddaughter and Gladys’s daughter). The play is about how the three women go through everyday problems to try and maintain their culture, identity and also their history. In “Rainbows End” Nan dear shows a lot of devotion to her land and also throughout the play we find out that she’s a changed person because of her personal experiences.
We observe this when she says “well, of course I’m not gunna die. Not here anyway. Gotta go back to me old land”. This shows Nan’s strong connection and belonging to place as part of her identity.
Perceptions of change as well as belonging to place, culture, history and identity are also explored in “We are Going”. Oodgeroo Noonucaal an Australian poet, political activist, artist and educator wrote the poem in 1964. She was also a very strong campaigner for Aboriginal rights. In the poem Oodgeroo captures the hardship of how the Aboriginals were treated and made to feel like
Belonging can be understood as having a place in the society. Belonging is influenced by social, historical, cultural and personal experiences, which all help to shape our identity. Our choices can lead us to feeling like we belong, or there may be barriers preventing us as individuals from making connections to people or groups. Belonging gives us security and ensures us that we belong to place, family, and culture. While not belonging can lead to insecurities which leads to questioning yourself if your good enough for the society to belong.
Jane Harrison’s “Rainbows End” explores the concept of belong and belonging to place, culture and identity. Harrison a Morowari descendant (people within NSW) grew up in Victoria, where the play is set. She sets the play in Victoria, Shepartoon around the 1950’s, when Queen Victoria visited Australia and also when the white Australian policy was in full force. The three main characters are Nan Dear (the eldest of the three women) Gladys (Nan Dear’s daughter and Dolly’s mother) and Dolly (Nan Dears granddaughter and Gladys’s daughter). The play is about how the three women go through everyday problems to try and maintain their culture, identity and also their history. In “Rainbows End” Nan dear shows a lot of devotion to her land and also throughout the play we find out that she’s a changed person because of her personal experiences.
We observe this when she says “well, of course I’m not gunna die. Not here anyway. Gotta go back to me old land”. This shows Nan’s strong connection and belonging to place as part of her identity.
Perceptions of change as well as belonging to place, culture, history and identity are also explored in “We are Going”. Oodgeroo Noonucaal an Australian poet, political activist, artist and educator wrote the poem in 1964. She was also a very strong campaigner for Aboriginal rights. In the poem Oodgeroo captures the hardship of how the Aboriginals were treated and made to feel like