Peter Sckerznki Summary
Belonging
Peter Skrzynecki’s poems explore the experiences of migrant families who grapple with what it means to belong in a foreign country. Having left the familiarity of their home, they encounter barriers that hold them back from fitting in such as language barriers and the different cultural practices and beliefs. During the poetry, Skrzynecki talks about how as a younger migrant he was able to move past the barriers but he felt like he was alienated from his Polish heritage, ancestors and family friends. Conversely, he continues on about how his parents were too slow on the process of fitting yet, where as unlike him they still maintained their ties with their polish heritage, friends and traditions.
In Migrant hostel an emphasis on the physical and emotional divisions set up different nationalities are shown. They are searching for some sense of belonging in a foreign land, “nationalities sought each other out instinctively”. The use of the simile “like a homing pigeon circling to get its bearing” creates a sense of the migrant’s desire for a home; a place where they belong. Belonging also implies alienation and national groups are physically “partitioned off at night”, but they also choose to separate themselves from the other migrants because of “memories of hunger and hate.” The use of alliteration through the ‘h’ creates a sense of the migrant’s vented emotions at the other groups.
In St Patricks college the poem opens up with a clear statement of Peter’s mother and the reason why she has enrolled him into this particular college: “impressed by the uniforms of her employer’s sons”. By starting off with an adjective, we are able to feel her emotion and desire for her son to attain the statues of her employer’s sons. The mother wasn’t her son to be educated in a way that is “best” and that will also help him to feel accepted into a new country. The use of direct speech in “what was best”, suggests the strong desire for her son’s belonging
Peter Skrzynecki’s poems explore the experiences of migrant families who grapple with what it means to belong in a foreign country. Having left the familiarity of their home, they encounter barriers that hold them back from fitting in such as language barriers and the different cultural practices and beliefs. During the poetry, Skrzynecki talks about how as a younger migrant he was able to move past the barriers but he felt like he was alienated from his Polish heritage, ancestors and family friends. Conversely, he continues on about how his parents were too slow on the process of fitting yet, where as unlike him they still maintained their ties with their polish heritage, friends and traditions.
In Migrant hostel an emphasis on the physical and emotional divisions set up different nationalities are shown. They are searching for some sense of belonging in a foreign land, “nationalities sought each other out instinctively”. The use of the simile “like a homing pigeon circling to get its bearing” creates a sense of the migrant’s desire for a home; a place where they belong. Belonging also implies alienation and national groups are physically “partitioned off at night”, but they also choose to separate themselves from the other migrants because of “memories of hunger and hate.” The use of alliteration through the ‘h’ creates a sense of the migrant’s vented emotions at the other groups.
In St Patricks college the poem opens up with a clear statement of Peter’s mother and the reason why she has enrolled him into this particular college: “impressed by the uniforms of her employer’s sons”. By starting off with an adjective, we are able to feel her emotion and desire for her son to attain the statues of her employer’s sons. The mother wasn’t her son to be educated in a way that is “best” and that will also help him to feel accepted into a new country. The use of direct speech in “what was best”, suggests the strong desire for her son’s belonging