how do composers of texts explore different ideas of belonging?
Belonging is a sense of enlightenment felt when an individual gains an understanding of themselves in relation to others and the wider world. This is just one idea presented about belonging, however there are many different ways to belong and there can be barriers that prevent people from belonging. These ideas of belonging are explored throughout the short story “Neighbours” by Tim Winton and Peter Skyzneckic’s “Immigrant Chronicles”. “Immigrant chronicles” is a collection of poems that demonstrates the hardships experienced by migrants as a result of dislocation, alienation, discrimination and prejudice. The “Immigrant Chronicles” demonstrate how there are a variety of ideas about belonging and how people can gain a sense of belonging through shared experiences, relationships with others, being accepted within a society, and through an understanding of different cultures.
A unique idea of belonging is being accepted into a new environment. In the short story “Neighbours”, the couple establishes a sense of belonging to an enriched environment, in which a different form of belonging is formed. A sense of belonging is formed through the couple recognising their initial insecurity and displacement in their new environment. This is demonstrated through the simile “like sojourns in a foreign land” which demonstrates how the couple has no sense of première and how the moving has created a barrier to belonging for them. The couple has no established roots, until the young female becomes impregnated. People in the neighbourhood “start to offer names” and say its “bound to be a boy”. Winton utilises alliteration here to highlight how important this pregnancy is for not only the couple but for the entire community. It also explores how this has given the couple an opportunity to belong, as they establish roots. As the young woman starts to belong she feels emotional