Romulus and Hora in Romulus my Father is evidence of this. Both share a cultural root of ‘Romania’ and links between people are able to strengthen a sense of belonging so that it’s not just a fleeting experience. “Nor have I known anyone so contemptuous and resistant.... it formed the basis of their lifelong friendship...they longed for a community of honorable men”. The underlying contemplative and authoritative tone of the quote shows that as immigrants, that values and ethics played an important role in their upbringing, and identifies that through this both men found a connection with each other by using inclusive language ‘they’, but also the disconnection from the current their new country in ‘longed’. This honour and respect saw the two men accept each other and ultimately formed a sense of belonging. The idea of ‘longed’ followed by ‘[Romulus] asked the man who greeted us are there any other Romanians here” shows how isolation in a foreign land heightened the need for belonging. The idea of having something in common shows the influence which culture has on a person’s identity, and that people’s cultural and moral standards have a influence on belonging.
Finding someone with the same passion as you, can overcome the confliction of trying to upholding your honour, and at the same time trying to create a sesne of belonging
Romulus and Raimond (ACTIONS)
From the day of Raimond’s birth, Romulus’s actions establish that he should feel secure in his relationship with his father, ‘he denied himself so that I would have more, he fainted from hunger on more than one occasion.’ Later, Raimond steals aftershave and throws his father’s favourite shaver into the lake. The anger exerted from his father reveals how desperately he wants
Raimond to belong to him, and show none of the moral failings of his estranged mother.
Again the importance of belonging is placed upon relationship, and the development of
Human identity, of which