Romulus The Girl Belonging Analysis

We all have the desire to belong. To belong to something, anything. Even though we ourselves can’t realise it at first. Belonging is a basic human instinct and need. Greek philosopher Aristotle refers to this basic drive, suggesting “the impulse to form partnership of this kind is present in all men by nature”. Given that we are nurtured from birth, this interpretation is then all the more clear.
The word ‘belong’ can be defined in several different ways. Oxford dictionary makes mention of things like ‘being connected with, or being related to, or being a member of a specified environment’. In other words not being out of place. Thus it is safe to make the interpretation that belonging is concerned with obtaining a set of shared beliefs or
establishing a connection with the individuals or communities around us. Connection is the fulcrum to belonging, and our perception of it can be shaped within personal, cultural, historical and social contexts. We can then say that the notion of belonging stems from the premise that we belong when we are nurtured. This is when we feel most comfortable, most connected to the people and environment that surrounds us. These connections are essential for us to come to terms with who and what we are, as is seen in Raimond Gaita’s Romulus My Father. Gaita’s memoir here highlights the difficulties his father encountered in attempting to establish himself amid the conservative and narrow attitudes of 1950’s Australian people having being relocated from his native home land. Although belonging is central to the discussion, this text does well to highlight the other side of the coin of alienation and shows us that belonging is also a concept that is progressive through time. It is complex and transitory. This sense of alienation is also evident in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman, where the protagonist is silenced in an ideological prison perpetrated by men. Contrastingly, Clint Eastwood’s film Gran Torino, shows us that sometimes individuals deliberately object to belonging to their surrounding environment, as was the case with Walt who initially has no desire to belong as he rejects his family and religion.

Belonging is the complex process whereby perceptions of self and social allegiances are forged.
It is particularly important in the family context as it is an essential factor in a person’s growth and development, it colours who and what we are and how we fit into the world around us. It is through Gaita’s relationship with his father Romulus that he comes to understand who and what he is. Being an immigrant, Romulus gains recognition by proving his “worth,” finding a sense of belonging through work. Something that was common and familiar to him his whole life, regardless of location. Gaita uses personification to reinforce the bond that exists between Romulus and his work as “his materials seemed to be in friendship with him” therefore highlighting the significance of such connection and belonging to the idea of work. As a role model, Gaita’s father shaped him into a well balanced and thoughtful man in that he could recognise “what a good workman is, what an honest man is and know what friendship is” and thus discover his place and connections in the world. The bond between Gaita and his father ensures that both of them can establish a sense of belonging, and this is also highlighted through Gaita’s request for his father to go faster when riding together on his motorbike, symbolic of his trust. Both truly belong to each other through the unconditional bond of love between parent and child. The utilisation of repetition of the word “what” emphasises this further. The razor
also becomes symbolic of how Gaita was shaped as an individual through his father’s influence. Symbolism here allows us to see that Romulus believes that a person’s character is the basis on which they belong in honourable society and in an honourable family. Gaita’s relationship with his father shows us that belonging is related to how we are nurtured and connected with our environment. Considering all this, we can juxtapose Romulus’ admirable qualities with the “weak” morals of Christine. Christine is chronically unfaithful and suffers from a never defined form of mental illness. She finds it extremely difficult to care for her children. Accustomed to city life, she finds the isolation of the country extremely difficult. She faced her own fears of being unable to belong in dying to the loneliness of the incapability to fit in. Gaita “found her just staring into the fire”, illustrating how desperate she had been. As a result she is characterized as “appearing to be cheerful and vivacious” but in truth “deeply depressed.”In juxtaposition Romulus however is a character whom attempts to overcome the stigma of being displaced so far from home. He becomes a part of the local community, toils and shapes the land he lives upon, and carves for himself a home for his family. Gaita narrates with a nostalgic symbolism “Primitive though the house was … it offered the hope that our family might be reunited.”

Social rejection and exclusion of one kind or another has been shown to seriously affect a person’s sense of well-being.
They are treated as social misfits, perceived as threats to social stability. They are demonised as monsters rather than nurtured as common humans and thus they can never feel as if they belong. The Yellow Wallpaper highlights this concept of not being allowed to belong as Gilman unravels the issues within her incipient insanity of which had stemmed from the lack of nurture presented to her. In 1887, Gilman was recommended a “rest cure” by her specialist in the hope of curing her nervous breakdowns. This treatment consisted of lying in bed all day and engaging in intellectual activity for only two hours a day. Her husband confines her in the upstairs bedroom in an attempt to treat her illness as well. It is here where she becomes obsessed with the strips of yellow wallpaper, and she begins to visualise a “broken neck and two bulbous eyes staring at her upside down”. Gilman uses personification to portray her mental instability where the “paper looked as if it knew what a vicious influence it had”. Gilman continues to unpack the difficulties of not being able to belong as the wallpaper is metaphorically relating to the specific injustices of that era such as men’s excessive power over women. Gilman symbolises herself as “a woman stooping down and creeping about behind the pattern,” she highlights that her husband and specialist had excluded her from
society, separated her from her only child because she was condemned as an unstable individual. Gilman was restricted to provide love and nurture to her child, unlike Christine who wasn’t capable to provide conventional nurture to her child due to self obsession and mental instability despite the opportunity to do so. Interestingly Gilman, in her review of The Yellow Wallpaper wrote an article entitled “Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper”, depicting her true cure. That being of living a “normal life of every human beings; work, in which is joy, growth and service, without which one is a pauper and a parasite – ultimately recovering some measure of power”. We can see here that by returning back to nature and casting away the wise man’s words, she was able to connect with her context. She had revitalised herself through the sense of belonging, showing us that when alienated from our environment we cannot grow, we cannot become the person we have the potential to become. It seems as through Aristotle was very right when he spoke of belong as being a human instinct, where one seeks for companionship. This companionship is ever so important as through it we can feel a sense of nurture that is forever beneficial.

Gilman’s desire for companionship can be juxtaposed with Walt’s character in the film Gran Torino. The socialisation process through family, kinship and community groups, begins at birth. The idea of belonging, as mentioned, thus becomes an instinct. However, in this text, we see the protagonist of Walt resist against this initially as he seeks out solitude. Walt’s rejection is seen in the opening scene where everything jars, from the young priest giving the eulogy to his granddaughters belly button ring. He perceives his family as selfish, materialistic and shallow. However as the film progresses we see how Walt’s attitudes are naturally modified over time in order to belong, highlighting the concept of belonging as one that is also transitory. The scene when he is “read” by the Hmong Shaman shakes Walt to the core: the Shaman reaches him in a way the priest couldn’t. Walt comments: ”I've got more in common with these gooks than my own spoiled-rotten family.” The film shows Walt moving towards a wider sense of belonging: he retains most of what was positive in the values of the past but an initial process of perception and recognition leads to friendship, loyalty and bonding and a sense of his common humanity with people he once despised. The last scene in which Walt is killed is most evident of his growth. His words “their lives will never be normal as long as that gang is around” highlights Walt’s recognition that the gang must be removed according to Walt. As Walt starts to load his firearms, Eastwood makes us believe that Walt is actually planning on committing murder. It isn’t until Walt arrives at the house in which the gang is located that we see Walt as the vulnerable one as the gang stand on top of the porch, a high camera shot looking down on Walt as the inferior one. The lighting effect creates an atmosphere of doom. The dark tone and shades in this scene establish it with warning. Eastwood ensures that half of Walt’s face is lit up by the street lamp, providing us with enough visual to expose Walt facial expression of anger as he tells the cousin to “shut up Gook”. The background audio of military drums sound as Walt draws his hand pistol and begins mentally assassinating them one by one. This is symbolic of Walt’s true intention. The ultimate sacrifice for Tao and his family. Although Walt was in the end killed by the gang, he would ultimately have the last laugh as Tao would be free from the gang. Walt’s fake hand pistol was not so fake after all as it was what led to the gang being removed. Not through Walt murdering them, but through Walt’s sacrifice of himself as he lay dead on the lawn in the cruciform position. Interestingly, we can compare Walt’s death with the death of Christine in Romulus My Father. Both characters in the end die. However, Walt’s death was dignified. He sacrificed himself, knowing he was already suffering from smoke related disease. Christine, on the other hand, committed suicide and did not care about what state her family would be in when left behind. Walt’s death ensured the safety of Tao and his family. His ultimate sacrifice, his ultimate nurture of Tao means that he was and always will be able to belong. It is difficult to say the same for Christine.

The concept of belonging is indeed more complex than it first appears. Aristotle was right in saying that one of our human instincts is the need to belong as we yearn to have a sense of connection with the people and the surrounding environment, even if we initially don’t see at first. We have seen that belonging is a concept connected to that of nurture, connection and has the potential to define us in terms of who and what we are. This is seen through Raimond Gaita’s strong bond with his father who shaped him into the man that he became. One based on high moral principles and standards. The Text The Yellow Wallpaper highlights the other side of the spectrum in which alienation is of consideration. Charlotte Perkin Gilman’s isolation and solitude were detrimental to her health and well-being. Stripped of her basic human desires to belong, she found it difficult to move forward in life. It is only when she was able to overcome the poor advise the wise man had given her that she was able to live a normal life by living a normal. This text shows us that alienation is detrimental, and that when we are nurtured, even if it we ourselves provide our own nurture as was the case with Gilman, we can grow and become the person we aspire to become. The complexity of belonging was further revealed through the character of Walt in Grand Torino, who initially rejected the common sense of companionship. However, Aristotle’s principle that belonging is a basic human need that is inherited by humans at birth begins to unravel itself within the character of Walt as he sacrifices himself for Tao and his family, highlighting the ultimate sense of nurture towards them.