Two Depressing Things Belonging
An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging
In most examples of life, positive experiences will enrich a person’s happiness and joy; creating a positive state of mind and enhancing their sense of belonging, while negative experiences will develop an un-healthy state of mind and limit their sense of belonging. The nature of these progressions is a natural effect of engaging with one’s surroundings, and there are countless examples of this evolution in both the Immigrant Chronicle, written by Peter Skrzynecki, and the poem The Two Depressing Things, written by cartoonist Leunig.
Skrzynecki’s poem Feliks Skrzynecki contains one of the primary examples of the barriers …show more content…
Leunig presents the idea that belonging is linked to state of mind through the use of body language. The body language of the victim is extremely miserable; down-turned mouth, slumped shoulders, and lowered head all show the sadness felt. He then shows, through placement of the ‘characters’, that the victim no longer feels that he belongs with the rest of society as he is facing away from, and is separated from, the other characters in the image. This shows that due to the negative state of mind, a lack of interaction with the surrounding world ensues and then the sense of belonging felt by the character is negatively …show more content…
These strong cultural interactions serve to deepen Skrzynecki’s feeling of belonging yet it is threatened since “The whole block has been gazetted for industry”. This line is written within a parenthesis which serves to create a detached tone, juxtaposed against the heartfelt tone throughout the rest of the poem. The effect that the loss has on Skrzynecki is shown in the metaphor that his family are inheritors of “A key that’ll open no house when this one is pulled down”. This conveys that his sense of belonging felt at 10 Mary Street will fit only with that house and cannot be replaced.
Both of Peter Skrzynecki’s poems Feliks Skrzynecki and 10 Mary Street and Leunig’s poem The Two Depressing Things, demonstrate that an individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich, or limit, their experience of belonging. However, the poem Feliks Skrzynecki shows that this is not always the case, and demonstrates that not all positive instances of belonging must stem from positive occurrences; it merely depends on how one sees
In most examples of life, positive experiences will enrich a person’s happiness and joy; creating a positive state of mind and enhancing their sense of belonging, while negative experiences will develop an un-healthy state of mind and limit their sense of belonging. The nature of these progressions is a natural effect of engaging with one’s surroundings, and there are countless examples of this evolution in both the Immigrant Chronicle, written by Peter Skrzynecki, and the poem The Two Depressing Things, written by cartoonist Leunig.
Skrzynecki’s poem Feliks Skrzynecki contains one of the primary examples of the barriers …show more content…
Leunig presents the idea that belonging is linked to state of mind through the use of body language. The body language of the victim is extremely miserable; down-turned mouth, slumped shoulders, and lowered head all show the sadness felt. He then shows, through placement of the ‘characters’, that the victim no longer feels that he belongs with the rest of society as he is facing away from, and is separated from, the other characters in the image. This shows that due to the negative state of mind, a lack of interaction with the surrounding world ensues and then the sense of belonging felt by the character is negatively …show more content…
These strong cultural interactions serve to deepen Skrzynecki’s feeling of belonging yet it is threatened since “The whole block has been gazetted for industry”. This line is written within a parenthesis which serves to create a detached tone, juxtaposed against the heartfelt tone throughout the rest of the poem. The effect that the loss has on Skrzynecki is shown in the metaphor that his family are inheritors of “A key that’ll open no house when this one is pulled down”. This conveys that his sense of belonging felt at 10 Mary Street will fit only with that house and cannot be replaced.
Both of Peter Skrzynecki’s poems Feliks Skrzynecki and 10 Mary Street and Leunig’s poem The Two Depressing Things, demonstrate that an individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich, or limit, their experience of belonging. However, the poem Feliks Skrzynecki shows that this is not always the case, and demonstrates that not all positive instances of belonging must stem from positive occurrences; it merely depends on how one sees