Belonging is the state of being accepted and comfortable in a place or group. In the words of John O’Donohue, “the hunger to belong is not merely a desire to be attached to something. It is rather sensing that great transformation and discovery become possible when belonging is sheltered and true.” The aspects of belonging that will be explored include the pressures to belong in society or choosing not belong, how belonging is sometimes not based on truth and belonging to a place. These aspects will be shown through the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, published in 1953, the novel Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden, published in 1994 and the poem “Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco, published in 2007.
PRESSURES TO BELONG IN SOCIETY:
In the text The Crucible the concept of pressures to belong in society are shown through many examples. Salem society is strongly repressive and therefore forcing members of the community to conform to their strict religious rules and beliefs. “Theology, sir, is a fortress; no crack in a fortress may be accounted small”, this metaphor of a fortress portraying an image of war and theology being a fortress shows how religious life in Salem is a struggle for many. The use of this metaphor represents the idea that to belong in Salem you must strictly follow the culture that is followed by all. This technique also portrays the concept that society creates ideas of how people should behave in order to belong.
Similarly in the novel Tomorrow, When The War Began the concept of pressures to belong in society are shown in Ellie’s diary entries and through the invasion and the pressures put on Ellie and her friends to come together and fight back. The invaders also feel the pressure to take over the country and turn it in to a place where they can belong. “We’ve all had to rewrite the scripts of our lives…” is the metaphor used to indicate the pressures placed on the group by the invasion to fight for the right to