Belonging: Romulus My Father Essay Example

Connections made with a community or a group have the potential of profoundly impacting an individual’s sense of self. Interactions with people of that community and the physical environment that houses it are vital in developing an individual’s identity. On the other hand, belonging to a group may refer to the more complex familial and external bonds which require a great deal of understanding and acceptance. Raimond Giata’s memoire Romulus My Father, a film Under the Tuscan Sun by Audrey Wells and Margaret Wild’s picture book Woolvs in the Sitee all explore an individual’s relationship with their community and groups by either eulogising or visually illustrating the impacts of these connections on one’s sense of self.
An individual’s sense of self is affected by his or her belonging to their community and its physical surroundings. Being an immigrant, Romulus gains recognition by proving his “worth” through hard work. Gaita uses personification in “his materials…seemed to be in friendship with him” to reinforce the bond that exists between Romulus and his work, therefore highlighting the significance of such connection on the evolvement of his “character”. Use of contrasting characterisation of Christine with Romulus, further illustrates the detrimental effects of social rejection on one’s sense of self, which in Christine’s case leads to mental instability and her suicide. Christine’s promiscuous nonconformist behaviour is a barrier to belonging as she often criticised in being a “characterless woman” by her others. The recurring motif of suicide strengthens the negative impacts of alienation on an individual’s sense of self. Through the contrasting characterisation, Gaita reflects that belonging to one’s community is vital as it benefits identity, while a lack of it has serious detrimental effects on an individual’s sense of self. Belonging to a group refers to the more abstract familial and external relationships. Actions of others in the