How are our perceptions of belonging
formed in these texts?
Ideas of belonging & not belonging
emerge from CONNECTIONS
Shaped by historical and
modern social context
Acceptance of
individuals is clear
Identity and relationships are
able to form and strengthen
The Shawshank Redemption
Desire to belonging to another world and
to leave the new world you have been
placed in. Your own world is your own
freedom.
Andy thanks the heavens for his freedom, into
the world to which he truly feels he belongs and
where he is accepted. However, we know that
prison life has changed him.
Belonging to the world in which you are
accustomed can lead to alienation in an
outside, different world
When brooks is released from prison on parol,
he feels lonely, lost and different. he dislikes this
new world and, despite being free, wants to
return to his friends in pprison
Belonging in a recognised group can
create a gang mentality. E.g. The sisters
who abuse their knowledge of prison to
abuse Andy
Belonging separates you other
groups, physically, emotionally
and mentally, such as how the
walls contain the inmates
Jasper Jones
Cultural belonging of those to
their ancestry and ethnicity.
Such as Vietnamese Jeffrey
and half caste Jasper
Situational belonging - The horrific event of
hiding Laura's body created an inexplicable
bond between Jasper and Charlie which
strengthened throughout the novel.
"Sorry... And so it binds us together, makes us as
trodden and sodden as one another."
The word "Sorry" is symbolic
of the pair's connection
Not belonging is heavily conveyed
through the use of symbolism in order
to portray detachment and a feeling of
isolation from family and the town of
Corrigan
"The Wishart house is crackling
furiously from the inside"
Metaphorically and literally as Eliza
burns all connections with her
family.
Charlie feels accepted and safe with his father due to
encouragement and kindness. His mother, however,
breaks connections of belonging
The Lost Thing
Contrast of rustic colours of Lost
Thing juxtaposes dull grey
industrial background indicating his
different and ostracisation in
society.
Belonging can be formed due to a feeling of
sorrow for another and a connection based upon
trust forms, creating a relationship between two
unlikely people/things.
The path to belonging is often long, strenuous
and tedious and can change quickly, however,
you do eventually reach acceptance.