Belonging Place Essay Example

are all examples of the beautiful environment in Raimond’s eye,”It as as though God has taken me to the back of his workshop” he says,a sight that “transformed my sense of life.

It is further evident that his own positive perception of the landscape allows him to settle in the Australian community as the consequences of this is reflected in the character of Christine and her lack of understanding and appreciation of the environment which leads to her depression and desolation. “The dead red gum became for my mother a symbol of desolation,” here the landscape enhances Christine’s alienation to Australian society being “small,frail and weak” “depressed and lonely” Manfred Jurgensen’s poem Bonegilla 1961,also highlights that an individuals erception can enhance their isolation or allow them to belong in a community.

The perceptions of the immigrants at the start of the poem reflect their anger and frustration towards the Australian outback and the same perspectives Romulus had towards the same camp that they both reside in. It is evident the landscape causes their confusion and frustration and “impotent anger” Jurgensen describes through poor syntax and structure to reflect this non acceptance of the English culture and language.

His use of sensory imagery is reflective of their pessimist attitudes towards nature and their inability to appreciate it. ”The heat of burnt grasses” “The humid weather” all reflect the immigrants discomfort and inability to settle in the Australian community,that thy have to find a release of comfort with their “desperate love making” however their changing perceptions reflect their ability to accept new environments cause a new generation of life and a new beginning in

the end of the poem..

The metaphor “snake sheds its skin” symbolises new life and becomes a reflection of the changing perceptions, “the twilight sets in,the morning builds its dome” the personification strongly shows that the immigrants become reconciliated to the natural landscape and allow it to formulate their sense of belonging to new places which further reiterates that an ability to appreciate places and landscape can allow one to belong and become accepted. An inability to adjust to new places can cause one not to belong within the community.

This message is evident in the character of Romulus and his lack of knowledge towards the Australian bush causing him to not belong. He has the “instinct of an immigrant” resulting in him creating a bush fire on Tom Lillie’s farm trying to kill a snake, “ridiculed for his folly,he is mortified and humiliated as the New Australian,” this causes a barrier to his belonging and it is evident this misunderstanding leads him to streangthem his European nostalgia and causes him to want to return.

The simile “he felt like a prisoner in Australia” shows “he longed for European society” and it is evident that an inability to understand and adjust to new places can have negative consequences. For Crhistine,her inability to adjust to new places is shown through the planting of peppercorns as to “mediate between local and European landscapes” however even so she struggles to adjust to new cultures and this causes her mental illness and isolation.

Bonegilla 1961 also highlights that an inability to adjust to new landscapes can cause a lack of belonging when origins and traditions

become a barrier for settling in new cultues. The immigrants’ connection to European traditions of the past cause them to long for European society. The personification in “Childhood call them home,” highlights the immigrants’ nostalgic attitudes towards previous tradtions and roots becoming a barrier for their new belonging. The young men sob in darkness,” the use of school boy metaphors express their lack of power and detachment from new life,however we are shown their acceptance and enhanced understanding of Australian landscape giving them a new found hope and sense of life in the metaphor “the snake sheds its skin” it is evident the immigrants breakaway from origins and tradition through their strong change of perceptions.

An individuals sense of belonging within society is governed by their perspectives and views towards their environment and landscape,their own ability to adjust and appreciate the environment governs whether they can feel at home with their setting or alienate themselves from new cultures and long for old traditions. Raimond Gaita’s Romulus My Father and Manfred Jurgensen’s Bonegilla 1961 reflect the consequences of negative perceptions and an inability to understand new landscapes which lead to negative consequences.