10 Mary Street Belonging Essay

Words: 697
Pages: 3

BELONGING. Such a simple word for a huge concept. The idea of belonging implies an important and fundamental value in our lives. Belonging most commonly emerges from experience and relationships and is a basic human need. A sense of belonging is represented in various ways throughout texts by Peter Skrzynecki such as “Migrant Hostel” and “10 Mary Street as well as “A pursuit of happiness” directed by Gabriele Muccino. Each of the texts as well as the movie have a wide range of ideas on how belonging is created through personal experiences and relationships and explores one’s lack of place, resulting in feelings of isolation and disconnection.

The notion of belonging is dependent on one’s personal experience towards a place, strengthening one’s understanding and knowledge of their relationship. When a group of migrants assimilate into a new society, their sense of belonging will be challenged because of the lack of relationships and understanding of the new place that they have just begun to experience. “Migrant Hostel” shows us what migrants face in a new environment where their past experience signifies their heritage, and where they truly belong. The poem deals with the early memories of Skryznecki and his family living in the migrant camps
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An example of a routine is seen in the line ‘For nineteen years we departed…like a well-oiled lock’. The use of simile in the phrase ‘like a well-oiled lock’ indicates the positive image of the Skrzynecki household going through the sense of routine. The nineteen years also adds depth to this interpretation and gives the sense that the place that Skrzynecki belonged to was important to him, both as a child and as an