Belonging is central to how we define ourselves; our belonging to, or connections with people, places and groups enables one to develop a distinct identity. Belonging is explored in the poetry of Peter Skrzynecki's ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’ and ‘Postcard’ as well as Shaun Tan’s ‘The arrival’. Both Skrynecki and Tan demonstrate the idea that an individual’s perception of belonging evolve in response to the passage of time and interaction with their world.
When an individual migrates from one place to another, their life experiences through the passage of time and sense of attachment in which the individual feels to their homeland can hinder the individual successfully developing a sense of belonging within their new chosen place. In ‘Feliks Skrzynecki’ the poet Skrzynecki reveals his close relationship with his father “my gentle father” initially the possessive pronoun depicts their close rapport, but as their cultural ties weaken they become distanced from one another. Through the passage of time of the family’s migration process within Australia the poet through his maturation, has started embracing the Australian culture, due to his growing alienation in which he feels to his father’s polish heritage. This is revealed when the poet metaphorically pegs his tents “Further and further south of Hadrian’s Wall” away from his father traditional polish roots. The simile and oxymoron “Like a dumb prophet” reveals how both Feliks and the poet are powerless to prevent this inevitable separation and distance mounting.
Feliks being a first generation migrant, his deep connection to Poland through his life experience thwarts him in slowly developing a sense of belonging within Australia, through his interaction. Feliks is determined to preserve the unchanging elements of his Polish culture, he is able to do this with the support of his home garden in which he loved “Like an only child” and “Swept its paths ten times around the world” the use of simile and hyperbole express Feliks love and devotion in which he feels and contributes to his home garden, as it acts as a symbol of a connection of Feliks’ homeland of Poland, the place in which Feliks feels he truly belongs. Hence showing how individual’s life experiences through the passage of time with deep connections to particular places can develop their perception of belonging through their interactions.
Similarly in the graphic novel ‘The Arrival’ Tan uses various images without words to tell the story of an immigrant who leaves his homeland under threat, in pursuit of an enhanced and safe life. The immigrant feels a deep attachment to his original homeland and feels a great sense of downcastness as he prepares to depart. This is displayed by an image of the couple with the wife’s hand upon his and their heads bowed down in sorrow and dragons tail weaving through the city serves as a visual metaphor for the looming threat in which they city faces. The absence of written descriptions allows for individual interpretation and it is in this way the narrative of one family becomes representative of many.
Once the persona arrives in the new world he is processed mechanically and thrust out into the city, he does not understand the odd symbols of their language and the use of facial expressions used throughout depict a state of disorientation and despair as the persona and his family long to return to the home in which they left behind. However the author Tan uses visual motifs in the text throughout. The white origami bird appears as a motif throughout, as a symbol of a reminder to the father of where he has come from, as well as a constant reminder to carry on through tough times and as time
