Hello everyone, today I will discuss the theme of belonging in “Jasper Jones” by Craig Silvey and “The Happiest Refugee” by Anh Do. To begin, let’s establish the definition of belonging. From my perspective, belonging occurs when you are in the company of your friends, enjoying yourself, and feeling a sense of fitting in. However, there are additional dimensions to belonging where you may not be acquainted with everyone present. For example, you can belong to a school but still encounter instances of bullying or harassment.
When reading Jasper Jones, I observed that Carlie, the protagonist and storyteller, lived in his own mental realm. He cherished words, viewing them as precious, but could not proudly display them. The mining town he resided in seemed to discourage his aspirations for knowledge, making it appear as though he believed he was superior to others. Nevertheless, Charlie’s true passion lies in books; he enjoys capturing his emotions on paper and immersing himself in a world of imagination, a place where he truly feels at home.
Then, I move on to The Happiest Refugee and explore its contents to determine if Anh truly belonged in Australian society. Although he faced some challenges along the way, he eventually found his place. He formed a romantic relationship, became part of a local sports footy club, and felt a sense of belonging in both aspects. However, it seemed that Charlie didn’t feel a strong connection to his family. I believed this because his mother appeared to tolerate them, possibly due to her hidden love affair with another man.
She believed they weren’t deserving of her company. By reading the book, one can witness the intense conversations the mother and father had about their refusal to communicate, with the father isolating himself in his room. Additionally, there is a fascinating video titled “Who do you think you are?” that showcases Christine Anu’s journey to uncover her family history.
After gaining fame and reaching old age, she is now starting to question the identities of her other family members. Feeling like she doesn’t belong to any specific group, she embarks on an adventure to find her relatives. With each member she discovers, Christine becomes emotionally overwhelmed, creating a captivating experience. For her, the true meaning of belonging lies in knowing her family’s history, actions, and behaviors.
Now back to Anh and his affiliation with his football club. Initially, in school, certain individuals, including one of Anh’s teachers, tried to isolate him and make him feel bad. This unfortunate incident occurred during Anh’s classes, where the students were tasked with creating posters about their dislike for the Asian race, despite Anh’s presence. Surprisingly, this did not affect him as much as the teacher had hoped. Instead, Anh worked hard to establish a stronger sense of belonging and to gain acceptance from the teacher, which he eventually achieved. However, Anh did not feel comfortable about this accomplishment.
And there was a specific incident mentioned in the book, where a player from the opposing football team referred to Anh as a ‘gook’. Anh’s teammates overheard this and proceeded to vigorously tackle and challenge that player whenever he had control of the ball. This incident demonstrated Anh’s strong bond and acceptance within his team. However, similar to the characters in the story of Jasper Jones, once the game was over, they would all go their separate ways.
Now Jasper Jones, in my opinion, never had a true sense of belonging among the townspeople. It is my belief that he lacked any genuine friendships and was despised by the entire community, possibly due to his race or his habit of stealing. As a result, they would always attribute any wrongdoing to him. However, when Jasper stumbled upon the horrifying scene in the glades and reached out to Charlie for assistance, I believe that was the moment he found a true sense of belonging. He finally had someone he could trust, confide in, and share his deepest thoughts and emotions with.
I mean, all the boys grudgingly admired his footy skills, and the girls were all wild about him in secret, but still nobody approached him, just as no one approached Charlie, and that is probably what compelled Jasper to knock on his window that night, to share with him all those things, to take the adventure together. This is my perception of belonging, and I will most likely never understand the concept of it completely, but I have typed out what I think of it, throughout the three texts that I have had to talk about.
