‘An individual’s interaction with others and the world around them can enrich or limit their experience of belonging. ’ BY joseph king When an individual’s sense of identity is corrupted through prejudicial attitudes they are left exposed and vulnerable allowing a sense of isolation and displacement in society. An individual’s ability to promote change within is largely influenced by the hardships they experience in their struggle to conform and the connectedness of identity that stems from acceptance.
Tara June Winch’s novel Swallow the air, adapts the core concept that the perceptions and ideas of belonging are shaped within personal, cultural, historical and social contexts defining who we are resulting in a true understanding and sense of self. This notion resonates in Shaun Tan’s picture book The Red Tree and Armin Greder’s allegorical picture book The Island ,as all three texts explore the potential of the sacrifices an individual makes to belong and the affect the attitudes and perceptions have which can either allow or hinder an individual’s quest to find their place in the world.
Relationships with others and its surroundings can either enhance or restrict their journey of acceptance and security. Swallow the air, emotively alludes to the notion of the protagonists May’s multiple incongruous affiliations. While the quest for a sense of belonging can be potentially excruciating the individual may enrich the community or group, exploring how belonging can challenge an understanding of the world and their self. Throughout Winch’s Swallow the air, May feels isolated and vulnerable to find a real place of security.
Despite Mays feelings of insecurity she discovers solace within her Aboriginal community, “We’re all family here, we’re all blacks from different places, but we are all one mob. ” The inclusive pronoun of ‘we’ emphasises her acceptance within a group who share her cultural heritage. This notion juxtaposes with the aggressively graffiti May finds in her physical environment, “This gunna show ya where ya don’t belong dumb black bitch! ” the derogatory language emphasises the depth of antagonism May endures as an outsider in her own community.
The non- standard pronunciation, ‘gunna’ and ‘ya’ in place of ‘going to’ and ‘you’ accentuate the abuse. The swearing emphasises the passion and exhibits the emotional power that these attitudes hold over May’s vulnerability. An individual’s search for identity is fuelled by a need to find a place in the world where we belong, thus not belonging consequently leas to a feeling of alienation and isolation. This notion is explored through May’s journey seeking to connect with her racial heritage, her idea of understanding and acceptance.
The old man Graham, May encounters at the mission expresses an Aboriginal perspective on the contemporary relationship between the two societies. “no one to talk about it. And they die, kill em selves, than those governments just put another numba, nother cross in they list. They still trying to do it, kill us of, tell us that its always been they plan. ” They hybrid vernacular communicates the hatred through the ethnolect strongly marked by the non –standard features of the pronouns in “they list,” “they plan. ” Graham’s diatribe reflects him as an individual demonstrating the marginalisation of the minority groups.
Similarly, Armin Greder’s picture book The island demonstrates the notion concerning the duality of belonging with its inherit prejudices and xenophobic attitudes expresses the majority’s deliberate exclusion of ‘the other’ outside the dominant group. The inevitable development of tolerance towards others outside the dominant power base is progressively portrayed in The Island. The islanders’ reluctant tolerance towards the newcomer in the beginning of the book, turn into fear which is embodied through the words to perpetrate fear. “He will come and eat you up”, “he will murder us all. The exaggerated aspects of hysteria are used to accumulate hatred towards the outsider. Whilst Swallow the Air conveys the aspect of ostracism from society, the engagement of the natural world remains as a solace of comfort and security.
May’s association with the landscape explores the natural phenomena to help her understand aspects of her social world. Romantic concepts are throughout the text to describe the natural world, “In the small clearing, where I’d hide, shared by umbrellas of grass trees and tree ferns I took the softest ground as a seat. It was dry there too. Words such as ‘small’, ‘shaded’ and ‘soft’ depict the bush as benign and safe. This passage conveys a strong image of May’s solace in the natural landscape. The notion of an umbrella is metaphoric for protection and a place of refuge. The idea that an individual’s perspective and attitude can either aid or restrict their journey of belonging and acceptance is reiterated in Shaun Tan’s The Red Tree. Shaun Tan’s The Red Tree allows us to ponder, question and examine the world that we live in and how barriers can intercept our sense of acceptance.
In The Red Tree, we learn how fear reated in our minds can form barriers as the nameless girl seeks to find her place in the world. This is reinforced by the salient image of the girl trapped in the glass bottle. The vector of the bottle neck creates a path where the girl is focused. Opposed to Swallow the Air, where May’s cultural background disconnects her from society, the unnamed girl imparts her disconnection on herself as she is lost within her imagination and self fears. The illumination of the white cloud at the right of the frame highlights the metaphor that the girl is in the shadows, isolated in her darkness.
The emotional element of the image reaffirms a sense of loneliness, and herself barriers that she has built impending her interaction with the world. When an individual’s sense of self is affected by society’s prejudices we are left isolated and alienated. All three composers, Tara Winch June, Armin Greeder and Shaun Tan explore an individual’s lack of belonging and the human desire to be needed when their self and surroundings are compromised. All of which respond to the notion that it is an individual’s perception and attitudes that create a sense of belonging and acceptance.
