Belonging HSC Essay 1RM

The multifaceted paradigm of belonging provides insights into our intrinsic need
for acceptance and inclusion in a myriad of forms. However a personal insight
developed from the study of belonging is that the key to a sense of belonging
lies within the individual, and it is our own actions that determine the magnitude
of acceptance we feel from others around us. The importance of individual
perceptions in belonging is illustrated in Peter Skrzyneckis 1975 Immigrant
Chronicles, in the two poems Post Card and St Patricks College. These two texts
explore the correlation of perception of self and others on belonging, and this
notion is further examined in Franz Kafkas 1915 seminal novella The
Metamorphosis. Both of these composers analyse the alienating effects of a selfperceived fractured identity, and its detrimental effects on our personal
connections.
Post Card details a persona with a fractured personal identity. Skrzynecki is sent
a post card of his fathers homeland of Warsaw, symbolic of his ancestry and
culture. A post card send by a friend / Haunts me however illustrates its
provoking and tormenting effect on him, enjambment emphasising the word
haunts to clarify a feeling of disaffection and fear. Skrzynecki then transitions
into personifying Warsaw through the use of second person diction, repeating I
never knew you. This combined with the emphatic imperative Let me be
manufactures a confrontational tone to perfectly illustrate the composers
fractured identity, as he struggles with the guilt of being unable to relate to his
ancestry. His self-confessed cultural alienation is further exposed in his rhetorical
questioning Whats my choice / To be? reflecting on his position as caught
between two colliding cultures. However the personification of the tree, which
whispers We will meet / Before you die illustrates Skrzyneckis final
acquiescence, coming to the personal realisation that he cannot hide from his
background and must incorporate it into his identity. Post card is therefore used
to examine Skrzyneckis dichotomous identities which impact on his ability to
belong.
Likewise, Kafkas Metamorphosis is an existential allegory which examines how
the protagonist Gregor Samsas inner conflict denies him a chance to belong. The
persistent detached tone, emphasising verisimilitude, is evident from the
anacolutha of the first line; As Gregor Samsa awoke one morninghe found
himself transformed into a monstrous vermin. The absurdist and candid tone
immediately predicts the social disillusionment of Gregor. His transformation into
a bug also symbolic of his insignificance in society and the scorn he receives,
exemplifying his alienation. His transformation leads to an inner conflict between
his growing physical insect desires, and his conscious psychological strive for
human relationships and acceptance. He thought back on his family with deep
love proves his outreach for human relationships, but he scuttled under the
couch shows his subconscious affinity to tight spaces and increasing insect
tendencies, exhibiting his fractured identity. Like Skrzynecki, he chooses to deny
an aspect of his identity, and this accordingly leads to his alienation, as he is
caught between two worlds. This rejection is seen in the objectification It must
be gotten rid of. The denial of humanity by Gregors family; as they refuse to
call him by his name, shows his complete and utter societal alienation and loss of

Belonging HSC Essay 1RM

human identity, and therefore both Kafka and Skrzynecki see their protagonists
denied a chance to belong due to a fractured identity.
St Patricks College sees the persona explore the psychological alienation based
on his perceptions of the world around him. His mental disillusionment is shown
in the simile caught the 414 bus / Like a foreign tourist, detailing how even
after eight years, he never felt at home. The motif of the St Patricks uniform,
evident as he states I carried the blue, black and gold / Id been privileged to
wear is meant to represent security and a collective identity, however
Skrzyneckis sarcasm indicates the opposite, the world carried indicating that
he perceives it as a barrier to his attainment of belonging. A misunderstanding of
the world around him is illustrated in Skrzyneckis use of humour Luceat Lux
Vestra / I thought it was a brand of soap. His inability to understand the school
motto is metaphoric for his confusion and inability to connect to his school
community. Additionally the symbolic spiritual figure of Our Lady pertains to
security, warmth and inclusion, however Skrzynecki again observes the symbol
as a barrier, lamenting Our Lady still watching abovewith closed eyes. It is
suggested that she failed to offer any comfort or sense of conclusion to him.
Hence, the composers perceptions of the world around him, rather than the
actions of others, are the cause of his estranged and alienated character.
The Metamorphosis is analogous in its representation of the archetypal social
misfit whose alienation is based on his perceptions of the world around him.
Identified with the understatement - Samsa was a commercial traveller his
occupation as a salesman microcosmically characterises the efficacy of human
relationships as a fundamental aspect in our search for belonging. His occupation
is synonymous with transient relationships around him, reflecting his failure to
attain constant personal connections with others. In many ways this failure to
connect to others is his own cause, illustrated in the symbolic habit of locking
all doorseven at home where he creates a barrier to his relationships with his
family. This is further supported in the fact that his transformation is an allegory
for his rejection of society and role as a familial slave, his withdrawing from
society freeing him from being the familys breadwinner so that the
responsibility was no longer his. However despite these anti-social actions,
Gregor, like Skrzynecki, is psychologically tormented by his alienation and seeks
connections in his life through the motif of the picture of the woman in furs. His
desperation to keep it in his room indicates a reach for human touch and comfort
amidst his solitude. Hence, both Skrzynecki and Kafka emphasise in their texts
that we often construct our own barriers to belonging, based our actions and
perceptions of the world around us.
Unequivocally, the deconstruction of Skrzyneckis Postcard and Kafkas The
Metamorphosis exhibit the ill effects of a fractured identity, underpinning that
negative perceptions of community and society ultimately erect barriers to our
chance of belonging. This revelation ultimately deepens our understanding of
ourselves and our own world.

Belonging HSC Essay 1RM

This essay received a 15/15 in trials and 14.5/15 in the 2013 HSC. The related
text (Franz Kafka The Metamorphosis) is only 40 odd pages and I encourage
you to read it. It works well with belonging to place, time, people and strongly
correlates to Skrzyneckis themes of isolation.