Belonging

Understanding nourishes belonging... a lack of understanding prevents It.
The environment nourishes belonging. Understanding the surrounding environment and seeking to be affiliated to it will improve the chances of a persons’ belonging. This is validated in Skrzyneckis' poems “Feliks Skrzynecki” and “10 Mary St”, Jane Campion’s film “The Piano” and Alice Pungs work “Unpolished gem”.
First of all, “Feliks Skrzynecki” is a personal recount of his father’s reminiscences, experiences and garden devotion which not only describes his gentleness but more importantly his connection with the environment and how his passion made him belong, especially to his garden.
The environment can make the understanding of belonging more easily and in Stanza one we view Feliks as a “man of soil”. In the same way a Simile is effectively used to describe his devotion to the environment of his background “devoted to his garden like a parent for his offspring’’. This presents how his father was proud of what he belonged to and his favourite place to be devoted to.
In a similar way, the hyperbole of sweeping his garden “Ten times around the world” helps the reader understand the level of his father’s dedication to his self imposed task and how this helped him belong in Australia.
The environment nourishes differently, from one country to the next and this often brings a change in culture. In the final stanza, we see how the Skrzyneckis’ are moving away from the European culture “I forgot my polish word”. This is effectively used as we see how migrating affects our environment we live in.
In a second poem by Skrzynecki, “10 Mary St” encapsulates the environment of family life, along with their garden and daily routines that they are custom to. This poem captures how the environment creates a sense of comfort because of a routine being established.
The opening stanza creates a sense of security “Each morning, shut the house” which creates evidence why they see their environment as...