Belonging

Belonging is not always a good thing. What disadvantages are there for individuals and society in belonging?
Individuals don’t always benefit from belonging. Despite being a part of something bigger, one may not necessarily belong because they are insecure and don’t feel completely comfortable with themselves. The sense of not belonging could contribute to individuals losing sight of themselves, especially if they don’t have family to rely on and look to. The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick, Darren Aronofsky’s film Black Swan and the poem Drifters by Bruce Dawe portray these through various language and filmic techniques.
Being a part of a group does not always equate to belonging. Caitlin, from The Simple Gift, is an example of this. The audience is already under the impression that Caitlin disagrees with the wealth she is brought up in and taught to by her parents.   Her condescending tone when describing her school, lacing sarcasm on the words “Discipline”, “Charity” and “Honesty” emphasizes how much she dislikes private school and would rather be in a public one with her friends. However, as the story progresses and her friends, Petra and Kate’s characters begin to take a small shape,   it can be seen that Caitlin is actually not as comfortable with her friends as implied at the beginning of the novel. After detailing her plans with Billy for the next day, she is surprised to hear Kate, a friend she believed to have known well, confess, “I had sex once”. By default shock, Caitlin and Petra “stared at Kate”. A short, yet specific action describing Caitlin’s reaction to her friend’s story suggests that even though she has a group of friends she, at first, can relate to, she does not really belong to them as she begins to feel uncomfortable by the small revelation. Caitlin can also be interpreted to being insecure with herself, as she doesn’t fully belong to her family nor friends. Because she disagrees with the materialism she grew up in, she is unsure of herself...