Friday, August 16, 2019
Understanding Nourishes Belonging
Understanding nourishes belonging. A lack of understanding prevents it. Belonging is not a solo act. For belonging to exist there must be some facilitation on the sides of two separate parties. Belonging hinges on how these parties create an understanding of each other. Many of Emily Dickinsonââ¬â¢s poems reflected the difficulty which she experienced upon attempting to forge a connection with her society.Her personas in ââ¬Å"My Letter to the Worldâ⬠and ââ¬Å"I had been hungry all the yearsâ⬠both initially struggle with belonging to their society, and resolve these issues through establishing a sense of understanding; the former with her peers and the latter with herself. Similarly, the titular character in Shaun Tanââ¬â¢s acclaimed picture book, ââ¬Å"The Lost Thingâ⬠finds itself alienated in a world that is dismissive of things it cannot understand. This lack of understanding stems from the societyââ¬â¢s inability to reconcile with that which is diffe rent, and the ââ¬Å"Lost Thingâ⬠ultimately must journey to a sanctuary where it is understood and accepted.The composers of each text underscore their ideas using powerful imagery, with symbols and metaphors common features of all three. Understanding facilitates the development of belonging, and this cannot occur unless individuals go out of their way to forge connections with the larger world. The persona in Dickinsonââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"My Letter to the Worldâ⬠attempts to do this on a massive scale, addressing her ââ¬Å"letterâ⬠ââ¬â a metonymy for her entire body of work ââ¬â to a world that is dismissive of her. The persona makes it clear that she is writing to a society that ââ¬Å"never wrote to meâ⬠, which suggests feelings of isolation.These feelings are turned around upon the establishment of a connection with the personaââ¬â¢s countrymen based on the personaââ¬â¢s love of nature, which is personified and described here with a regal and ma jestic beauty. It is due to this love that she allows herself to ask them to ââ¬Å"judge kindly of herâ⬠. The personaââ¬â¢s adoration of Nature is expressed clearly through the ardent description of ââ¬Å"Herâ⬠in the fourth line. The juxtaposition of the words, ââ¬Å"tenderâ⬠and ââ¬Å"majestyâ⬠is striking, and impresses upon readers a sense of both natureââ¬â¢s gentle beauty and its powerful reign throughout the world.Nature is a commonality between the persona and the society from which she feels alienated; thus, by penning this letter and reaching out, the persona discovers a way of belonging in her society facilitated by an understanding based on their mutual respect for nature. In another of Dickinsonââ¬â¢s poems, she addresses the possibility that by pursuing an understanding of belonging, an individual can come to experience that feeling within their own self. The persona of ââ¬Å"I had been hungryâ⬠expresses a hunger that has spanned years, a hunger symbolising the innate human need for belonging.Dickinson employs imagery associated with food and eating throughout the poem, in keeping with this extended metaphor. The persona is given the opportunity to ââ¬Å"sample the plentyâ⬠. The personaââ¬â¢s hesitance and apprehension in doing so are evident, as she ââ¬Å"trembling drew the table nearâ⬠. The persona is bewildered by the ââ¬Å"curious wineâ⬠and comes to discover that this particular type of belonging isnââ¬â¢t for her. This discovery is emphasised in the metaphor in the second stanza, ââ¬Å"Like berry of a mountain bush/Transplanted to the roadâ⬠.The juxtaposition of the berry, a thing of nature, and the man-made road signifies the jarring feeling the persona is experiencing. In the end, the persona finds that, ââ¬Å"the entering takes awayâ⬠. By engaging with the possibility of belonging, much like their counterpart in ââ¬Å"My Letter to the Worldâ⬠, the persona c onversely finds that it isnââ¬â¢t for her, and instead comes to the understanding that she was more comfortable in her own place. Lack of understanding, especially of things that are foreign to us, and how it acts as a barrier to belonging is a theme explored extensively in Shaun Tanââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"The Lost Thingâ⬠.A boy discovers a creature and takes it on a journey through the industrialised conglomerate that takes no heed of it. The ââ¬Å"Lost Thingâ⬠is first discovered on a beach; its striking red shade and natural-looking shape instantly convey to the reader how out of place it is in respect to its rather colourless, angular surroundings. The confusion and uncertainty that the people who notice the ââ¬Å"Thingâ⬠are epitomised in the narratorââ¬â¢s lines ââ¬Å"It just sat there, looking out of place. I was baffled. â⬠In the end, their search for the ââ¬Å"Lost Thingââ¬â¢sâ⬠place, take them to a bizarre place, where all sorts of lost thi ngs have gathered.Far away from the wider societyââ¬â¢s inability to comprehend the ââ¬Å"Lost Thingââ¬â¢sâ⬠existence, here it can assimilate into a world where its features are far less likely to warrant particular notice. Throughout the book, a recurring visual motif appears in the form of a white, wavy arrow. It initially evades notice ââ¬â much like the ââ¬Å"Lost Thingâ⬠in its society ââ¬â up until it becomes relevant to the story as a marker leading the two main characters to the world that the ââ¬Å"Lost Thingâ⬠eventually finds a home in.Much like Dickinsonââ¬â¢s personaââ¬â¢s, it is by making the attempt to find a place of belonging that the ââ¬Å"Lost Thingâ⬠is able to navigate past a society that does not understand it into one that does. Societyââ¬â¢s perceived indifference and its associated unwillingness or inability to understand play an integral role in the ââ¬Å"My Letter to the Worldâ⬠personaââ¬â¢s percept ion of belonging. Whether this perception is the reality is not made clear; however, by playing on the insecurities of the persona this perception exacerbates her inability to belong.The persona makes it clear that she is alienated by the wider world through the line, ââ¬Å"Her message is committed/To hands I cannot seeâ⬠. As she is not privy to the contents of this letter, she is therefore not part of this understanding that is shared by the wider community. The idea that this is passed by hands that she cannot see is also significant; it gives the connotation that there is a barrier between the persona and the rest of the world, and until she bridges this barrier and shares in the understanding, she cannot belong.Through ââ¬Å"My Letter to the Worldâ⬠, Dickinson expresses the idea that understanding is perhaps the key to belonging between individuals and groups. Similarly, in ââ¬Å"The Lost Thingâ⬠, a lack of understanding gives way to the absence of belonging, a nd a desire on the part of the wider society to get rid of that which the misunderstanding originates from. The society of Tanââ¬â¢s book is unable to connect and interact with the objects they cannot accept into the drab surroundings of their day to day life.The societyââ¬â¢s misguided attempts to categorise everything in their world is embodied in the ââ¬Å"Federal Department of Odds and Endsâ⬠. Tan parodies government mottos by inventing one for his invented federal department, ââ¬Å"sweepus underum carpetaeâ⬠. The pseudo Latin suggests that the Departmentââ¬â¢s purpose is nothing more than to ââ¬Å"sweep things under the rugâ⬠. An imperative, ââ¬Å"Donââ¬â¢t Panicâ⬠, follows the question ââ¬Å"finding that the order of day-to-day life is unexpectedly interrupted? on the Departmentââ¬â¢s advertisement, and is indicative of the entire societyââ¬â¢s attitude to things that seem out of place. The Lost Thingââ¬â¢s invisibility in its soci ety is highlighted by the small size with which it is depicted against the cityscape. On one of the last pages, Tan poses a series of illustrations in which it appears as though the view is panning out from a tram to a view of several, then of hundreds; this impresses upon readers how easy it is to go unnoticed in the face of societyââ¬â¢s lack of care and understanding.An understanding thus cannot be reached between the Lost Thing and its environment, prompting its search for one where this is possible. An understanding between individuals and groups is imperative to a sense of belonging. Both Dickinsonââ¬â¢s poems and Tanââ¬â¢s picture book detail the struggles to belong that can transpire from a lack of understanding and also depict the happy reality that results from newfound understanding.
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