Belonging is often closely linked to identifying with a particular group of people.
A retrospective view of human history shows that for centuries, the intervention of cultures has grown steadily, and as a result people have now mixed cultures and created sub-cultures of belonging - but there are still many conflicts regarding personal and communal identity. Belonging comes from an understanding, or the knowledge that an external sense of being comes from an internal sense of connection and safety. The concepts of belonging are excellently demonstrated in two highly differing texts - ‘The One Day of the Year’ by Alan Seymour and ‘Stolen’ by Jane Harrison.
‘Stolen’ tells the stories of five Aboriginal children - Anne, Ruby, Shirley, Jimmy and …show more content…
Anne understands and appreciates the comfort, security and wealth her white family have provided her - and can continue to provide her. However these comforts cannot dissuade her longing to feel at home - a sense of belonging that her indigenous family can provide. Her indigenous family advises her to “stick together” against the whites, who have raped their women, grabbed their land and stolen their children. The question, “Who are you?”(28-29) points at the identity, social, racial, cultural and spiritual problems. There is the realisation as the play ends, that the place that the children belong - is as part of the stolen generation. The forcible removal of Indigenous children from their families was part of the ideology of assimilation - which was founded on the assumption of black inferiority and white superiority, proposing that Indigenous people should be ‘bred out’ through a process of natural elimination, or, where possible, should be assimilated into the white community. Children taken from their parents were taught to reject their Indigenous heritage, and made to adopt white culture - their names were changed, and they were forbidden to speak their traditional language. This way of thinking posed the thought process within the children that not only did they feel that they did not belong within white culture - they were taught from a young …show more content…
Anzac Day, which is central to the nation’s understanding of itself and its identity, comes under attack but the play is bigger than just Anzac Day and deals with Australian identity in general. The son Hughie is the new Australia who, with access to education, can change himself. The characters of ‘The One Day of the Year’ are also caught between two realities - the parents have a sense of belonging in the pre-war era - a time of female domesticity and traditional values; the other reality being a time of education and wealth for the younger generations. This education promoting radical and free thinking - challenging the way of life their parents have set for them. The parents sense of belonging is slowly being pulled from them as the younger generations begin to challenge their long-upheld
A retrospective view of human history shows that for centuries, the intervention of cultures has grown steadily, and as a result people have now mixed cultures and created sub-cultures of belonging - but there are still many conflicts regarding personal and communal identity. Belonging comes from an understanding, or the knowledge that an external sense of being comes from an internal sense of connection and safety. The concepts of belonging are excellently demonstrated in two highly differing texts - ‘The One Day of the Year’ by Alan Seymour and ‘Stolen’ by Jane Harrison.
‘Stolen’ tells the stories of five Aboriginal children - Anne, Ruby, Shirley, Jimmy and …show more content…
Anne understands and appreciates the comfort, security and wealth her white family have provided her - and can continue to provide her. However these comforts cannot dissuade her longing to feel at home - a sense of belonging that her indigenous family can provide. Her indigenous family advises her to “stick together” against the whites, who have raped their women, grabbed their land and stolen their children. The question, “Who are you?”(28-29) points at the identity, social, racial, cultural and spiritual problems. There is the realisation as the play ends, that the place that the children belong - is as part of the stolen generation. The forcible removal of Indigenous children from their families was part of the ideology of assimilation - which was founded on the assumption of black inferiority and white superiority, proposing that Indigenous people should be ‘bred out’ through a process of natural elimination, or, where possible, should be assimilated into the white community. Children taken from their parents were taught to reject their Indigenous heritage, and made to adopt white culture - their names were changed, and they were forbidden to speak their traditional language. This way of thinking posed the thought process within the children that not only did they feel that they did not belong within white culture - they were taught from a young …show more content…
Anzac Day, which is central to the nation’s understanding of itself and its identity, comes under attack but the play is bigger than just Anzac Day and deals with Australian identity in general. The son Hughie is the new Australia who, with access to education, can change himself. The characters of ‘The One Day of the Year’ are also caught between two realities - the parents have a sense of belonging in the pre-war era - a time of female domesticity and traditional values; the other reality being a time of education and wealth for the younger generations. This education promoting radical and free thinking - challenging the way of life their parents have set for them. The parents sense of belonging is slowly being pulled from them as the younger generations begin to challenge their long-upheld