Yumadtho

A sense of belonging can emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities and the larger world.
Discuss this statement making reference to your set text, and at least one other text of your own choosing:
In essence, belonging is the inherent nature of humans that allows them to connect with others and the wider world. However if one is unable to form this connection, a sense of suffering is sometimes inevitable. They ways in which belonging or alienation is achieved is specifically and uniquely characterized by an individual. Steven Herrick’s “The Simple Gift”, Frank Darabonts “The Shawshank Redemption”, and the Myspace article, “Myspace suicidal girls” demonstrate this idea extensively.   The composers utilize their techniques effectively to illustrate how connections are made with others. Furthermore, they also convey how connections with the larger world can also provide a sense of place.
An individual who is in despair, receiving little attention, or the likes of alienation will often seek the state of acceptance and mental wellbeing through the connections with others. This is evident in Steven Herrick’s “The Simple Gift” in which the protagonist Billy who is just 16, leaves home due to the domestic violence of his father. The journey on which he embarks on allows him to reach a state of contempt. He emphasizes his need of change, when his ‘bastard’ father ‘stole his childhood’ and will have a fit in regards to the stolen beer, not his sons departure. Billys journey allows him to meet the likes of Ernie, with the allusion that they don’t hit with a force of a ‘fathers punch’, they are people unlike his ‘dad’. This allows Billy to further understand and seek what he has wished for, and as he hops of Ernie’s train, he leaves the bottle of ‘stolen champagne’ for the likes of people ‘that deserved it’. Through these differing exclamations Billy is shown to be able to reach the state of belonging, through the connections with people...