English Speech Belonging
Good morning fellow delegates, I am here today at the United Nation’s International Youth Forum to discuss the negative and positive concepts of belonging in reference to Peter Skrzynecki’s, Immigrant Chronicle and the 2004 American drama film, ‘Crash’ directed by Paul Haggis.
Firstly we must consider the concept of belonging. What does it mean to belong? Belonging is defined as fitting into a particular environment. It refers to relationships and a sense of acceptance to individuals, groups, societies and our environment. A sense of both positive and negative concepts of belonging can be seen quite clearly in three poems from Peter Skrzynecki’s Immigrant Chronicle, ’Feliks Skrzynecki’, ‘Ancestors’ and ‘Migrant Hostel’ as well as characters, Farhad, Cameron and Jean from the film, ‘Crash.’
In the poem ‘Feliks Skrzynecki,’ it is clear that Peter’s father, Feliks does not belong as he is of Polish heritage and has chosen not to assimilate with Australian culture. This can also be seen with a Persian character in the film ‘Crash’ called, Farhad. Peter’s father, Feliks has created a life for himself in Australia but cannot truly belong as he continues to remain loyal to his Polish heritage. It is clear that he is alienated when a department clerk asks Peter, “Did your father ever attempt to learn English?” A similarity of this is seen with the character Farhad. Farhad is of Persian descent and struggles to belong in the city of Los Angeles as he cannot speak proper English. The opening scene of the movie shows Farhad’s alienation from society as the shopkeeper of a gun store insults him racially for conversing with his daughter, Dori in Farsi while attempting to buy a gun. “Yo, Osama! Plan the jihad in your own time. What do you want?" Although Feliks does not belong to Australian society he however has found a positive way to belong by creating a place to connect with, his garden. The simile, “loved his garden like an only child,” shows his dedication and
Firstly we must consider the concept of belonging. What does it mean to belong? Belonging is defined as fitting into a particular environment. It refers to relationships and a sense of acceptance to individuals, groups, societies and our environment. A sense of both positive and negative concepts of belonging can be seen quite clearly in three poems from Peter Skrzynecki’s Immigrant Chronicle, ’Feliks Skrzynecki’, ‘Ancestors’ and ‘Migrant Hostel’ as well as characters, Farhad, Cameron and Jean from the film, ‘Crash.’
In the poem ‘Feliks Skrzynecki,’ it is clear that Peter’s father, Feliks does not belong as he is of Polish heritage and has chosen not to assimilate with Australian culture. This can also be seen with a Persian character in the film ‘Crash’ called, Farhad. Peter’s father, Feliks has created a life for himself in Australia but cannot truly belong as he continues to remain loyal to his Polish heritage. It is clear that he is alienated when a department clerk asks Peter, “Did your father ever attempt to learn English?” A similarity of this is seen with the character Farhad. Farhad is of Persian descent and struggles to belong in the city of Los Angeles as he cannot speak proper English. The opening scene of the movie shows Farhad’s alienation from society as the shopkeeper of a gun store insults him racially for conversing with his daughter, Dori in Farsi while attempting to buy a gun. “Yo, Osama! Plan the jihad in your own time. What do you want?" Although Feliks does not belong to Australian society he however has found a positive way to belong by creating a place to connect with, his garden. The simile, “loved his garden like an only child,” shows his dedication and