The Simple Gift Essay
How does Billy develop a sense of belonging in 'The Simple Gift'?
In Stephen Herrick's verse novel, The Simple Gift, the main protagonist, Billy Luckett, is a sixteen year old runaway who feels that he needs to escape after being constantly rejected and alienated in his own town and home by key people and places. He is traumatised by his abusive father, alienated by all his peers at school and disconnected from the neighbourhood where he has lived and grown all his life. Billy gradually finds a sense of belonging through developing strong ties in his new town, Bendarat with an old hobo, Old Bill, and a young well-of girl, Caitlin. As a result, Billy develops a strong sense of identity within himself and a sense of physical security.
The way that Billy Luckett was singlehanded raised by his alcoholic, abusive father has had a very negative influence over his sense of belonging. Throughout Billy's young life, he has been constantly physically and emotionally abused at the hands of a dysfunctional parent. "Gave me one hard backhander across the face, so hard I fell down... And slammed the door on my sporting childhood." The use of this metaphor emphasises the violence he has endured and the negative effect it has has on him which has driven him to leave Longlands Road. A number of factors have left him feeling alienated and isolated from everyone. He is seen as a social outcast who has few or no friends even when he relocates to, "school buses, yellow, full of kids shouting insults at me, the bum." The labelling of Billy as 'the bum' highlights the fact that he isn't accepted with kids his own age although Billy later reveals that he doesn't mind as he substitutes books and Westfield Creek as company. "I didn't have any friends, I didn't want any. I had my books and Westfield Creek." By saying this, Billy reaffirms himself stating that he has no friendships but escapes his isolation through books.
Throughout the verse novel, Billy begins to feel that he is
In Stephen Herrick's verse novel, The Simple Gift, the main protagonist, Billy Luckett, is a sixteen year old runaway who feels that he needs to escape after being constantly rejected and alienated in his own town and home by key people and places. He is traumatised by his abusive father, alienated by all his peers at school and disconnected from the neighbourhood where he has lived and grown all his life. Billy gradually finds a sense of belonging through developing strong ties in his new town, Bendarat with an old hobo, Old Bill, and a young well-of girl, Caitlin. As a result, Billy develops a strong sense of identity within himself and a sense of physical security.
The way that Billy Luckett was singlehanded raised by his alcoholic, abusive father has had a very negative influence over his sense of belonging. Throughout Billy's young life, he has been constantly physically and emotionally abused at the hands of a dysfunctional parent. "Gave me one hard backhander across the face, so hard I fell down... And slammed the door on my sporting childhood." The use of this metaphor emphasises the violence he has endured and the negative effect it has has on him which has driven him to leave Longlands Road. A number of factors have left him feeling alienated and isolated from everyone. He is seen as a social outcast who has few or no friends even when he relocates to, "school buses, yellow, full of kids shouting insults at me, the bum." The labelling of Billy as 'the bum' highlights the fact that he isn't accepted with kids his own age although Billy later reveals that he doesn't mind as he substitutes books and Westfield Creek as company. "I didn't have any friends, I didn't want any. I had my books and Westfield Creek." By saying this, Billy reaffirms himself stating that he has no friendships but escapes his isolation through books.
Throughout the verse novel, Billy begins to feel that he is