The Simple Gift

Why is belonging significant to each and every one of us? What benefits does belonging impart for the individual? The real question is what is belonging? Belonging is a sense of acceptance felt when an individual gains an understanding of themselves in relation to others and the wider world. Sense of acceptance can be experience through time and different types of relationships or connections with their family, friends, and community, which may enhance the ability to belong or feel as though they belong. Good morning teachers and my fellow students, today, I am going to discuss with you my interpretation of acceptance in the environment of the individual and how it has been represented through the two significant texts including, free verse book The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick and wordless picture book The Arrival by Shaun Tan. Each one of these texts’ discusses and portrays the idea of being accepted or not being accepted in the environment through different circumstances but in a similar way. The first text is The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick which examines the life of a 16-years-old boy called Billy Luckett, who ran away from home because of the sense of isolation which shapes his identity and value. In ‘longlands road’ the imagery of the dilapidated house portray the sense of denial that Billy has experienced in past. The disconnect relationship between the place and his father, led Billy to move away from his environment to gain the sense of connection he never experienced. The isolation caused by an abusive father is seen in quote ‘‘gave me one hard backhander across the face, so hard I fell down… and slammed the door on my sporting childhood.” pg. 15-16’. The technique that is used here is a metaphor explaining how Billy stopped playing sport. Billy journey of alienation ends when he moves and meets an old alcoholic man called Bill and a rich caring 17-year-old girl called Caitlin. Billy felt a