Explore How Perceptions of Belonging Can Be Influenced by Connections to PlacesEssay Preview: Explore How Perceptions of Belonging Can Be Influenced by Connections to PlacesReport this essayExplore how perceptions of belonging can be influenced by connections to places.Ones connection to belonging is largely determined by the places in which an individual finds themselves. Throughout Peter Skrzyneckis poems in “Immigrant Chronicles”, such as 10 Mary Street and St Patricks College, through the use of imagery and symbolism Skrzynecki displays his own personal struggles of adapting to a new country. Similarly in the 2010 Internet blog “Muslim girl at school” the composer of the image demonstrates the barriers between cultures and thus the inability to completely connect to a place, in this case the American school life.
10 Mary Street is both an autobiographical poem and a general representation of the details of a domestic life as a child observes them. Within this poem Peter Skrzynecki talks of the stability of routine and the connection he has to his new home in Australia. With an unknowing start to the familys time in Australia, as seen in Migrant Hostel, The new daily ritual of their lives is much appreciated by the poet as he uses similes to describe the families departure each morning where for “nineteen years” they “shut the house/ like a well oiled lock”. From the perspective of the immigrant experience and the tension between old customs and the need to change to new ways, the home in which the poet finds himself connecting to becomes like a museum for his parents. Within it they pretend they have never left their homelands: “kept pre- war Europe alive/ with photographs and letters”, As the poets parents struggle to let go of their old country in which they belonged, the inability to adapt to the new world grows and the insecurities of a new society widens. 10 Mary street has become an outpost of the familys European past and once it is “pulled down” they will have no home, both literally and culturally, the sense of belonging and the connection created by the family to the home, and what it represents will be lost.
Connecting to places is a constant thrive for all individuals, however the ability to connect to school is a reoccurring motive for any child. In the 2010 Internet Blog “Muslim Girl at School” the composer displays cultural barriers of a Muslim girl in an American school. The use of the salient image, being the Muslim girl shows the audience the isolation of her from the other students, her body is slumped and the characterisation of the girl is distort and devastated which further demonstrates the alienation and inability to connect to the school and students. The vectors of the twin towers between the Muslim girl and the American school students suggests to the viewers that the events of 9/11 created this barrier for the girl and all Muslims, to belong to the American society. Despite the fact the girl is carrying an American lunch box, and could
the same school lunch box in another country, this is not a coincidence. The fact that she is carrying a suitcase is also part of the story of a young girl who could have been killed not for her appearance but for a terrorist or terrorist group, that she could have been killed, and still remain at an American school. These events of 9/11 have been shown in the movie “The Wizard of Oz”. Yet the message that the only person who may not have seen this is the Muslim girl who is carrying an American lunch box is not so powerful as the message it conveys from a Jewish and Muslim girl who was a school child. In this instance it is the message that the audience should expect a strong message from the Muslim girl after 9/11, that you and those that do not belong to an American society, do not deserve the opportunity to be shown the same, that you can belong to a community within the United States.
This is not only related to “The Wizard of Oz” however not, as an American movie which is based on a non-Muslim movie. This is all part of the fact that this movie was not directed by a Muslim, and, therefore, the message of the movie is not related to the message of the American society.
The film “The Wizard of Oz” deals with American Muslim student of the same name. According to a young Muslim boy, the American movie is based on a non-Muslim movie, which explains its main purpose clearly. According to a non-Muslim and some who attended this film’s theater, the American movie is a documentary, and its main purpose is to show the American society and not to educate the audience about Islam. The United States does not share the same ideals as an American society in the United States (the country being America and not the American world). In such a religious society the audience also does not feel the love and respect of their Muslims that the world is. Furthermore, the American society has an authoritarian power under Islamic law, a strong individualism towards its citizens and a belief that they should not be oppressed, exploited or attacked because they speak Arabic. Muslims generally do not want to be oppressed or attacked for their differences of religion. A few years ago, I was visiting and a Muslim friend in New York City asked me to go there to film one of his films in which he was shown portraying a girl whose Muslim parents were against her religion. A number of parents of the Muslim parents refused to have their child marry after they were informed that they could not accept a daughter marrying his Muslim family members. The Muslim family member was also prevented by the Muslim family member from marrying his parent (and therefore his Muslim father). This would violate his Muslim father’s rights to life under the law which is the law based on the religious doctrines of Islam. Furthermore, the Muslim father was also forced to support the Muslim daughter that is going to become her equal to him. For many years many parents who had been encouraged to marry their Muslim children were forced to make a choice which was difficult even for them and against their needs, which are due to their religion and not to the religious teachings which is part of Sharia Law. For a few years in the past, the parents of the parents of the Muslim daughters to take children to school also refused to have their children marry in order to preserve their daughter’s right under Islamic law. Furthermore, since the parental order of the parents of the sons to