: A person’s sense of belonging is shaped by their connections within their physical and social environments. This representation of belonging is seen in Gaita’s memoir Romulus, my Father and the short story “neighbours” by Tim Wilton. Romulus,my Father is Raimond Gaita’s memoir to his father Romulus; focusing on exploring his father’s moral identity and their joint experiences living in Central Victoria as European immigrants arriving in the 1950’s. The main connections of belonging explored in the two texts are connections to place, in terms of landscape and community; as well as connections within relationships. These connections serve to enrich an individual’s sense of belonging to their community, environment and within their personal identity.
One’s connection to the landscape can contribute to their sense of belonging to their environment as well as their sense of harmony and affirmation within their identity. In Romulus, m Father; Raimond’s deep emotional connection to the stark landscape of Central Victoria evinces his sense of belonging to the environment as well as within his identity. This is apparent in his description of the landscape: ‘The tall yellow burnt grass…gave colour to my freedom and also to my understanding of suffering. ‘ The lyrical passion which imbues his description conveys his strong emotional connection to the landscape, as does the descriptive imagery of the landscape e.g. ‘tall’ and burnt’. The depth of this emotional connection established thus suggests Raimond’s sense of belonging to his environment. Additionally, this connection is seen to shape aspects of his identity in terms of beliefs and perceptions, through the ‘colour’ it gives to his understanding of metaphysical elements like freedom and suffering. furthermore in “neighbours”
Apart from landscape, another significant element of place is community. In Romulus, European immigrants are described as being ‘tolerated, but not respected’ in the community of Baringhup (a Victorian town.) This serves to alienate many immigrants who are central characters throughout the novel; such as Romulus, Christina and Hora. However, the character who suffers most acutely from a disconnection to their community is Christina. Her ‘unstable, anarchic’ character is shown at being directly at odds with the Australian ideals of character as ‘something steady and deep within a person’. This dissonance serves to alienate her from the Baringhup community. Raimond effectively encapsulates this disconnection in his description of Christina walking back to Frogmore after a suicide attempt – ‘In that vast landscape…she appeared forsaken.’ The symbolic power of the image conveys the utter desolation Christina experiences in the Australian community and therefore her isolation and alienation from it. evidently in nieghbours
Connections within relationships is another important element contributing to an individual’s sense of belonging. In Romulus, Raimond and Romulus’ deep and affectionate relationship evinces their deep sense of belonging to each other. The nature of the book as a loving memoir to Romulus, its candour in describing Romulus’ character and action, as well as its insightful exploration of Romulus’ values all help to convey Raimond’s deep and respectful sense of affinity with his father. On Romulus’ part, he is mostly undemonstrative but shows an equally strong affection for his son when he says ‘My son is everything to me.’ This simple yet evocative statement expresses his strong sense of affinity to his son. moreover in “neighbours”