‘A feeling of belonging depends on a strong relationship, developed over a period of time.’
To what extent would you support this viewpoint?
In your essay refer in detail to your prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing.
According to sociobiologists, the need for human connection and belonging is hardwired and genetically dictated. It defines ‘who’ and ‘what’ we are, and how we fit into the world around us. An individual’s sense of connection may be influenced by many factors, but one of the strongest of these is a strong relationship or relationships, which have been developed over a period of time. This human connection is instrumental in defining an individual’s place in the world as well as his or her …show more content…

The beginning of the second stanza alludes to the fact that, despite the family’s integration into mainstream society, their socioeconomic marginalisation continues. Through the simple use of connotation and onomatopoeia, the responder is positioned to recognise the mundane nature of the menial labour the persona’s parents nevertheless stoically endure – “From the polite hum-drum/Of washing clothes/And laying sewage pipes”. Consequently, it is in the context of the Skrzynecki family’s ongoing marginalisation that the sense of belonging afforded by the family home gains deeper significance. Feelings of nourishment and well-being are generated through combining a simile and cumulative imagery as the persona’s parents extend their nurturing to the family garden – “My parents watered/Plants- grew potatoes/ And rows of sweet corn:/ Tended the roses and camellias/ Like adopted children”. Thus, the persona’s strong sense of belonging as depicted in this poem is a result of the strong relationships with his family which were forged during his time there. While similar to Immigrant Chronicle on a superficial level, to the extent that both texts represent individual’s experiences of alienation and dislocation, Golding’s text Lord of the Flies explores representations of belonging, in terms of relationships, differently. Composed in the context of the Cold War nuclear