Feliks’ perception of belonging is formed by his personal experiences and this revolves around his garden, in which he seems to have created another world of his own emphasised in the simile ’Loved his garden like an only child’, demonstrating his devotion towards his piece of earth in a foreign land. “He never lost his language, never even learnt English” demonstrates Feliks’ comfort with not belonging to Australian society. Feliks is depicted as never being able to be an Australian because his identity has been forged in the Polish culture. In contrast, Skrzynecki is depicted as not being able to belong to the Polish culture. Skrzynecki feels excluded while his family reminisce of Poland and jealous of his father’s stoic nature.
The poem explores how our attitudes of belonging either provide acceptance or continue alienation. The composer uses first person pronoun in “what’s my choice to be?” to highlight his change of attitude towards his cultural heritage and how perspectives differ over time. For peter acceptance of one’s culture is the most important aspect in feeling a sense of belonging. For the composer acceptance of who you are and where you come from, eliminated alienation he once felt. For his father acceptance of a new lifestyle and his love of his garden allowed him to belong in an unfamiliar environment.
Feliks Skrzynecki depicts the cultural chasm between the young persona and his father, symbolically representing the struggles of migrants to belong in a foreign country. The father's strong sense of cultural affiliation with Poland is clearly portrayed with his preoccupation with the garden: “Loved his garden like an only child.” The simile conveys the irony of how he seems more affectionate towards the garden than his actual son, which is interpreted by Peter as a paternal rejection. The garden is a metaphor of cultural connection which allows Feliks to define Australia as an extension of his homeland ‘Poland’. In contrast, the persona's inability to share his father’s zeal results in his failure to belong to either Poland or Australia. The historical allusion in the line, "Pegging my tents further and further south of Hadrian's Wall" exemplifies the increasing distance between the father and son as well as evincing the geographical disconnection from the persona’s homeland.
Secondly he has so little but gives so much. His family is a very poor family that has to work for everything they want or need and at times need to go so far as to take items from the garbage. He shows that he is a great father and a great man by setting an example to his kids to give and expect nothing in return. This can be shown when Mr. Duvitch gives the dad gloves that he found, showing what a thoughtful and generous man he is and a great role model. This can be shown at the end of page 17 “(On a cold snowy afternoon in winter Mr. Duvitch stopped at our house and presented Father (who
Heaney looks up to his father with pride at his ability within his work and the skill in what he does, this is a recurring theme and can be seen within ‘Digging’, “By God, the old man could handle a spade”. By claiming this statement in ‘Gods’ name Heaney’s awe is suggested and the incredibility at his father. The verb to ‘handle’ further shows his father’s skill as he is able to manipulate the soil into his will, the effectiveness of his movements is also apparent as ‘handle’ is associated with gentle movements, suggesting the ease of motions to which his father has. This is also present for ‘Follower’ with the constant nautical references in the description of his father’s motion “full sail strung” “rolled over without breaking” “Mapping the furrow” “rode me” and “Dipping and rising”. These quotes show his father’s power and control over his environment, with the metaphorical imagery of the taming of the sea.
“The only thing that keeps you from fulfilling your dreams is you.” -Marsha Norman, American playwright, screenwriter, television writer and novelist. Candy’s dream of working on the farm with George and Lennie almost becomes a reality because he has the money and help to do it. One of his handicaps is that he is old. His other handicap was that he has only one hand and a stump at the end of his other arm. But his dream came crashing down when he realized his handicaps would alter his future.
We are able to see that they work together and travel in search for jobs, but we don’t discover much of their past until we reach chapter three where George confesses some personal information to a trustworthy worker on the farm named Slim. On page 39 slim says “Hardly none on the guys ever travel together. It jus’ seems kinda funny a cuckoo like him and a smart little guy like you travelin’ together.” George explains to him that they were both from the same town and that George used to have fun with Lennie and take advantage of his stupidity to cause harm to him for his own pleasure, since then it appears that Lennie has had some sort of devotion towards George regardless of the abuse. When Lennie’s aunt Clara died Lennie came along with George and they were together ever since. This shows just that Lennie and George have been together for quite a long time and the brotherhood they share must be deep, and it also shows that although Lennie is a nuisance George puts up with him because he truly loves and cares for him as if he were his own
Pryor is forced into “one of those smart professions” by his parents who undervalue the rural life to which Pryor is in fact suited. Ironically, whilst his parents slave “to free him from the stony fields” they are in fact contributing to his future isolation and sense of alienation. The visual imagery of the “stony fields” and the “meagre acreage” emphasize the hardship endured by Pryor’s parents and echoes the barren infertility of the Australian landscape that Romulus feels so alienated from. By contrast however Warren does not flourish without it. The “slender scroll” is supposed to be his metaphorical “passport from the years of brutal toil”.
Their dreams were American because they all wanted a better life that was not tainted with sorrow, a pure life. In Of Mice and Men, each of their dreams diminished in a chain of events. Curley’s wife died by the arms of Lennie, which led George to show him, which made George’s chances of getting a farm a lot harder because Lennie had the strength George lacked. Even though this story was set in the 1930s during the Great Depression, it is still relatable to today’s society because it is getting more difficult to own property and having career gets set back due to budget cuts in the education
OF MICE AND MEN Character List Lennie Small A migrant worker who is mentally handicapped, large, and very strong. He depends on his friend George to give him advice and protect him in situations he does not understand. His enormous strength and his pleasure in petting soft animals are a dangerous combination. He shares the dream of owning a farm with George, but he does not understand the implications of that dream. George Milton A migrant worker who protects and cares for Lennie.