Gran Torino Poem Analysis

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Belonging Essay We all have the desire to belong. Belonging is a basic human instinct and need, but is also a very complex issue as it involves a person’s connection to people, places and communities. Peter Skrzynecki poetry offers perspective of limited belonging, as many of Skrzynecki’s poetry is indicative of negative experiences. Peter Skrzynecki poems “Migrant Hostel” and “St Patrick’s College” in addition to Clint Eastwoods “Gran Torino” similarly express feelings of disconnection to culture, place, school, identity and tradition. Just as the migrants in Skrzynecki’s poetry feel disconnected from the community and people around them, so too does the main character Walt Kowalski in the film Grand Torino. “Migrant Hostel” is a poem that describes the hardships faced by the immigrants that migrated to Australia after WW2 at the invitation of the government. The poem is central to an immigrant’s impression of the barriers and the negative perceptions of adapting to a new life within the hostel.…show more content…
The impact of the ‘barrier’ is to illustrate the migrant’s separation between the freedom of Australia and the institution of the hostel. ‘Partitioned off at night’ indicates the symbolism of the past suffering that divides the migrants and the night is symbolic of darkness and things that are unseen. The purpose of the symbolism is to show the division of the migrants due to their past suffering but it also undermines the hostel as migrants though were pulled together as a collective and given the title of ‘migrants’ even if their countries initiated war on one another. This demonstrates Skrzynecki’s limited perspective of belonging as he focuses more on the disconnection to
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