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.
How is the concept of belonging represented by Peter in his poem Feliks Skrzynecki? Belonging is the feeling that is felt by someone who has a spiritual connection to a group or place. In his poem “Feliks Skrzynecki” Peter illustrates his changing attitude to belonging due to his deep admiration for his father. Differences in culture can serve as a barrier to belonging. Peter’s lack of belonging is felt throughout this poem as he cannot truly appreciate his father’s Polish heritage against the mainstream Australian culture that Peter has grown up in.
In the first stanza, “loved his garden like an only son”, the simile explains the displacement Peter felt due to his father spending more time with his garden rather than with his only son. Furthermore the formal address, “…feliks skrzynecki” highlights the disconnection between himself and his father, where he knew him as a father, not “feliks skrzynecki”. Furthermore, the preceeding ellipsis adds to the hesitation of Peter and calling him “feliks”. The tension between him and his father can be seen at an all time high when Peter talks about forgetting his “First polish word”, which is juxtaposed with a great literary work; “Caesar’s gallic war”, in which he stumbled over whilst reading the tenses. This highlights Peter’s distance from the polish society and moving towards a more educated and Australian society.
Gary wants to break away from poverty and keep the next generation out of working in the fields or factories. The thought of having such a life like his parents made him scared and he overcame all of it as he explains in his book. Gary also, writes about the power television had on his siblings and on himself helps him to be where he is now. He is poet and enjoys life with his wife and
The abuse he receives from his father is seen in these poems shown through the perspective of Billy as he recounts his past when he gets bashed by his father when he breaks the window. A strong sense of not belonging is shown. As Billy has difficulty belonging to his family his abusive relationship with his father is deeply disconnecting the pair. He meets the train driver Ernie he finally meets a father figure who he can connect with. Another example of this concept can be shown through the novel Shane where he has trouble fitting with his family as his beliefs differ from what his parents believe in.
So once in a while, now when I get very depressed, I keep saying to him “Okay. Go home and get your bike and meet me in front of Bobby’s house.” (p. 98-99) Even though Holden knows that talking to his dead brother will not help him face his fears and solve his problems, he still tries it, and sometimes finds some mild comfort in looking back at his times with his brother. He couldn’t save his brother from ‘falling off the cliff’, so he has a desire to help others, and do what he wished he could have
A diminishing relationship often results in disconnection and displacement of an individual. In contrast to the poem 10 Mary Street and related text, Flight (Tropfest 2011), Peter Skrzynecki’s poem, Felix Skrzynecki highlights the disconnecting relationship between two people, a father and son. Belonging is emphasized with the subject perspective of Peter Skrzynecki on his relationship with his father. The feeling of distance is demonstrated through the use of the reflective tone, “I never got used to” and “talking, they reminisced”, through this, it demonstrates the individuals lack of belonging to his father, the use of “they” and “reminisced” demonstrates the sense of belonging that Felix had with his friends thus allowing Peter to feel displaced. Furthermore, the persona’s emotions are highlighted, “Happy as I had never been”, the irony conveys Peter’s realization that he will never be as happy as his father despite the harsh life that Felix had.
Both of the poems ‘Born Yesterday’ and Nettles’ deal with an unidealistic view focused on the inability to protect our loved ones from inevitable pain. Both Vernon Scanell and Phillip Larkin convey the theme of the lack of power to deliver happiness using the relationship between a man and a beloved child. In the poem ‘Nettles’, the relationship explored is between a father and son using the adult’s perspective whereas ‘Born Yesterday’ uses a bond between a man and his friend’s new born daughter. The first poem recalls an incident where Scanell’s young son was stung by nettles, displaying the poet’s desire to protect his son from the dangers of the world. The title ‘Nettles’ creates the thought of the severe stinging pain that the nettles produce that the reader will have experienced.
Skrzynecki looks at the changing nature of belonging and its impacts through his relationship with his father. Initially, the possessive pronoun “my gentle father” reveals their close relationship but as their cultural ties weaken they become distanced from one another. The growing alienation brought about by the detachment from Polish culture and the embracing of Australian culture is revealed when the poet to metaphorically pegs his tents “further and further south of Hadrian’s Wall” away from his traditional roots. As the poet distances himself from his culture and father, the simile “like a dumb prophet” reveals that both parties are powerless to prevent this inevitable separation. Being a first generation migrant, the father’s strong cultural bonds prevents his assimilation because of society’s intolerance towards migrants, as shown through the animalistic imagery of the
Whereas, Armitage shows a son who finds it harder to describe his feelings for his father, and shows it by using an extended metaphor of a harmonium, in order to show the reader all the memories he has had because of his father, and how he loves him. The way his father jokes about his own death is an example of the stereotypical father and son relationship; not as open about feelings. ...read