Belonging In Raimond Gaita's Romulus, My Father

1453 Words6 Pages
Romulus, My Father Belonging is by its nature a measure of connectivity to places or individuals. Those connections allow real attachments and emotional relationships with places and people which are the foundations of a sense of belonging. The ability to form those connections is dependant upon the natures of individuals but also on the circumstances in which they find themselves. These ideas are explored in Raimond Gaita’s memoir ‘Romulus, My Father’. Gaita’s various characters can be seen as different examples of connection with places while Christine represents an individual unable to form real connections with either places or people, and Raimond appears to be the most ‘connected’ character, Romulus represents an individual with barriers…show more content…
Romulus ends his life as an accepted local eccentric rather than a stalwart of the community. He is separate from his local community, he is not truly connected in the way his son is and as a result he does not entirely belong, but nor does he belong to Romanian society in reality; he is slightly disconnected from all his places of belonging. Romulus, My Father is an interesting exploration of the importance of connections in forming belonging. While Christine demonstrates the lack of belonging that results from being incapable of connections and the dangerous results of a lack of belonging, Raimond’s story shows the importance of connections in introducing ideas that can induce belonging, and the way connections to the land can develop. Romulus is an interesting example of a man who may be happy even if he is disconnected both from his place of residence and his

More about Belonging In Raimond Gaita's Romulus, My Father

Open Document