To Jamon in particular, since this is focused on Belonging
Some key notes before you begin reading, 1. This has to be in the form of a letter, persuading why my selected texts should be chosen (still in the process of doing this... transforming it from an essay to a letter)
2. It would be greatly appreciated if you could criticise this as harshly as you can
3. Some links are missing purely because I just need this letter/essay to be criticised first and then I can move on and properly form it how it's supposed to be
4. It needs to be greatly condensed, so worst parts will get taken out asap
5. THANK YOU SO MUCH
It has recently been brought to my awareness your upcoming documentary is in search of culturally fundamental texts, focusing on the multidimensional concept of belonging. Given this, the texts that I have selected would be critical components to your program ‘Who do you think you are’. The texts each explore belonging as the universal, intrinsic feeling of security and placement, derived by connections to people, places or ideals. Parallel to the urges of Australian contemporary society, the need to belong is prompted by human instinct, which promotes social conformity. American Beauty (Sam Mendes 1999), Mirror (Sylvia Plath 1961) and the Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller profoundly examine these concepts of belonging.
The play, the Death of a Salesman effectively explores the inherent relationship between social conformity and the repercussions on one’s emotional and psychological state of mind in attempting to conform.
Drawing roots from the American Dream, the fundamental plays follows a troubled salesman, Willy Loman in his attempt to conform with this materialistic and hedonistic approach to life, much like that of today’s. Initially, Willy defiantly depicts himself as successful and well known, “And they know me, they know me up and down the town...I never have to wait in line to see a buyer.” However, this ironic situation and contrast between his perceived success and reality is evident moments later when accumulation highlights the deterioration of his state of mind as a result of Willy attempting to conform to the standards of the American Dream; “sixteen dollars on the refrigerator...the fan broke..the washing machine..then the roof.” Further, Willy exhibits contrasting tones and juxtaposed dialogue that reflect his confused psychological state in his attempt to belong. Willy initially yells at Biff, “Not finding yourself at the age of thirty-four is a disgrace!”, carrying an imperative, bitter tone but later adds: “Greatest thing in the world for him was to bum around.” The fluidity, with which Willy transitions between these two tones and ideas conveys Willy’s self-contradictions in his inconsistent thoughts, serving as an exemplar example of Willy’s confusion and internal division. Moreover, demotic dialogue and figurative language are used to emphasise Willy’s emotional stress, ‘You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away- a man is not a piece of fruit’. Miller provides Willy with a line heavily influenced by the rhythms of New York speech, amplifying Willy’s inability to conform with social ideologies and hence the exhausted, detrimental effect on his emotional state. Ultimately, when individuals fail to conform, they tend to experience the ramifications on their emotional and psychological state.
Additionally, Miller’s Death of a Salesman, distinctively highlights that a lack of connection to familial ties can create a sense of physical dislocation within an individual. Willy’s antagonism with his son, Biff, is insinuated in his fateful encounter of his father and the Woman. Biff, crestfallen carries a condescending tone and uses anaphora, “You fake, you phony little fake!’, ultimately encapsulating the disconnected familial ties Willy shares with his son. The use of allusions and similes, “both built like Adonises” and “like a young God Hercules” further ensues the incoherent relationship between Willy and his sons, where his mythologised illusions of grandeur imply that Willy does not truly know his own sons. Hence, Willy’s detachment from his family leads to a sense of physical displacement from his environment. This is evident through the symbolic props of the ‘three chairs’ despite there being four residents within the household, serving as a pivotal device in capturing Willy’s isolation from his environment due to his alienation from his family. Moreover, negative connotations are used to describe Willy’s surrounding environment, as ‘towering’, ‘angular shapes’ serves as a stirring counterweight to his physical dislocation derived from his distant connection to his family. This notion is furthered in the contrasting statement ‘solid vault of apartment houses around the small, fragile-seeming home’. Hence, there is an inextricable link between a disconnection to familial ties and a sense of displacement from one’s physical environment.
Similarly, the poem “Mirror” by Sylvia Plath, extensively examines the compelling message that despair and discontent can arise from the inability to conform, hence to fulfil the intrinsic urge to conform individuals may turn to subconscious fabrications. Plath’s poignant poem, entails the reality of aging and how a woman is frustrated to see her gradually fading beauty and youth through a mirror protagonist. Zoomorphism is harshly used as the mirror identifies her as “a terrible fish,” not even rendering her humanity. The slippery and unnerving "fish" in the poem alludes to the persona’s unavoidable, darker self that cannot help but challenge the socially acceptable self, ultimately encapsulating the persona’s unpleasant image that restricts her from belonging. Further, the metaphoric reference of the candles and the moon as “liars”, insinuates that they provide a faux reflection of the persona. Although, the persona seeks these “liars” based on the human instinct to conform, the moon and candles are not an escape, but a barrier the persona constructed around herself - deceptively hiding wrinkles, and other companions of the aging process. The symbolic shift of the protagonist from a mirror to a lake in the second stanza suggests that a lake cannot reflect as exact as a mirror. However, it successfully symbolises the flow of time and age and hence the beauty being drowned in the lake, alongside the drowning of the persona’s sense of belonging she previously felt. Evidently, the analysis of Plath’s potent poem, “Mirror’s”, provides viewers of the SBS program ...... yet to link.
Alternatively, Mendes’ film ‘American Beauty’ explicitly analyses that the human instinct to conform by social ideologies creates high levels of dissatisfaction and isolation within those who have been lead to believe its promises of false prosperity. Lester Burham has everything in life that should make him happy; a plethora of goods and a seemingly happy family. Although, he feels that he has been “in a coma, for the past twenty years”. This hyperbolic metaphor insinuates his isolated entrapment in the malevolent working cycle imposed within the American Dream, alongside the metaphorical imprisonment of his happiness. Serving as foil to this is Colonel Fitts, who is so desperate to conform, that he hides his sexuality. This is emphasised in the scene where he accuses his son Ricky about being homosexual. His aggressive tone and use of vulgar language towards homosexuality acts as a facade to the truth and becomes emblematic of the Fitt’s sense of isolation and despair. Additionally, the montage of the Burham family moments after Lester is shot elucidates the once united, happy family, now dissatisfied and segregated by the social ideology of the American Dream. Forgot my link here, because I think I need another example
Subsequently, in this respect, it is evident that the true ambivalence the multifacted concept of belonging exists in the interpretation of each text discussed, hence it is imperative that these texts are included in the ‘Who do you think you are’ program. One of the many signature virtues of my selected texts is its ability to speak to audiences around the world with astonishing immediacy and clarity, in that it has a way of monopolising discussions about the texts and the features of belonging that so consistently resonates within Australian contemporary society, whilst simultaneously reaching out to new audiences, renewing key concepts of belonging in the process.