To what extent has studying the concept of physical journeys expanded your understanding of yourself, of individual, and of the world?

Peter Skrzynecki’s Immigrant Chronicle, Gail Tsukiyama’s Night of Many Dreams and the website www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au broaden the understanding of individuals and of the world through exploring the notion of time, experience and change in differing perspectives. This is evident through the way language techniques and visual features are manipulated to create meanings.

The presentation of time as a fundamental component of a physical journey has greatly extended the perception of individuals and the world. In Immigrants at Central Station, 1951, time predetermines an individual’s fate and future. “While time ran ahead along glistening tracks of steel” supports this idea. “Tracks of steel” is a metaphor for the journey that the immigrants are about to undertake. Time is personified and because it is ahead of the immigrants, they have no control over their future journey, and are forced to follow the tracks. In Crossing the Red Sea, Skrzynecki uses different time periods of the day to contrast the monotonous reality of the immigrants’ dreams. “The day break took away the magic of dreams” depicts this idea through different language techniques. “The magic of dreams” implies their wonderful hopes which appear in their unreal visions at night. “Daybreak” is a metonymy for reality and it is personified to create an imagery of the immigrants’ dreams being snatched away by veracity and daylight. In the genuine world, they have to deal with memories that are “more tangible than words”. In NOMD, the notion of time is precisely articulated throughout the text. “By the time Joan arrived home, the sky had turned a dusty grey” reflects the passing of time is inevitable on a physical journey through the world. “Dusty grey” connotates to the gradual change from daylight to nightfall. Tsukiyama suggests as Joan undertakes her journey, time is constantly passing. Through studying the concept of time, it is apparent that time is an influential element to an individual as the journey is taken.

The experience of an individual on a physical journey is greatly affected by their surroundings in the world. In NOMD, Tsukiyama expresses the experience one undergoes on a physical journey through negative connotations. “Bound hand and foot and suspended from the ground with a rope tied around their neck” creates a vivid, powerful imagery of the suffering of the citizens. The constraint of the hand and foot restricts movement. This clearly suggests that the citizens have no control over their situation since the constraint of body allows little or no movement. It is also a microcosm reflecting on the consequence the world has on the individuals. “With a rope tied around their neck” connotates to death and hence intensifying their torment they undergo. “Low whispers” are personified as moving through the “heavy air” which “suffocated” the immigrants, suggesting that this is a shared experience. The heaviness of the air accentuates the brutality the citizens experience. World war II has significantly impinged on the lives of the individuals. Through the use of powerful language in Migrant Hostel, Skrzynecki illustrates the crisis of emotion experienced by the individuals through their exclusion from the world. “A barrier at the main gate sealed off the highway from the front doorstep” supports this idea. “The highway” is a metaphor for the mainstream society and “the front door step” symbolises the immigrants. “A barrier” is the obstacle that stands in between the immigrants and the society. The structure of the poem clearly underlines the experiences of the immigrants. The length of the stanzas is inconsistent which matches the lack of stability in the lives of the immigrants. Their lives are in transition. Free verse and the half-formed sentences also support the idea that their lives were unstable and trapped by uncertainty in the world. “camp experiences were marked by waiting, boredom, anxiety, distress” The migration heritage website highlights the misery the immigrants experience through “camp experiences were marked by waiting, boredom, anxiety, distress”. “Waiting, boredom, anxiety” and “distress” have negative connotations to anxiety and sorrow. The simultaneous use of this antagonistic language creates a melancholy tone. ¬¬¬-The website suggests that the immigrants’ experience mainly comprised of anxiety and sorrow, as their memories are only “marked by” these scarring and traumatising emotions. The language techniques used resonate together to give a sense of bleakness the immigrants experience on their journey through the world.

The understanding of individuals and the world is broadened through the presentation of the concept of change on a physical journey in various texts. In NOMD, the commencement of war has changed and had a negative impact on the lives of individuals living Hong Kong. “The war turned their lives into a nightmare none of them ever really believed possible” reflects the unforeseen and shocking change that is cast upon the citizens due to the war. “Nightmare” is a metonymy for the dreadful reality that they have to face. “Every day, Emma watched the Japanese impose their own image upon her once vibrant city” highlights the continuous change Hong Kong withstands under the promulgation of the Japanese culture. “Their own image” establishes a clear separation between the Japanese and the Chinese, suggesting that they are not at all connected. “Once vibrant city” implies that the Hong Kong used to be dynamic and energetic, but since the arrival of the Japanese, everything has changed. The website presents the constant change in the lives of individuals as they travel from one world to another. “On arrival, migrants and refugees often have to deal with both a new culture and a different language” conveys the idea that the immigrants have arrived at a new world filled with great unfamiliarity. “A new culture” and “a different language” suggests that they face significant changes at this unknown land. The text is juxtaposed with a video clip displaying a series of photographs featuring three different immigrants’ story. These photographs are continuously changing, each fading in and out to the next. This fading effect represents the immigrants’ past being erased, while the appearance of a new photo symbolizes a new and different culture which is imposed on the immigrants’ life. In Immigrants at Central Station, 1951, “Watching pigeons that watched them” suggests that the status of the people has changed from citizens to immigrants. The pigeons are accustomed to this familiarised scenery of citizens migrating, and are not afraid. This evidently distinguishes the differences between the citizens and the immigrants. Through this journey, the immigrants have lost their freedom and this is portrayed in the poem. Birds are a symbol of freedom. “Watching pigeons that watch them” shows that the birds’ freedom is a reflection of the immigrants’ liberty that they once had. The immigrants look back at their past. “A word of command” strongly indicates that they have no choice but to obey this order and that they absolutely have no control over the situation.

It is apparent that the composers have broadened the understanding of individuals and the world through exploring the concepts of time, experience and change. An explication is demonstrated to explain how language techniques and visual features are manipulated to express meanings.