The Simple Gift – Essay model
A person’s relationship with others and the world around them influences their experience of belonging or not belonging.
Discuss this view with detailed reference to The Simple Gift and TWO other related texts. Relationships and experiences contribute to an individual’s sense of belonging or not belonging. This view is clearly evident in The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick and the two related texts _______________ and __________________.
The Simple Gift explores the characters of Billy, Caitlin and Old Bill. At the beginning each character feels a sense of not belonging, but this changes as their relationships with each other develop. Billy feels like he doesn’t belong in his world. He is neglected and abused by his father which is conveyed in the poem ‘Sport’. Billy expresses his father’s aggression through the line, ‘gave me one hard backhander across the face, So hard I fell down.’ He also shows his contempt for school in the poem ‘Wentworth High School’ when he begins to sign his name ‘Billy Luckett rhymes with…..’ The only place Billy does experience a sense of belonging is expressed in the poem ‘Westfield Creek’, which he describes as ‘my favourite classroom.’ The language used in this poem is much more positive.
Billy’s relationship with Bendarat gives him a sense of belonging, that is carried through in his relationship with Caitlin and Old Bill. At first Billy doesn’t feel he belongs, he uses alliteration to express his preference to be ‘better a bum than a school kid.’ In the poems ‘Lord of the Lounge ‘ and ‘Librarian’ he finds some acceptance, this is conveyed through the lines ‘it’s a good library’ and ‘she’s OK, not like the librarians at home.’ Moving into ‘The motel Bendarat’ is also a positive move for Billy, ‘I close the door and make a home.’ The use of the word ‘home’ suggests comfort and security, something he