The idea of Belonging is a dynamic and essential aspect of life through an individual’s portrayal of identity, place, relationship and acceptance, it is also dependant on the person’s perception of what belonging is defined as. The free-verse novel ‘The Simple Gift’ written by Steven Herrick and picture book ‘Way Home’ composed by Libby Hathorn convey these different dimensions of belonging through characters and context. Both main characters of the texts share the same themes of homelessness and connections through people and even unusual materials consisting of personal things and places.
The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick explores many aspects of how belonging is portrayed. Herrick composes the free verse novel through the perspectives of 3 main characters including Billy, Old Bill and Caitlin which gives the audience an insight of each person’s unique perspectives. The main protagonist Billy Luckett is illustrated as a 16 year old runaway who experiences abuse from his father and seeks to find his identity and form bonds with the other characters and unique places. Regarding this, Old Bill nicknames the freight carriages as The Bendarat Hilton in which Billy and him dwell in to create a sense of belonging which is not necessarily theirs and also creates a broader symbol of belonging through Billy’s quote “and I looked up into the sky, the deep blue sky that Old Bill and I shared” symbolising that belonging reaches beyond boundaries. Billy also explains through soliloquy how he desires to belong in the city of Bendarat while buying a ring for Caitlin “stopped me from stealing one silver ring...I wanted to stay in this town.” This conveys how Billy no longer wishes to run away and instead experience a sense of acceptance and love.
Caitlin is described as a 17 year old girl who dislikes the fact that she is wealthy resulting in re-shaping her identity by choosing to perceive that she does not belong with her parents and results in choosing to belong with Billy instead. The ultimate act of belonging portrayed between the two is when Billy makes love with Caitlin. Through similes and imagery gives the audience a clear picture of how he depicts making love with Caitlin in contrast to his favourite kind of place, the Bendarat River “It was like falling headlong into the clear waters of the Bendarat River and opening my eyes to the beautiful phosphorescent bubbles of light and trying to catch those bubbles in the new world of quiet and calm that carried me along, breathless.”
Way Home by Libby Hathorn is a picture book that depicts a homeless boy named Shane who searches for belonging conveyed in various aspects throughout the book. Connections portrayed are mostly evident with the symbolism of the cat he meets. He creates an environment or sense of belonging with the cat by placing it inside his jacket where it is warm and near the heart and through constantly naming it fitting with the context of the page such as “spitfire”, “hungry” and in the end names it “my cat” representing a bond.

The last page of the book pictures a small shack in which Shane calls home. This is also connects with Herrick’s portrayal of Billy’s carriage as they both share the life of homelessness. Through the use of visual references, belonging is portrayed through a scene where Shane and the cat is shined with light which gives the audience a sense of warmth and connection but can also be juxtaposed and relate to isolation.
In the Simple Gift, non-belonging is highly evident conveyed through Billy and is a key aspect towards the novel’s context and the discovery of Billy’s identity. The audience are first introduced with Billy’s description of his home calling it a “shithole” and “a downtrodden house in Nowheresville” giving the impression of how he does not belong at home. This gives us idea that Billy has no safe haven. Billy keeps the idea of a home as one of punishment and loneliness, where comfort is void. This perception reflects Billy’s missing identity as he does not know where he should go or be as this is conveyed through Ernie’s decision for Billy to get off at Bendarat “We’ll be in Bendarat at dawn. I’ll blow the whistle three times and I’ll stop just before town. Jump out then. OK.” This is the result of Billy’s experience of physical abuse from his father, through the use of personification “with the force of a father’s punch” tells the audience he has experienced this. Other than the character of Billy, Caitlin’s side of non belonging is reflected through her attitude towards her parents. She is constantly seen complaining about following her parent’s values and materials “I have more clothes than I’ll ever wear...a TV and a CD player... own bathroom” and acts rebellious towards them as she lies about going to Petra’s but in reality is seeing Billy. These aspects contribute to Caitlin’s strive to not belong with her parents and sacrifice her blessings for humbleness.
Way Home strongly depicts non belonging in many aspects throughout the book. Though the words of the book give you the main story, the visual setting is what gives the audience a portrayal of the themes of homelessness and non belonging. One feature of the book that conveys non belonging is the way the book is shown ripped between the picture and the words, symbolising disconnection which can also be referred to the painting of Michelangelo ‘The creation of Man’ which is originally depicted as a connection between God and man. However this poster is torn showing that Shane’s connection is incomplete or will never arrive. The visual setting of the book is the key to depict and create the mood. It is set at night time in the slums of a big city, though there are significant features shown in the pictures. On aspect of this is the importance of the houses, the light contrasts with the darkness outside showing that Shane does not have an ordinary life. A significant portrayal of his isolation is highly shown through the pictures of four posters picturing demons suggesting that Shane lives in a hellish environment.
Through the texts The Simple gift and Way Home both convey different dimensions of how belonging can be expressed through places, connections and people in which influences the idea of each character of how they perceive of what belonging and what non belonging is defined as.