The complexity of how to belong and the intuitive urge is unexplainable and indefinable to the average human because it means different things to different people. Therefore, the concept of belonging is ambiguous and ultimately, a sense of belonging comes from a sense of identity.
The newspaper article Light Relief’ from The Sun Herald November 2008 by Tibor Krauss, portrays the purity of belonging through a ray of sunshine for the underprivileged. It also confirms and changes my perceptions and ideas about belonging through the ideas and techniques conveyed. This text’s purpose is to inform the readers of all ages about how total acceptance and understanding can guide us to simply – belong. Susan – have being adopted – appears not to have been grateful for what she was being given. They were trying to give her an identity and make her feel as though she belonged. It appears her sub-consciousness objected, which lead her to become a rebel in her teens. She was at times, ‘a proto punk, complete with tattoos and safety-pin piercings’. The short use of alliteration in this quote illustrates how she was an insurgent child and did not belong to society. She was also nicknamed ‘Petrol Head’ for sniffing petrol and aerosols, but now she has earnt the epithet, ‘Angel of Bang Kwang’ because of her ‘dedicated volunteer work with inmates‘in Thailand and also for being able to hug a double murderer with such compassion. Thus these two nicknames are heavily juxtaposed. Originally she was not able to belong because she did not know her real identity.
Just as she was thinking of suicide, she encountered Christian aid workers, one of whom suggested, “If you’re going to throw your life away, why don’t you instead give it away?” This rhetorical question directed Susan’s life the other way, allowing her to belong and give meaning to her life. This technique also shows how the aid workers comment was the catalyst for her transformation. Belonging isn’t just about fitting...