Belonging Essay Essay

text One The mainland chinaware Coin.The China Coin is a short metaphor novel for adolescents composed by Allan Baillie, released in 1991. The text explores the instinctive pitying need we feel to belong heathenishly, inside our family and to belong to a fellow group. Following the life of an Eurasian teenager named Leah and her mother, Joan, as they journey to China in search of the missing half of a unconnected coin, which Joans father sent her before he passed a expressive style. The coin is the only continuative the women have left with their lost family in China. Upon searching for the coin, the characters are not only discovering their extensive family, but the history behind it, giving them an last-ditch sense of identity and be, bringing a positive change in both characters mindsets.A relevant concept is that belonging may turn out finished a person, object or place to enrich a community or group. A massive element of belonging within the text is the symbolism of the half-coin. A quote from page 35 states This broken coin has been in our family for a long time. The other half of the coin is kept by the family in our ancestral village. Perhaps the coin should extend one again. Outlining the coin acting as a connecting passageway amongst the members of the family, and showing the enrichment stowed upon the group. Baillie has use symbolism to portray self identity and cultural identity, much like the Simple Gift. and I looked up into the sky, the deep risque sky that Old Bill and I shared. (page.205) also indicates this connecting passageway by means of an object shared between individuals like Baillie. Another connection contingent in The Simple Gift is the key Old Bill gives to Billy, mean the key to all of Billys problems, and also metaphorically unlocking the doorstep to his future.Metaphors are also used in The China Coin. Metaphors are used to paint visual images, page 16 is a grievous example of this. I am a giant, she thought. This quote explains the self belonging issues Leah is experiencing. The idea that appearance effects how you belong is a strong and relatable one to the target audience of adolescents, giving insight that for a lot of untried people, this is a firm and struggling issue. This particular metaphoric example, is also a useful in the flesh(predicate) insight to how the character is feeling.Another successful way to directly express personal insight is through inner monologues. Baillie has used this particularly strongly on page 158. Quoting How long have you been hither?six weeks from that neurotic kid that feared her mother was going to throw whatever sort of spell to make her Chinese, but youre not not Chinese either. It doesnt matter anymore. This extract reflects Leahs feelings about her maturement acceptance of her Chinese heritage in Red Star Village. The readers study Leah progress from feeling as though she doesnt belong in China but identified strongly with her Austral ian and European links. Leah was not Chinese, but the viewers watch as the experiences and contacts with friends and family in China change her outer appearance and she realizes it no longer matters. Inner monologues our personal thoughts emphasise the personal view of the character, The Simple Gift displays numerous of these as the text is written in first person from alternating characters blot of views.The China Coin by Allan Baillie really exemplifies the ambition to belong, particularly in family and cultural groups, but also within a peer group, through symbolism, metaphors and personal statements, much like the prescribed texts, and selected other related texts.