The Complexities of Belonging

The notion of belonging is a crucial aspect of human nature. The desire to belong either internally or externally evokes complex and paradoxical ideas, which vary according to an individual’s concept and value of belonging due to their context and experiences. This is evident in the texts studied, Emily Dickinson’s existential poems, 66 This is my letter to the world and 81 I had been Hungry All These Years and the picture book Woolvs in The Sitee, written by Margaret Wild and illustrated by Anne Spudvillas. The composers of these texts, through varying contexts and mediums suggest to their audiences that there is always a struggle between the individual’s yearning to belong and their duty to themselves, eliciting the concept that belonging can be both self-fulfilling and self destructive.

The issue of an emotional crisis with self-identity and the desire to belong to and be accepted by the world is explored in Dickinson’s poem 66, This is my letter to the World. The poet employs a persona and objectifies her inner experience with art and nature in order to address the world. The word “connotations” indicates the of addressing a world that she does not own, suggesting a sense of disconnectedness and separation. The first line :This is my letter to the world” is embedded with optimistic connotations, however this is bluntly challenged and juxtaposed with the second line “that never wrote to me.” This line is symptomatic of her perspective on the world, a rejecting or ignorant world that never wrote back. Notions that conflicting ideas are carried with being isolated are thereby brought up in the initial two lines. Dickinson additionally is unable to visualize the hand she has entrusted her letter to, instigating the sense of detachment from what “hands” symbolizes, which is connection and community. Her seclusion from society however, is suggested to be her own choice when she writes “Judge tenderly of me” although she still deserves acceptance of this decision....