St Patrick’s College: Different Perceptions of Belonging

Individuals often have differing ideas on what it means to belong. For one person, conforming to a social group or practice may be a source of comfort and security. For another person, being forced to conform to the same group may feel alienating and depressing.

In St Patrick’s College, the persona’s mother has very different ideas about belonging than the persona. For the persona’s mother, the deeply religious and formal academic environment of the school offers her son the opportunity to belong to Australian culture and the Catholic religion. The persona, on the other hand, does not comprehend, or find belonging the school’s values and beliefs. Thus his mother’s attempt to help him belong is ironically alienating.

The description ‘impressed by the uniforms’ in the first stanza is used to show how the persona’s mother believes her son is finding belonging whereas in reality he is feeling repressed and disconnected.

The technique of accumulation in ‘voices at bus stops, litanies and hymns’ shows that the persona has not developed many close relationships or emotional connections at the school. The abstract and impersonal noun ‘voices’ shows he may not have had many close friends at the school. Furthermore, the detached description of ‘litanies and hymns’ shows that the persona has little interest in these activities and is simply going through the motions. In this way the poem shows how a lack of belonging to place can lead to a lack of belonging to the people and activities in our lives. Again, the subtext of the poem is that whilst these activities may have been considered the epitome of belonging for the persona’s mother, they were actually alienating for the persona.  

In the final stanza, the poem finishes with an ironic yet optimistic tone. On the one hand, the persona uses irony when he ‘Prayed that Mother would someday be pleased.’ The persona has no real connection to the school’s religion but he still hopes that his mother’s sacrifice of time and money will eventually pay off. His sense of belonging to his family is far stronger than his connection to the school. 

This is further conveyed in the contrasting imagery of the ‘darkness around me’ with the final line, ‘I let my light shine.’ The persona is using irony because the school's motto means 'let your light shine.' It is only now that the persona is free from the school that he can begin to find a sense of belonging in new places, and in doing so find a renewed sense of belonging to himself. The persona’s graduation is no doubt for his mother the ultimate attainment of belonging to culture and religion. For the persona, however, it simply marks his liberation from alienation and disconnection. 

The description of 'her employer's sons' shows the great effort and expense the persona's mother is going through in order to give her son the chance to belong to a more privileged social class. This shows how we may often need to sacrifice our time, our effort and our money to give ourselves, or others, the chance to belong. However, even if we do so, we may still fail, as the persona is isolated and alienated at the school.

The dialogue of the persona's mother in the first stanza, which is repeated in the final stanza, 'what was best,' expresses the mother's hope of her son belonging to a more privileged social class. However, the phrase takes on an ironic meaning as the persona feels that the school was not 'for the best' at all. In this way, Skrzynecki uses dialogue, irony and idiomatic language to show the way in which our commonly held perceptions of what it means to belong can often be mistaken. Belonging is thus shown to be mediated by individual preferences, values and beliefs. It is not always something which can be bestowed on others according to our own social paradigms and life preferences.

Finally, the persona uses the imagery of 'mother crossed herself' to convey her sense of belonging to religion which again contrasts with the persona's alienation from it. This is shown in the recount that he 'could say the Lord's prayer / In Latin, all in one breath.' For the persona, religion is a mechanical and routine process and ostensibly he may appear to belong to religion through his recitals of prayers and the singing of hymns, he actually has no deep or significant emotional connection to it. 

St Patrick’s College: Lack of Belonging to Place

    Places, such as schools, have not only a unique physical environment, but also a set of practices and experiences associated with them. When we feel alienated from a place, we may feel alienated from that place’s landscape and the physical objects within it, as well as the place’s people and their ways of life.

    The persona feels alienated from his school, St Patrick’s College, and as a result he feels directionless and unhappy. In the second stanza, the persona uses juxtaposition and imagery when contrasting the statue of Mary who has ‘outstretched hands,’ - suggesting she is welcoming - with the image of her face which is ‘overshadowed by clouds.’ This shows that even though a place may appear physically welcoming, we may still feel alienated from it and perceive the environment as cold and unwelcoming.

     The persona’s alienation from the formality and rigidity of the prestigious Catholic school is shown in the imagery of ‘I stuck pine needles/Into the motto/On my breast.’ Instead of respecting and deferring to the school motto, the persona feels inclined to play with it, ‘Under the principal’s window,’ no less. This shows how alienation from a place can lead us to reject the values and beliefs associated with that place. It is possible that if the persona felt a greater connection to the school, he would have embraced its perspective on religion and education. Instead, he rejects its perspective on life and academia. 

      The lack of belonging to the school’s ethos of religion, and formal academia, is further emphasised in the persona’s use of humour when describing the way he confused the school’s motto, ‘Luceat Lux Vestra’ with a brand of soap. The allusion to formal learning expressed in the Latin motto contrasts starkly with the persona’s interpretation of it, underscoring his feeling of being misplaced and alienated.

      Similarly, the persona draws on the irony of the school’s motto, ‘Let Your Light Shine,’ which contrasts with the persona’s growing sense of personal darkness and sense of disconnection. 

      The repetition of the phrase, ‘eight years’ has the effect of emphasising how long and dreary the persona’s time at the school felt to him. This shows how lack of belonging to a place can make us feel despondent and unmotivated.

      The persona’s alienation from place extends beyond the school and includes the surrounding suburb of Strathfield. The simile, ‘Like a foreign tourist’ highlights the way in which the persona feels like an outsider, unable to connect or fully the understand the place’s people and their culture.

      The persona’s distance from the religious practice at the school is shown in the anecdote, ‘Could say the Lord’s prayer/ In Latin, all in one breath.’ Instead of embracing and enjoying the religious experience, the persona wants to rush through it so that it can be over and done with. 

      The repetition and call back to the imagery of ‘Our Lady still watching…unchanged,’ conveys the fact that the persona has remained alienated from the school after his eight years there. Belonging to a place does not always occur simply by spending extended periods of time there. Whilst the school’s physical sphere may be more familiar to the persona, he still feels a sense of psychological distance and disconnection from it. 

Notes on Belonging: Feliks Skrzynecki

A. Belonging to Culture and Place 

 - Culture and place are intimately connected. Often our culture is determined by the place we grow up. It is our memories of places and their associated lifestyles that forms the basis of our identity
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 - Belonging to a culture is important for our identity, our sense of who we are. It can shape our values, beliefs and life decisions. When we live in new countries with very different lifestyles to our own, as many immigrants do, we may feel distant and alienated from our cultures. We may feel that our very selves have been undermined. In other words, alienation from our culture, can lead to alienation from ourselves.

 - In order to prevent this alienation, many immigrants, such as Feliks, try to maintain links to their culture. These links may be physical reminders of home as well as relationships with those people who share our culture. - In the poem, Feliks may feel alienated from the vastly different Australian culture and landscape. He therefore he creates a part of polish culture in his garden.

 - The simile, ‘Loved his garden like an only child’ shows how much Feliks cherishes his Polish heritage. Like a child, the garden can give Feliks’ life meaning, purpose and connection. This is further emphasised in the hyperbole of ‘He swept its paths/Ten times around the world’ which shows just how much time and effort Feliks is willing to sacrifice in order to feel a sense of belonging to his Polish culture.

 - Our belonging to a culture determines the way we live our lives and the way we spend our time. Feliks’ Polish culture has given him a deep connection with the land and physical labour. Even though he is in Australia, probably urban Sydney, Feliks’ culture still influences him to maintain a lifestyle of discipline and physical labour. This shows just how permanent and robust our belonging to culture can be: we cling to our own ways of life as they form part of who we are.

- In the poem, the pastoral imagery of ‘hands darkened/From cement, fingers with cracks’ combines with the simile, ‘Like the sods he broke’ to show that Feliks has deep links to the land and finds belonging in the physical work he performs.

- His strong work ethic and optimistic outlook no doubt stem from his cultural background where hard work was a way of life. Even though Feliks may live a relatively relaxed life in the Australian environment, Feliks maintains his belonging to Polish culture through his stoic and yet optimistic attitude. In the anecdote of ‘When twice/ They dug cancer out of his foot’ the persona uses contrast between the seriousness and solemness of cancer and Feliks’ simple and upbeat response of, ‘but I’m alive’ to show the way that Feliks derives strength from belonging to his culture.

 - Belonging to Culture determines the connections we make in many areas of our lives. Although Feliks is in a new country, he chooses friends that share his cultural background and experiences. In this way, culture acts as a conduit or the common ground that allows us to find belonging in friends and family.

- In the poem, Feliks and his friends reminisce about Polish life. The imagery of ‘paddocks flowered/ With corn and wheat’ shows how memories can help to maintain our belonging to friends and culture, even if we are far from home. The use and repetition of the collective pronoun they’ in the third stanza, when describing Feliks and his friends, emphasises how the persona, who does not share Feliks’ memories or experiences, remains an outsider to the Polish part of his father. In this way, the poem illustrates how culture - as well as providing a source of connection - can also be a source of alienation to those who are unfamiliar with the cultural norms.

 B. Belonging to Family

- Our family are often those who are closest to us. They help to form our identity as they live physically near to us and also form some of our closest emotional relationships. In other words, family helps to shape our values, beliefs and experiences. When we find belonging in family we can experience a strong sense of security and support. Belonging to family can also provide us with happy experiences and memories.

 - On the flip side, a sense of alienation from family members, due to family conflicts, physical separation or cultural differences, can lead to a sense of loss and a lack of a strong identity.

 - In the poem, the persona laments the way in which his life in Australia, and his immersion in Australian culture, leads to a growing alienation from his father.

 - Language begins to form a barrier between the persona and his father. Language is the means through which we connect and find belonging in others. However, the juxtaposition in the final stanza between the persona ‘stumbling over tenses in Caesar’s Gallic War’ while he ‘forgot his first Polish word,’ shows how the persona is becoming increasingly educated in Australian ways of thinking whilst losing his ability to find connection and belonging in his father. This is further emphasised in the simile, ‘like a dumb prophet’ which shows the way in which Feliks is aware that the persona’s Australian language and heritage is acting as a barrier between the two of them, but that he is powerless to stop it.

 - This idea is cemented in the final two lines where the persona uses the metaphor of ‘pegging my tents…further and further south of Hadrian’s wall.’ This allusion to Hadrian’s wall seems to symbolise the fact that as the persona drifts from the strength of his father’s Polish culture and heritage, he is at the same time beginning to forge a stronger sense of belonging to Australian language and culture.

 - The persona does not make a conscious choice to alienate himself from his father and his heritage. This is shown when the persona states that he learnt remnants of a language ‘unknowingly,’ that is without conscious choice. Furthermore, the persona uses metaphor and rhetorical question when quoting the department clerk who, ‘in dancing-bear grunts,’ asked, ‘Did your father ever attempt to learn English?’ The persona suggests the clerk is ignorant and does not understand the difficulty of learning a new language at Feliks’ advanced age. In this way, the poem illustrates how we may not always choose to know a particular language or belong to a particular culture – rather belonging to a culture may be bestowed upon us according to our family, and the place in which we grow up.

 C. Conclusion

 - The poem Feliks Skrzynecki emphasises the way in which belonging to culture can form our identity and give us a sense of who we are. We will go to great lengths to maintain our sense of belonging to a culture even if we are placed in a foreign environment and even if he we have to invest great time and effort in maintaining the connection. The poem also illustrates the importance of belonging to family and the way in which differences in culture and language can serve as a barrier to belonging to others, especially family members. We may often be powerless to stop alienation from our family because, due to events such as immigration, we cannot always choose to belong to the same culture to which they belong.