What does belonging mean?

Answer 1

Belonging is a necessity for humans, as we grow, as we travel through life, we feel the need to belong. Belonging is an important part of life as by belonging we feel complete and some may even see their purpose in belonging. However sometimes through this overpowering desire to belong we are forced to sacrifice some of our individuality. This is not necessarily a bad thing as we may learn new things from this sacrifice or further develop ourselves. An example is from J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, the protagonist Holden Caulfield has this strong desire to conform, so much that when he meets a boy's mother from his school (Pency Prep) whom he actually perceives as "one of the biggest bastards that ever went to Pency.", he tells the boy's mother that her son is "a very sensitive boy", thus telling her his name is Rudolf Schmidt, the name of their janitor.

It is a desire to conform which drives us to do certain things which we may not do if we were alone. Teenagers are a great example, if parents do not ensure that their children feel like they belong by allowing them to join clubs and sporting teams, their teens may find teenagers from other places such as gangs or cults. HOWEVER this does NOT mean every teenager that doesn't join clubs gains belonging by joining gangs and cults.

Belonging is human nature and without it we may feel something missing, to fulfil this category of completing ourselves we strive to gain this sense of belonging.

This idea of belonging is vast and what i have written may not necessarily be correct to what others think, but this is just my point of view

Thank you.

Answer 2

No doubt you are interested in this for HSC studies...

For everyone this definition is different. For me (whom did very well in the topic) it is:

Belonging is an emotion that can only ever be felt. It links us to the places we know and the people we love. It can only ever be achieved through pure desire and resilience of individuals wanting to feel it. Belonging can, however, be achieved through choosing not to belong.

Poet Emily Dickinson achieved a rather unique sense of belonging. She chose to isolate herself from the world and dedicate herself to her writing and nature. It can hence be seen that she belonged through not belonging!

Hope this helped! Remember... Copying this is plagiarism. So please do your own research.

further questions left at:

jw-legaleagle.blogspot.com

Answer 3

Belonging is the nature of being in one's proper place, of being accepted or part of a group, or to be a part of something.

Answer 4

Well, that depends belonging to what.