Belonging in Jasper Jones and Related Texts

Belonging

1. Jasper Jones

   • Community
     • Team
       • The team represents a large pillar of the community.
         • if you belong to the team then you belong in the community "insert quotation here"
       • Made up of those who belong the most in the community
     • Prejudice
       • Alienation
         • Jasper Jones alienated due to his representation
           • Jasper is only alienated when the community do not need him
             • Easily discarded
             • Jasper is blamed for mischief and crime in the town in place of the actual criminals
               • Reality is that he really doesn't do most of those crimes
             • The cricket team is the only time that Jasper is accepted and belongs in the community
               • Once he leaves he is immediately alienated again by the community
                 • "insert quote here"
         • Laura Wilshart Alienated by her family and the community
           • Shame
           • Pregnancy
       • Racism
         • Vietnam War
           • Fear of communism
             • "Insert Quotation here"
           • Jeffrey and the Lu's feel a sense of alienation from the community due to their country of origin (Vietnam)
   • Friendship
     • Jeffrey and Charlie
       • Friendship born out of convenience
     • Jasper and Charlie
       • Friendship born out of necessity
     • Charlie and Eliza Whilshart
       • Love
       • Relationship takes a while to sprout
       • A crisis links them both together
   • Family
     • Charlie's relationship to his parents
       • Charlie has a childish, frictional relationship to his mother where it seems as though he is the smarter one
         • "I'm your mother. I don't need a reason."
       • With his father, charlie is treated more as an intellectual equal
         • "The last time he offered me the Golden ticket to his library. I feel awkward and a little exhilerated. I'm not sure how I should respond.

2. The Shaw Shank Redemption

   • Belonging in a system
     • The prison system
     • A system that doesn't take care of them
   • Forced Belonging
     • The men are forced together by fate
     • The confines of the wall force relationships to form
     • Through this forced belonging the men find a way to belong in their own right
       • E.g Red as the "Yes sir, I'm a regular Sears & Roebuck". Red has found his place in the prison.
   • Shared suffering
     • The men share the suffering of prison. They share the suffering of the warden and the Captain of the Guards
     • The bad inmates who are intimidating, e.g The sisters

3. Stand By Me

   • Belonging in Friendship
     • Childhood friendships
       • They fade away as people grew
       • Become a large part of life
       • They shape a person
     • Social Groups
       • Equal Groups
         • Gordie's Group
           • All of the boys are taken care of
             • Although there is a special focus on the fact that Chris and Gordie belongs more to each other than Vern and Teddy
       • Unequal Groups
   • Belonging through Circumstance
     • Geographic Location (Castle Rock)
       • Small Amount of People
         • Easy access to secrets
           • Ray Brower's death
       • The people that there are tend to be drawn to one another
     • Belonging in a Family
       • The lack of family can lead to people being drawn together
       • Frictional Family Relationship
         • Chris Chambers' abusive father
         • Teddy's estranged father