Belonging in Tim Winton's Big World Essay

The concept of Identity is complex through the exploration of relationships and a sense of belonging. This is explored within Tim Winton’s short stories, ‘ Neighbours’ and ‘Big World’, and in Robert Walker’s poem ‘Okay, Let’s be Honest’. Identity can change and evolve depending on belief, change, language and shifting influences. Tim Winton, the composer of ‘Neighbours’ has a perplexed and distressing tone as he suggests to the reader, the significance of multiculturalism and diversity within Australia

towards a sense of Belonging, a process that incites the creation, or deterioration of a sense of personal and cultural identification. The memoir, Romulus, My Father, by Raimond Gaita; John Guare’s play, Six Degrees of Separation; and Tim Winton’s short story, Big World, from the collection, The Turning, explore the concept that Belonging is the driving force for the human condition. Each composer represents their varied perceptions of belonging in their texts, conveying that Belonging as a fundamental

ideas originate and stem from their personal, historical and cultural context. By comparing the two authors Tim Winton (from an Australian context) and Zohra Saed (Afghani/New York context) we are able to see how similar values are shaped through identity/contex. Winton uses various literary techniques to embed personalised values into his texts such as place, family, and identity in “Big World”, 2005 and “The Turning”, 2005. Zohra Saed has implanted her values of culture, family, memory and identity