The Role of 'Belonging' in Film and Print

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Recommended: Summary of the Crucible by Arthur Miller

Belonging has many aspects several of which can be seen in the following texts. The texts “The Crucible” (“TC”) by Arthur Miller, “Rockstar” by Nickelback and “The Pursuit of Happyness” is a movie starring Will Smith display several different aspects of belonging. The concept explored by Arthur Miller in “TC” is the conflict between different groups and the ramifications of belonging to a group. Meanwhile in “Rockstar” the composer explores the concept that people will wish to belong to various groups and what extremes they are willing to go to in order to belong. On a similar note, “The Pursuit of Happyness” explores how people are willing to change when they realize they don’t belong.

“TC” is set in the town of Salem in Massachusetts in the 1700’s. In this strict Christian society, the main group’s people belong to are the church, the Salem society, a family and later on the courts. However not everyone belongs to these groups. For instance, Reverend Parris belongs to the church but not the Salem society. This is revealed when Parris says to Abigail that “there is a faction in this society that is set to drive me from my pulpit… I have worked hard in the last three years to get these stiff necked people to bend to me.” From this quote, it is evident that although Parris has tried to belong to the society of Salem, the people of Salem have forbid him to do so.

The concept of belonging explored in “TC” is further exemplified in the final scenes of conflict between Proctor and the courts. The conflict is between the two groups the court and Proctor who is counted as against the court. It is evident that two groups have been established when Danforth exclaims to the Salem court “that a person is either with this c...

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... those around him. However, ironically, one of the final scenes ends with Chris Gardner running out onto the street and walking with the people around him, overjoyed when he discovers that he was accepted into a stock broking firm. This scene is one of the most important scenes in the movie as it shows the point when Chris Gardner felt that he belonged to the society. The importance of having him walking on the street as opposed to celebrating in an office is significant in reinforcing to the viewer that he now feels like he belongs to society.

Overall, as belonging is a topic which has many aspects. As these three texts are very different in the way they are composed “i.e. one is a move and the others are songs or plays). They each portray belonging differently. Therefore belonging will be portrayed differently in almost everything as it is very broad.

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