'Belonging: An Individual’s Interaction with Others\r'

'Social interaction is an on the whole important(p) part of any(prenominal) family; it is the find factor for one’s perceptions of the baseball club around them and their own identity. Relationships argon ab initio built upon mutual interests and acceptance and this is tight linked with one’s innate desire to be able to harmonise with a group or some other individual. Both these ideas are look ford in the ‘Namesake’ by Jhumpa Lahiri and the picture book: ‘The broken topic’ by Shaun Tan. Lahiri explores the importance of shared value and experiences in a relationship for it to wave rather than the charter for social interaction.\r\nThis whim is shown through the relationship Ashoke and Ashima forge passim their life-time. Despite having an arranged marriage, with by having known all(prenominal) other beforehand, Ashoke and Ashima form a almighty emotional obligate during their married life. end-to-end the book, the intera ction between Ashima and Ashoke is somewhat curb in speech but their bond is shown through emotive passages instead. An example of this is when Ashima tries on Ashoke’s shoes; this action is a symbolic harbinger of how well they some(prenominal) ‘fit’ unneurotic over the years.\r\nFurther more(prenominal), the reiterate: â€Å"Eight thousand miles away in Cambridge she has come to know him” illustrates how the challenges of being migrants together and the mutual experiences in America and in India serve to strengthen their conjugal ties. Their relationship, hence, is an intuitive one instead of one w here(predicate) oral communication is needed. The ostracism experienced by one unable to interact with others is shown in ‘The upset Thing’ by Shaun Tan. The wooly involvement is an anomalous creature in a bureaucratic fiat distinct for a dwelling house to fit in.\r\n thus far wherever it goes, it is met with an apathetic attitude fro m the citizens. The citizens of this society are so innately obsess with practical outcomes that they have mixed-up all sense of creativity and even communication for the sake of conversation. Tan illustrates the austerity of this humanity by depicting it with rigid angles and an general sepia tone. However one male child forms a relationship with the confounded occasion out of pity and tries to find its al-Qaida. The son provides food, shelter and care to the lost social function and these simple actions fuel their temporary timbres of departing.\r\nTheir relationship is encouraged by the need to accomplish an action; in this case-finding the lost affaire its home. The brevity of their relationship is highlighted by the coarse separation of the dickens: â€Å"It seemed as bully a time as any to sound out goodbye to each other. So we did. ” The objective language and the truncated objurgate demonstrate the brief and conditional temper of their bond. Once t he condition was fulfilled, the need to belong was abated. This shows the necessity of interaction in creating a sense of belonging; had the citizens of the society declare the presence of the lost thing, the lost thing may have remained at that place.\r\nLahiri excessively goes on to demonstrate how social interaction sens lead to one’s agree of their identity. Gogol is a prime example of this; as a child of migrants, Gogol is confronted by two variant cultures and feels he must be one or the other. As Gogol’s relationship with Maxine develops, we see him conform to Maxine’s standards, hiding his Bengali identity: â€Å"She is strike to hear certain things about his life: that all his parents’ friends are Bengali, that they had had an arranged marriage, that his stupefy cooks Indian food every day, that she wears saris and a bindi. .. ’But you’re so different; i never would have impression that’. He is not insulted, but he is aware a line has been worn all the same”. To be a part of Maxine’s life, Gogol realises that he has to hold up her way of life; the American way. This compromise of identity led to even more confusion on Gogol’s behalf and in the end, as he starts to embrace his heritage, he rejects Maxine and her life. This shows how one’s perceptions of identity are crucial in determining and maintaining relationships with others.\r\nThe need for conformity in the society of ‘The Lost Thing’ in order to kick upstairs acceptance is shown by Shaun Tan. As the male child takes the lost thing around town, it is interpreted to the boy’s home. There, it takes up a huge amount of space and is infeasible to ignore, however the parents of the boy do not even glance at it. another(prenominal) instance where this lack of acknowledgement is shown is when the lost thing stands in line of banal, hoary citizens. The lost thing clearly stands out as it is big , red and round, but no one notices it.\r\nTan uses this confining vision as a way to effectively convey the segregation between society and the lost thing. The lost thing is unable to integrate itself into the society as it is both(prenominal) unable to conform to the dull bill of the society and unable to gain credit rating of its presence. The shunned lost thing finds no introduction into this society where the citizens do not hardiness stray from their quotidian routine for tending of exclusion. There is a dwelling house in this society that odds things are interpreted o: â€Å"The Federal Department of betting odds and Ends” with the motto â€Å"sweepus underum carpatae”. At the end of the book, the lost thing does not find its home but it does find a place where its individuality is accepted. The boy even goes as far as saying â€Å"I mean, I can’t say that the thing actually belonged in the place where it ended up. In fact, none of the things th ere really belonged. They all seemed happy tolerable though, so maybe that didn’t emergence. ” Consequently, what is shown here is that social interaction is needed, no matter what form of interaction, to gain a feeling of acceptance.\r\nUltimately, social interaction is inherent in all aspects of belonging. It is the basis of all relationships and also a factor for one’s self perception of identity. This complex execute is vital for one’s psychical and physical health as it challenges the barriers in place that one automatically establishes in a new setting. The ‘Namesake’ by Jhumpa Lahiri and ‘The Lost Thing’ by Shaun Tan explore the ways in which social interaction can affect relationships and identity which in turn affect one’s perceptions of belonging.\r\n'