The larger the crowd the less the individuality Draw upon your study of Belonging to examine this

assertion. In your answer refer to your prescribed text and one or more related texts of your own choosing. It cannot be denied that the larger the crowd the greater the pressure to conform impresses itself upon the individual. Moreover this pressure, this crowd can assert itself in numerous forms. Individuality is a sense of a distinct identity, the definition of the self contrasted to the crowd, and so belonging is a form of conformity. As a result of this, individuality can only be interpreted as a choice not to belong. The choice not to belong may not be wholly in the hands of the individual however, as is evident in Peter Skrzyneckis Immigrant Chronicle poem In the Folk Museum. Conversely, it often is, as seen in another of Skrzyneckis compositions St Patricks College, while that well-trodden middle path of agnostic indecision is reflected in the Bruce Dawes satirical poem Enter Without So Much As Knocking. The pressure to conform, a pressure which can be exerted by the mere impression of social expectations, can serve to paralyse an individual, alienate them and question the importance of their individuality. Skrzyneckis poem In the Folk Museum is an example of such a situation where a young man is overwhelmed by the pressure of his societys expectations of conformity through a shared cultural heritage and is distanced by their attempt at inclusion. Skrzynecki illuminates his subject matter in the title In the Folk Museum, a title that at once both connotes expectations of something worthy of value and preservation as well as ones own people and ancestry. He continues, however, to juxtapose this through sensory imagery in the opening lines where A darkness in the rooms/ Betrays an absence of voices and a lack of sensation reflects a sense of discomfort and foreboding that the expectations of society do not match his own. Skrzynecki further embodies this in an accusational tone that he believes the museums purpose is to act as a reminder of a past/ Which isnt mine, conveying the sense of disconnection he feels as a result of social pressures to conform. The impersonal, uncaring curator that knits without looking up comes to symbolise the community, Skrzyneckis imagery of hair the same colour/ As the grey clay bottle/ Thats cold as water to the touch builds tension and serves to reflect the resentment that such exclusion creates. The curators single question reverberates; would you please sign the Visitors Book? a question that goes unanswered in the confusion as Skrzynecki questions himself. Similarly, a pressure to conform can be brought to bear upon an individual by societal institutions, a pressure which can entrap the individual isolating them and causing them to reject conformity in favour of a unique identity. Skrzyneckis poem St Patricks College explores this idea through the firsthand experience of the poet undergoing his education at an institution demanding conformity while the poet instead disregards tradition and seeks individuality. Skrzynecki establishes conflicting perspectives on the nature of the education he has received with his opening line that Mother enrolled me at St Pats/ With never a thought wanting only What was best. He ironically indicates his assertion to the contrary through his direct quotation and the contrast between the colloquial St Pats against the formal Mother. He builds upon this with ominous imagery of Our lady/ With outstretched arms/ Her face overshadowed by clouds foreshadowing the way that the demands for conformity have shaped his life. His interpretation of the school motto Luceat Lux Vestra:/ I thought was a brand of soap, a motto which translates as let your light shine similarly ironically indicates the lack of understanding that has led to a choice not to belong, not to conform and to retain his individuality. Skrzynecki further highlights this lack of understanding in the contrast

that he could say the Lords Prayer/ In latin, all in one breath as the child misunderstands the significance of religious ritual and rejects religious education. He concludes in a reference back to the school motto using a light-dark contrast that the darkness around me/ wasnt for the best/ Before I let my light shine and that he was unable to flourish under the pressure of conformity and was forced to seek his own way. Lastly, one may lack the will or ability to resist and as a result neither embrace nor reject the pressure to conform that society can exert upon them leading to feelings of disconnection and powerlessness. Bruce Dawes poem Enter Without So Much As Knocking examines the life of an individual that has left the choice unanswered, its satirical tone questioning the seemingly cyclical , predetermined and commercialised nature of modern life. Dawe establishes this idea through the idioms of one economy-sized Mum, one Anthony Squires-/ Coolstream-summerweight Dad, along with two other kids straight off the junior department rack that constituted his family as if from a generic department store, highlighted by the aside of a good-as-new station wagon ($495 at Renos). He further rails hyperbolically against the regulation society imposes you must KEEP CLEAR/OUT/OFF GRASS, NO BREATHING EXCEPT BY ORDER, BEWARE OF/ THIS, WATCH OUT FOR THAT and the pressure he feels to conform and sacrifice his individuality and freedom of choice. Dawe notes that the persona admired the pure/ unadulterated fringe of sky, littered with stars/ no one had got around to fixing up yet and satirically comments that the controlling nature of society corrupts and warps perceptions of beauty. However, Dawe shows that the persona is unwilling to confront his uncertainties and that pretty soon he was old enough to be /realistic like every other godless money-hungry back-stabbing miserable/ so-and-so and then it was goodbye stars in turn becoming part of the system he despised. Dawe sums up his message ironically that they did a really first class job on his face/ (everyone was pleased) even adding/ a healthy tan he had never had emphasising the superficiality of a society that is held together by a pressure to conform and so disconnected and fragmented itself. Consequently, yes the larger the crowd the less the individuality. It was seen that this crowd can create a social pressure which can result in an individual, when removed from the choice to belong, experiencing a sense of alienation. Similarly, this pressure was seen to be influential in causing an individual to make a conscience choice not to belong. Lastly, it was also seen that some individuals may refuse to make a choice of whether to belong and the pressure to conform results in feelings of powerlessness and disconnection. Despite this, the choice to belong, the choice to conform is still largely in the hands of the individual, but it is certainly true that a pressure to conform is a limiting factor in the expression of individuality. 1116 words