Belonging is a dynamic process, which can take many years or a few seconds to feel, it is

affected by the individuals personality, culture and values. Through exploring texts like
Be good little migrants the ideologies of the citizens of a country and their views on
migrants can be extracted to show the hardships and troubles faced. Similarly in
Romulus my father we are able to see the oppressive nature of the citizens to the extent
of trying to force their culture upon the migrants. Finally The Alien illustrates the
isolation felt by being in a new country and the longing of his homeland.
The poem Be good little migrants portrays the harsh ideologies of a country were
migrants are treated more like slaves then people. As a migrant people do not have many
options available to them and getting a job to provide from their familys is one of the
first priorities, due to this many migrants are taken advantage of Give us your faithful
service sweep factories, clean mansions prepare cheap highlighting the hardships that
must be faced to survive in a foreign country. In contrast to Romulus my father the
moment they arrived in Melbourne in April 1950 Romulus soon had to leave as
Migrants who came on assisted passages were required to for work two years but the
sad reality of having many migrants who were exceptionally skilled in a verity of fields
were only used to do menial manual task can be interpreted as prejudice towards the
New Australians. Considering the efforts of migrants to fit in to Australian society a
great stress accumulates which can drain them of their energy and passion such as till all
the magic of my eyes is sucked away. Migrants must go through many difficulties, trials
and pearlies to fit in and survive in a foreign landscape, they must always remember who
they are and though there is hardship there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.
The memoir, Romulus, My Father portrays the ways in which immigrants in 1950s
rural Victoria struggled to be accepted for who they are in a foreign society. Personal
identity is what makes us unique and ourselves; we see that this being challenged when
his co-workers do not call my father by his name, Romulus. They called him Jack. This
reveals the condescending aspect that immigrants received in Australia and the way in
which they became alienated from society. The Domineering of migrants to be
represented as just objects to further their own personal agendas is an idea represented in
Be good, little migrants through description Use leisure with prudence sew costumes,
paint murals write music, and dance to our tune, Our culture must not be dull this clearly
illustrates citizens overbearing migrants with the workload, expecting them to be working
even during leisure time in the meanwhile attempting to force their culture on them as
well. Finally The Alien shows how the townsfolk are making him into a person that is
engulfed in tentacles of emptiness representing how he just wants to be himself and
dont want others forcing their beliefs on him. It is oblivious not to recognise the
problems of keeping ones identity in a foreign environment where many manners of
pressures and people try to force their beliefs and culture on migrants.
For the aforementioned reasons we are able to see how the idealise of people can effect
migrants seen through the text Be good little migrant as well as how this can be quite
oppressive in Romulus, My Father. Finally The Alien shows all the emotional
traumas, which are produced through the stress and efforts of trying to fit in.