Feliks Skrzynecki

1. Feliks Skrzynecki The poem details persona’s reflection on the father he deeply loves and respects. It describes persona’s father, Feliks, and their changing relationship. Conflict is generated between the two as a result of the persona further becoming further embedded in Australian culture. Information on Feliks is provided by the poet’s memory and reminiscences. The impact on Feliks’ experiences is as a strong for the son as it is for the father. The persona recognises in maturity that his father understood the gap that existed between them. Feliks knew that persona would come to treasure his heritage in later years after an initial dislocation from it.

2. Some important concepts to remember: • Feliks creates a place to belong in his garden. • Feliks has created a place to belong by surrounding himself with rewarding physical activity. • Feliks’ bond with his past is a barrier to belonging. • Persona belongs to his new home in Australia where he has grown up. • Wartime hardship influences Feliks’ capacity to belong in Australia. • Dealing with bureaucracy hinder belonging. • Peter is intent on belonging to the culture he is growing up in. • Although Peter admires his father, the separation between them is enduring and they do no share belonging experiences. • In many ways father and son remain strangers to each other, with individual attitudes towards belonging. • Feliks belongs to and has a shared history with other Polish immigrants he socializes with.

3. St Patrick’s College • The poem deals with the persona’s memory of school days. • The speaker gives an impression of his day-to-day life as a student. • Connections are made between the beginning of school days and their endings to highlight the persona’s questioning attitude towards some of his experiences. • The end of the poem sees the persona cast his thoughts to the potential of his future outside of restrains of school.

4. Some important concepts to remember: • St Patrick’s College is a well-known Roman Catholic school in Sydney that the poet does not feel he belongs to. • Skrzynecki uses school-based jargon to illustrate the lack of person’s understanding of his environment and highlight his sense of not belonging. • The persona’s religious education does not contribute to his sense of belonging. • Persona’s mother works hard to create a place to belong, yet it differs to the young boy’s idea of belonging.

5. Ancestors • The persona ponders and reflects on who his ancestors were. • In asking a series of questions in his reflections he attempts to resolve issues surrounding his identity. However, he feels burdened by his heritage. • The persona’s dark, nightmarish setting and content heightens persona’s sense of dislocation from his past. • The poem ends with a negative image, casting doubt on a resolution to the persona’s frustration.

6. Some important concepts to remember: • Persona explores issues surrounding his heritage and identity in his search for a sense of belonging. • Persona feels cut off from the past and this creates a barrier to belonging. • Persona is uncertain and uneasy about his future and there is no sense that he will achieve a sense of belonging. • Persona’s ancestors stand sentinel in solidarity against the poet, creating a barrier to belonging. • Persona’s ancestors hold the keys to his identity and his ability to create a sense of belonging.

7. 10 Mary Street • The poem details the daily routine of persona's family. • It describes the family home, 10 Mary street in Regents Park in south-western Sydney, the family’s first home after leaving the migrant hostel. • It reveals the security of home life from immigrant family’s point of view. • The house represents safety and security and the family will experience loss and displacement when it is gone.

8. Some important concepts to remember: • The house at 10 Mary Street has both literal and symbolic belonging significance. • The garden is symbolic of where the family belongs. • Routine creates a sense of belonging in the family’s day-to-day life. • Imagery of the “old world” and European ways is warm and inclusive and reveals where the family feels they belong. • Removal of their home represents their lack of belonging to the Australia.

9. Migrant Hostel • The persona reminisces about the two years his family spent at the Parkes hostel for newly arrived migrants. • The immigrants are forced to spend this time in Parkes as a transition into Australian society. • The poet conveys the immigrants’ sense of isolation and dislocation during this time. • The promise of new life is not quickly realised and there is a sense of enforced imprisonment at the hands of an unsympathetic bureaucracy.

10. Some important concepts to remember: • The inhabitants of the hostel come and go but no one seems to have control or to have achieved a place to belong. • The immigrants continue to be haunted by their recent experiences that impact upon their ability to belong. • The barrier at the main gate symbolises isolation from the outside world and acts as a barrier to belonging. • The family question whether they will achieve belonging in their lives. • The immigrants congregate in nationality groups to provide mutual support and to create a transitory sense of belonging.

11. In the folk museum • The persona reminisces about a visit to a folk museum. • The museum is filled with information and items relating to Australia’s rural history. • The experience forces the persona to consider his own different heritage and generates feelings of cultural isolation in him. • The poem ends with the possibility for the two cultures to meld. However, this is dismissed my the persona.

12. Some important concepts to remember: • The museum transmits the poet’s feelings of mot belonging to Australian culture and generally not belonging anywhere. • Personification of the weather outside heightens feelings of not belonging. • The persona feels further isolation by religion that adds to his feelings of not belonging. • The persona is in a hurry to leave, as he has not realised a sense of belonging. • The caretaker is a faceless representative of Anglo past and culture who belongs to the local culture, unlike the persona. • In his quest to create a sense of personal belonging, persona hopes for a connection between the two cultures by connecting with the old woman at the door. Yet, they do not.

13. Post card • A friend traveling in Poland sends the persona a postcard showing the historic center of Warsaw, his father’s home. • It prompts a relationship with the city that poet has not yet acknowledged. • The postcard acts as a catalyst for the persona’ s sense of frustration about his identity. • The final section of the poem sees the persona acknowledge the significance of his heritage and his place.

14. Some important concepts to remember: • The persona contemplates the image of the city he has never seen, but that his parents “belong” to physically and emotionally. • The persona feels Warsaw is a place he should belong to, yet is unable to connect to. • The persona’s parents belong to Warsaw and have strong historical and cultural ties to the city. • The persona feels marginalised by the scenes on the postcard that means so much to his parents, but that creates a barrier to belonging for him. • The persona’s distant association with Warsaw contrasts with his parents’ love for the city and impact upon him achieving a sense of belonging. • We are left wondering that perhaps persona will belong to the city one day.