Acceptance in The Serect Poems of Emily Dickinson and The...

The understanding of belonging is not a concrete block, but a dynamic plain fertilised by interaction with an individual’s context. This allows equilibrium to form between beliefs of identity, and uncovering the true meaning of belonging. Both nineteenth century poet Emily Dickinson and Modernist author Margery Williams explore this complex state of acceptance through their works, ‘The Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson’ and ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’. Paradox in ‘What mystery pervades a well’, and mechanical metaphor in the microcosmic short story detail that differentiating truth and imagination is integral to cultivate an understanding of belonging. Stichomythia in ‘The Velveteen Rabbit’, and economic discourse in ‘I had been hungry all the years’ depict that acceptance can only be achieved through overcoming the struggle between yearning to belong and facing societal barriers. Finally, it is discovered that person al notions of identity are formed through experiences in the larger world, which creates a cemented understanding of belonging. This is portrayed through an extended weather metaphor by Margery Williams and inclusive language in ‘I died for beauty’. Together, the composers create texts which bring the audience on a journey of acceptance and identity, in turn enriching their understandings of belonging. Experiences of acceptance within one’s context allow individuals to discover the difference between truth and imagination. Influenced by her transcendental