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Exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye

Human beings need to associate and mingle with their surroundings, be they the family, neighbours, colleagues, nature or a place, in order to feel attached and belonging to a particular society and its environment. This article explores the concept of a sense of belonging in Margaret Atwood’s novel...

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Main Authors: Ahmad Jafni, Nur Fatin Syuhada, Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam
Format: Article
Published: SciPress Ltd 2014
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/37576/
https://www.scipress.com/ILSHS.38.41
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spelling my.upm.eprints.375762023-09-28T04:12:02Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/37576/ Exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye Ahmad Jafni, Nur Fatin Syuhada Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam Human beings need to associate and mingle with their surroundings, be they the family, neighbours, colleagues, nature or a place, in order to feel attached and belonging to a particular society and its environment. This article explores the concept of a sense of belonging in Margaret Atwood’s novel Cat’s Eye (1988). The story is about the protagonist, Elaine, revisiting her childhood memories, where she learned about friendship, longing and betrayal. Although she was being bullied by her own best friends, Elaine remained with them as she feared being alienated. Despite the many years spent outside Toronto and away from her sad childhood memories, Elaine still felt that her hometown was her real home. The notions of belongingness used in this analysis are aided by Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and William Glasser’s Choice Theory. Elaine’s strong attachment to her hometown and her childhood memories is due to the human needs for love and belonging and in an attempt to evade alienation and loneliness. Parallel to what Maslow defines as a sense of belonging, humans on a very basic level long for belonging, respect and love, and Elaine’s actions are seen as a desperate attempt to get through her days in the way that Glasser outlines in Choice Theory – the need for love and belonging is closely linked to the need for survival. SciPress Ltd 2014 Article PeerReviewed Ahmad Jafni, Nur Fatin Syuhada and Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam (2014) Exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 38. pp. 41-50. ISSN 2300-2697 https://www.scipress.com/ILSHS.38.41 10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.38.41
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
description Human beings need to associate and mingle with their surroundings, be they the family, neighbours, colleagues, nature or a place, in order to feel attached and belonging to a particular society and its environment. This article explores the concept of a sense of belonging in Margaret Atwood’s novel Cat’s Eye (1988). The story is about the protagonist, Elaine, revisiting her childhood memories, where she learned about friendship, longing and betrayal. Although she was being bullied by her own best friends, Elaine remained with them as she feared being alienated. Despite the many years spent outside Toronto and away from her sad childhood memories, Elaine still felt that her hometown was her real home. The notions of belongingness used in this analysis are aided by Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and William Glasser’s Choice Theory. Elaine’s strong attachment to her hometown and her childhood memories is due to the human needs for love and belonging and in an attempt to evade alienation and loneliness. Parallel to what Maslow defines as a sense of belonging, humans on a very basic level long for belonging, respect and love, and Elaine’s actions are seen as a desperate attempt to get through her days in the way that Glasser outlines in Choice Theory – the need for love and belonging is closely linked to the need for survival.
format Article
author Ahmad Jafni, Nur Fatin Syuhada
Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam
spellingShingle Ahmad Jafni, Nur Fatin Syuhada
Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam
Exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye
author_facet Ahmad Jafni, Nur Fatin Syuhada
Wan Yahya, Wan Roselezam
author_sort Ahmad Jafni, Nur Fatin Syuhada
title Exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye
title_short Exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye
title_full Exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye
title_fullStr Exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye
title_sort exploring the sense of belonging and the notion of home in margaret atwood’s cat’s eye
publisher SciPress Ltd
publishDate 2014
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/37576/
https://www.scipress.com/ILSHS.38.41
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score 13.211869

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