Belonging In Riel Nason's Short Story 'The Box'

Comparative and Contrast Essay
In a social setting the feeling of belongingness to a group is very important. If one is different and does not belong to a group that person is outcasted. The first story, “The Box” written by Riel Nason is about a character named Jeff who goes to a long time friends wedding and faces a number of obstacles. The second story is called “One, Two, Three Little Indians” written by Hugh Garner and focuses on the obstacles a native-canadian faces. Characters Jeff and Big Tom experience alienation and the difference in values which restrict them from achieving belongingness. Ultimately, it is seen that acceptance to the environment is the key to either success into integrating or failure to do so in certain circumstances.

Both characters are held back from achieving belongingness by Alienation. Both Jeff and Big Tom face judgment through similar means. Firstly, Jeff is held back by judgment when he is invited to a friends wedding. Judgement impedes Jeff from feeling as if he belongs here because he notices how differently the guests at the wedding look at him and there actions towards him. Here Jeff gives a box he made himself as a wedding present. When the bride and groom open the box during a gift giving session, Jeff states, “This is when something in the room changes. The bride and her mother say nothing. People start to turn around again, some look at you, some to look at the box…People start to whisper…‘How is it he knows him? I don’t think I’ve ever here him mention his name.’ [Jeff notices] the bride look up at first her mother, then her next-day husband in a certain way. It is a plea for help. The mother looks over at [Jeff] suspiciously...She thinks [Jeff] has an angle of something, or the [Jeff] has crossed some line. And then, after a few seconds when she composes herself, there is something else there too - pity. It seems ridiculous, and of course [Jeff] is shocked and could never have anticipated any of this, but [Jeff] is sure he sees it. She is sorry for [Jeff] that somehow [Jeff] just didn’t know better. This is what the problem is. Poor [Jeff]. [Jeff] is not from here. Somehow looking at her face, [Jeff] figures all this out.” (Nason, pg. 1). Here, Jeff is held back by the feeling of being criticized because the box was not seen by the guest as just a gift, but as a symbol of intimacy. The box gives off the impression to the guests that Jeff must be a very close and significant guest on the groom's side of the family. This is also the reason why the bride’s mother looks at him in pity, because she believes Jeff considers himself as an important guest but in reality the bride’s mother knows Jeff was very minor to the groom's life and was a irrelivant guest. This is why she felt pity for him because the gift was thought to have a very intimate meaning behind it and she felt bad for him because she thought Jeff might not have very important people in his life and he must have seen the groom as a very significant friend even after twelve years.

Similarly, Big Tom from One, Two, Three Little Indians also experienced judgement from the people around him. Big Tom is judged because of other people's stereotypes for him and his culture. When Big Tom goes to sell baskets in order to earn a living he states, “A man took a series of photographs of him with an expensive looking camera, pacing off the distance and being very careful in setting his lens opening and shutter speeds.’I wish he’d look into the camera,’ the man said loudly to a couple standing nearby, as though he were talking of an animal in a cage.’You can’t get anime good picshus around here. Harold tried to get one of the five Dionnet kids, but they wouldn’t let him. The way they keep them quints hid you’d think they was make of china or sump'n’, The woman said. She glanced at her companion for confirmation’ (Garner, pg. 3). This shows the judgement Big Tom faces because it shows how non-native people see him as something to spectate and not

someone they can interact with. This restricts Big Tom from feeling belonged because he is seen as something from a whole different world and not treated as a human but more like a creature. To conclude, Both Jeff and Big Tom suffered judgement which resulted in alienation. A significant contrast is the both characters had a similar result but their situations were completely different. Jeff fought with societal judgement, this is shown when the guests would assume things about him because he is not from the city and would therefore treat him differently. Whereas Big Tom faced ignorance and was judged for being different, this is shown when Big Tom is selling baskets and the onlookers treat him as someone who is not cultured and does not understand them.
Both Jeff and Big Tom also face false assumptions that confine them from achieving belongingness.

Foremost, Jeff is held back by false assumptions because the guests at the wedding assume different things since he is not from the city and apply their own prejudices upon him. For example when Jeff meets the bride’s uncle Rich, asks Jeff, “ ‘So is your work in wood?’ he asks. It is because of the box. [Jeff nods]. ‘Trees?’ [Jeff] says more or less., and he seems pleased with his perceptiveness, ‘You know, in my wife’s family there was a lumberjack five or six generations back,’ Rich pops one of the mystery hors d'oeuvres into his mouth.” (Nason, pg. 2). Here Jeff faces false assumptions because Rich concludes that Jeff must be a lumberjack because firstly, he lives in the countryside and is not from the city, and secondly, because Jeff stated that he works with wood he automatically must be a lumberjack. But in reality Jeff is actually a chemical engineer that works at a pulp factory. This holds Jeff back from belongingness because the guests simply assume things because of the stereotypes and beliefs they hold. Similarly Big Tom also experiences false assumptions. Big Tom faces false assumptions through prejudice and ignorance about native culture and native people. When Big Tom goes to fish in order to as much money to pay for the doctor for his sick child he faces false assumptions by his boss Cooper. When Cooper asks, “ ‘What's the matter?’ Copper asked. ‘You seem pretty

anxious to go today.’ ‘My kids sick. I want to make enough to take him to the doctor's,’ Copper walked around the truck and opened one of the doors, rattling the handle in his hands as if it were stuck, ‘You should stay home with it, moke it some pine-sap syrup. No need to worry, it’s as healthy as a bear cub.’” (Garner, pg. 2). Here Copper assumes Big Tom’s baby is fine and does not need any medical assistance but rather natural herbs because it grew up closer to nature. Copper also treats the baby as if it were not human, he refers to the baby as a “it” and assumes that natural ways would cure the kid and not medical assistances. Also Copper compares the baby to a bear cub as if native people are closer to nature so they must be “animals” themselves. Big Tom is alienated through false assumptions because of how native people are treated more like a different species that is closer to animals than actual humans. Therefore, both characters lack belongingness because of false assumptions. Both Jeff and Big Tom face assumptions through stereotypes, but Big Tom also faces a bit of cultural racism, for example when Copper say to treat his sick baby in a natural way rather than seeing a professional.
The idea that emerges with these two characters is about what it takes to cope is taking action for yourself. Jeff succeeds in taking in action to stand up for himself because even though he knew that people had a certain mindset about him and the box he went on to state, “When the bride and groom start to circulate…[Jeff] will tell them that [Jeff] came to their wedding because [Jeff] was invited. [Jeff] will say he hoped they liked the box because you enjoyed making it (Nason, pg. 4). Here he states he will clear any misunderstanding between the bride and himself and will go on his way. On the other hand Big Tom failed to take action for not only him but also the baby. When Big Tom would accept his wife and put his beliefs behind him that affected not only him but the baby. Maybe if Big Tom would say what he believed in and what he thought was right for the baby the baby wouldn’t have died. Also when Copper was assuming things about the baby Big Tom should have told him that his baby was sick and needed medical help not from natural herbs.
In conclusion, the characters Jeff and Big Tom were seeking belongingness but are impeded by alienation and values. Both characters face alienation through judgment by other characters and false assumptions by other characters. Jeff faces societal judgements and assumptions whereas Big Tom faces cultural judgements and false assumptions based on cultural prejudice.