Discovery Essay

Discovery inhibits the ability to embrace new beginnings and accept a sense of change whether it is found or forced upon an individual. The places you travel and the people you meet can emotionally revolutionize a self-discovery through unexpected but anticipated terms evoked from curiosity. ‘Swallow The Air’ written by Tara June Winch and ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’ written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie break the inhibitions of vulnerability, as their ideas represented through cultural contexts and values, lead to an overall self-discovery. Tara June Winch’s ‘Swallow The Air’, explores the idea of vulnerability as a barrier to self-discovery. The protagonist, May Gibson, of mixed descent, lives in a dysfunctional and
The cultural contexts of multiculturalism in society lead to a discovery of one’s overall self. May’s treacherous journey across Australia drifts her towards drugs and crime, but she escapes the hopelessness that taunts her brother. While structured in very short chapters, the novel depicts a life that is not coherent along with the ideologies May has attached to her father figure. However, May is let down, “What I saw was not meant for my eyes…that look, that exact face. That was his anger face”, the shock is represented through the use of repetition and plot twist played on the conscious mind. The vivid screams and scars torture May as she ultimately places herself in her mothers position – her father as her own evil abusers. The protagonist eventually travels home to her people’s ‘country’ because there she may find the concluding discovery of her role in society that she craves like oxygen. May discovers her uncle, ‘the spitting image of mum’ who is unintentionally cruel “There is a big hole between this place and the place you’re looking for…that place that people…we weren’t allowed to be Aboriginal”. May finally heads home where she learns Billy has remade his life and finally comes to an inner peace. Realizing the journey