Belonging in The Barren Grounds by David Robertson Essay Example

“You must go on an adventure to find where you truly belong” (Fitzmaurice). What is it to belong and what does it take to find it? This is the question David Robertson seeks to answer in The Barren Grounds. A book that seeks to join Narnia with Indigenous folktale, The Barren Grounds tells the story of two foster children who are ‘portalled’ away into Askí; a world covered in snow where they undertake a quest to bring back summer. In The Barren Grounds, David Robertson inaugurated the idea of belonging through Morgan’s search for identity, Arik’s journey for companionship and Eli’s hunt for a sense of home.

Identity; the quality, beliefs, morals, etc. that make a person or group different from others. A person’s culture is one of the most important parts of who they are. Morgan is disconnected from her culture(and is aware of this) ”...they want a cute Native kid. And I can tell”, she seems to be stuck in a sort of limbo of identity in which she struggles with who she is and who she wishes to be along with a mammoth disconnect with her culture and what could be a bigger threat to one’s identity to be separated from their culture? 

“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light”(Keller, 1980). Arik starts off as an outcast from society and is someone who is stuck beyond the limits of friendship, she is stealing from Ochek’s trapline when our group of protagonists find her but she learns to trust the others and even tries to save Ochek’s life. Arik quite literally goes on a journey of enlightenment and comes out of it wiser, with friends and a community.

Eli seeks home, for home isn’t “...where you're from, it's where you find light when all grows dark.”(Brown, 2015). Eli is a child who was forced to grow up by the world around him, he shows maturity beyond his years despite the challenges he faces prior and after entering Askí, with his sudden entrance into foster care till losing Ochek and onwards. He is kind and friendly towards Morgan despite her outbreaks and is accepting of James’ and Katie’s attempts to make him and Morgan feel welcome until Morgan expresses her dislike for James’ breakfast. He misses his father and wishes to go back home and agrees to help save Misewa instantly as it reminds him of home, “it all feels like home”.(Robertson,p.185)

To belong is to have a beacon in a world of darkness.The Barren Grounds shows the idea of belonging through the journeys Morgan, Arik and Eli go through to find their goals, identity, companionship and home respectively. To belong is something we all seek, something we all yearn for, all you need to do is go on an adventure.

Works Cited

Robertson, David. The Barren Grounds, 2020.