In Dionne Brand's novel What We All Long For, each of the central characters attempts to define and redefine what it means to belong through their own experiences and interactions. For Tuyen, belonging is defined not by identification with specific communities, but by fluidity and progression through these defined aspects of identity. Tuyen's lubaio (an art installation whose base is a signpost made of railroad ties) functions as a central symbol that represents this evolving definition of interpersonal belonging for the artist. Ultimately, Tuyen's relationships with his family and Carla are re-examined and redefined throughout the process of making this installation. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayTuyen's state of lubaio at the beginning of the novel reflects his disturbed sense of interpersonal belonging with his family. When the lubaio is first introduced, it is described as being "a mess of wooden rails and tree stumps, twigs and ropes, debris" (mark 14). At this point, the lubaio is just a set of materials that could dictate what the final product will be. In describing the installation to Jackie, Oku, and Carla, Tuyen admits that she “[has] yet to think about it fully” (17), suggesting that the piece is far from its final form. At this point, lubaio is essentially undefined, as is the artist's interpersonal sense of belonging. How Tuyen chooses to belong and identify with other characters avoids typical definitions of belonging and remains ambiguous. This refusal to belong is typically demonstrated with Tuyen's family when Tuyen's brother Binh tells Tuyen that he plans to go to Bangkok with the intention of pursuing Quy, the family's long-lost son ( 13). Tuyen immediately responds by telling Binh to "stay out of things" and let their parents "forget them instead of encouraging them" (13). In saying this, Tuyen rejects a heightened sense of one of the most fundamental definitions of interpersonal belonging, one's family. Tuyen recognizes that her response to Binh's quest to find Quy challenges the family's sense of belonging when she introspectively wonders why she doesn't want the idea of ​​Quy to be "charged with a specific substance or body » (26). The recognition of his lack of desire to personify a family enigma is the recognition of Tuyen's ambiguous sense of family belonging. By not participating in the desire to personalize Quy, Tuyen rejects this large part of his family's history and refuses to identify with his family. Tuyen's ambiguous sense of belonging to her family is reinforced when Tuyen visits her home in Richmond Hill and tells herself that she "left the embrace of her family" but still longs for "an embrace so tight" (61). Tuyen desires to leave the family, but still longs to feel the comfort and embrace of a family. This desire for both embrace and distance, coupled with Tuyen's lack of desire to participate in resolving a source of family pain, shows that Tuyen's sense of belonging within his family at this point of the novel is very undefined. The same goes for his art installation and his relationship with Carla. Tuyen's interpersonal relationship with Carla at the beginning of the novel is also comparable to the state of the lubaio when Tuyen begins to create it. While the finished lubaio seems a distant possibility, Tuyen notes that Carla occupies “a world of fantasy, of distance, of dreams” (17). This disconnect betweentwo characters interfere with Tuyen's ability to interact with Carla in the "erotic" way she desires (18). With the Lubaio and Carla, Tuyen attempts to create a radical shift in the way she represents and enacts her developing identity. The lubaio is supposed to become a "large figure" who would "fill the entire studio from ceiling to floor" (14). To achieve this transformation, the materials of the lubaio must undergo a radical change and no longer be a mere mess on the floor of the Tuyen studio (14). Tuyen's desire to change the nature of his relationship with Carla involves a similar radical transformation. Tuyen's sexual attraction to Carla is clearly demonstrated several times throughout the novel, as is Carla's rebuttal of Tuyen's sexual advances. A clear example of this, as Tuyen recalls, occurs when Carla and Tuyen wake up after a night of drinking. Tuyen "kissed her playfully, held her in his arms," ​​and Carla immediately responds to this advance by saying "'damn, Tuyen, I told you I didn't like it" (51). This quote establishes that this is a discussion that has been repeated between the two characters, and thus establishes that Tuyen is trying, and has tried, to radically change Carla's sexual identity to suit his own needs. In an essay on the meaning of shared space in What We All Long For, Johanna Garvey argues that Tuyen's sense of belonging “resists and undoes…bordered identities” (770). In this case, Tuyen attempts to undo Carla's limited sexual identity, which implies her being a straight woman. Tuyen directly acknowledges that she has interfered with other women's limited identities when she believes that "heterosexual women have never been as heterosexual as they pretend to be" (Brand 50). Tuyen's insistence that Carla's sexuality (and sexuality in general) is not as dichotomized as straight and gay shows that Tuyen is attempting to create a sea change in how Carla identifies within of the sexual community. Tuyen does this to satisfy his own personal desires. In the same way, Tuyen attempts to radically change the mess of materials she collected into a recognizable work of art. As the installation evolves, so does Tuyen's sense of family identity. When Tuyen first conceptualizes that her installation will be the desire of a variety of people “[written]…written and displayed…on the lubaio” (150), she works in Bihn's store while he goes to “attempt to find their brother” (144). As the installation begins to take an imagined form, Tuyen begins to interact with his family in a way that supports the belonging of the entire family, including Quy. By allowing Bihn to leave the store and pursue Quy, Tuyen indirectly supports this action although he verbally condones it. Contrary to what she says, Tuyen's actions demonstrate that she desires Quy to be personified, and therefore desires the strengthened sense of familial belonging that Quy's discovery will bring. Tuyen's new desire to feel a sense of belonging to her family is further demonstrated when she begins to physically create the lubaio and decides to "insert her mother's letter into the fabric" (155). Tuyen's inclusion of his mother's letter in his work is a conscious desire to fully integrate his family into his identity, and thus shows a desire to fully belong to the family. By incorporating his mother's letter into his installation, Tuyen consciously integrates it with his own individual experience. Contemplating the presence of the self in his works, Tuyen reflects that “all of his installations were filled with self-portraits” (149). Because there is no other mention of a. 2015.