Most of us probably agree that belonging and being respected as a member of society are very important to us. In my opinion, being prejudged is not very pleasing. All people have the right to eat, to breathe, and to be respected. Being a member of society, I have these rights but it has not always been that way for mankind. For example, the Jews lost all of their rights including their identity during World War II in Germany. Three examples of the violation of the need to belong appear in "We Might As Well All Be Strangers," I Have Lived A Thousand Years, and Animal Farm.
             In the short story "We Might As Well All Be Strangers," Allison felt as if she did not belong. In the story, Allison was a lesbian girl who was talking to her grandmother about her feelings toward other girls. She felt as if she did not belong because she was different from what her mother expected her to be. Her grandmother understood because she went through the rough times as a Jew during the Holocaust. She understood Allison's feelings because gays and lesbians experience the same alienation as the Jews did in Germany. Both she and Allison were alienated because they were stigmatized by being either Jewish or lesbian. On the other hand, Allison's mother had a very negative reaction to her daughter telling her she was a lesbian. Allison's mother never experienced the alienation her own mother did during the war. That lack of experience made her insensitive to her own daughter. Her own daughter had a closer relationship with her grandmother because of the shared experience of alienation.
             Belonging in society is important for anyone even in very harsh lifestyles. For example, in the book I Have Lived A Thousand Years, even though Elli lived in the ghetto she felt respected and as if she belonged because she was with the Jewish people who experienced a sense of community and pride in their ability to overcome hardship. Elli expressed feelings of belonging to
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