Cultural And Traumatic Experiences In The Novel 'Between Us' By Atkins

Clare Atkin’s novel Between Us explores the lives of two teenagers, Ana and Jono, who come from opposing backgrounds and have different experiences through their lives. Through their stories, Atkins skillfully illustrates how these contrasting cultural and traumatic experiences can have a significant impact on their mental health . By exploring the connection between experiences and mental health, Between Us provides an in-depth understanding of how individuals navigate their internal struggles while facing external circumstances. Atkins emphasises that trauma, adversity, discrimination and loss can significantly impact an individual’s mental health and change them. Through her storytelling, Atkins sheds light on Ana’s cultural barriers, Jono’s

Ana is a refugee from Afghanistan who has witnessed war and violence firsthand. The difficulty Ana has adapting to another foreign culture has been portrayed in the novel as it plays a significant role in shaping each individual’s mental health. The discrimination Ana endures only adds to her sense of loneliness and negatively impacts her mental well-being. The incidents demonstrate how harsh realities of life can influence an individual's health and wellbeing. “Classes with the Australian students'' (Between Us 2018, pg.8) and watching “Australian Tv’ make Ana perceive as if she is one of the Australians. (Between Us 2018, pg.19). Ana feels ‘The constant pressure to fit in and meet the expectations of this new culture’ , which highlights the inner conflict she continually has with herself as she tries to fit into a new and foreign culture. However she ultimately experiences the pervasive sense of being ‘an outsider’. Ana encounters discrimination as an asylum seeker and finds it difficult to adjust to her new environment. Her feelings of isolation are worsened by this cultural clash, which also harms her mental health. Together, these events evince a feeling of acculturation stress in Ana, which ‘can have a negative impact on an individual's psychological health’ (Rogers-Sirin et al. 2014). This stress is often associated with navigating away from one’s culture of origin to another culture. Atkins portrays the detention centre as a jail, one for people who’ve done ‘nothing wrong except come here by boat'. She illustrates the "lack of care and humanity'' (Belot, 2023) shown to detainees by describing the detention facility, which leaves them "dreaming of sunlight"(Belot, 2023). Ana finds herself caught between two worlds, forever searching for a place to call home, but in the process, she feels as though she is gradually losing a part of her true