Billy doesn’t belong living at home with his abusive father so he leaves to live in a train carriage at Benderat. Billy describes it as a perfect town which gives a sense of calmness. He washes his clothes and swims in the river which suggests that he is comfortable in his surroundings. His positive outlooks on Benderat suggest to the responder that Billy has the sense of belonging.
The friendship of Old Bill and Billy is demonstrated in the lines ‘Old Bill and I looked up into the sky, the deep blue sky that Old Bill and I shared’. Friendship is and important part of belonging and this is communicated to the responder. ‘I hugged Old Bill like ive never hugged a man before.’ Billy has never hugged a man like that before, including his father which shows respect for Old Bill. He is thankful because Old Bill has helped him. Billy feels that he belongs because Old Bill cares about him.
In The Simple Gift Billy writes “I’d go off alone, because you can’t trust those who want to break the rules and you certainly can’t trust those who make the rules” In this sentence Billy identifies him self as an outsider that doesn’t belong to the human society. Herrick uses repetition to emphasize the idea that Billy does not trust the others and there for he choses to isolate