I Am At Home: A Discussion Of What Home Means
I Am at Home: A Discussion of What Home Means
We’re like turtles, who carry their homes on their backs. Our home is a moveable feast; we can recreate wherever we gather.
—Kathryn Thurber, Humanities and English Instructor, West Virginia University
What is the definition of home? What does home mean to other people? Does home necessarily a safe and cozy place? What brings you security when you are at home? Can home be anywhere? In recent discussions of “what is home” in the book Socrates Café written by Christopher Phillips, a controversial issue has been whether home should be a personal or social notion. On the one hand, some argue that home is a residential place where people feel safe and relax. From a personal perspective, people see home as a residential place where they can feel safe and relax. On the other hand, however, others argue that home should be a social place that belongs to everyone in the society. In other words, home is the beginning of societies and nation states; nation states and societies give people a great sense of belonging. According to this definition, home is not only a place where people originally come from, but also is the root of their race, ethnicity, culture and citizenship. The relationship between personal home and social home is inseparable. The existence of personal homes is dependent on a well society. On the other hand, a well society is formed by groups of good personal homes. In fact, nation states are derived from societies, and societies are originated from personal homes.
From my point of view, I believe that home should be both personal and social. Though I concede that the concept of home is more a personal place, I still agree that home plays an important role in society. For example, if someone owns a home physically but he doesn’t accept his society or country, the place where the home is physically located may not be a real home to him. Some may object that even though they come from the country where...
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