In the iconic Australian text, Cloudstreet, author Tim Winton portrays two vastly differing and struggling families; the Lambs and the Pickles, in the barren land of post war Perth forced, against their will, to live under the same roof at number 1 Cloud Street. Although each of the characters has diverging personalities, perspectives and issues throughout the text, they are more alike than it may seem at a surface level. Every one of the characters all struggle with their own personal adversities, but each one of them also seem to be fleeing from these issues rather than tackling them head on. Whether knowing or unknowing, each of Cloudstreet’s characters are all interconnected, walking “the same corridor time makes for us”. With the house …show more content…
As a result, the characters in the novel struggle to get by in the post war inflicted world, surviving on the bare necessities. From the get go it is apparent that each character arrives at Cloudstreet with their own ‘baggage’ and none of them are left unscathed from their past. A sense of suffering and grief is conveyed by each characters in the novel, with even the house itself expressing its confided pain. The house on Cloud Street seems to be a retreat for the characters, a way to flee from their problems; hoping that the house will mean a new start, free of the ties from the past. Yet the proves not to be thae case as even at this ne house, their problems still follow and the tenants choose to run from their past horrors, too scared to face their issues. In the case of Quick Lamb, he flees to Cloudstreet in hopes of overcoming his guilt about his younger brother’s (Fish) ‘drowning’. However even at this new house, it only worsens as he can no longer look into his brother’s eyes without seeing himself as a monster that almost killed rather than the good man he believes he is to be. Similarly Rose Pickles, like Quick, too is avoiding her issues, with severe anorexia and a horrendously fractured relationship with her family, in particular with her mother, Dolly. Much like Quick and the other characters, Rose too chooses to avoid her issues rather to combat them. This feeling of struggle and pain is a common …show more content…
The purposeful decision to use the house at number 1 Cloud Street to serve as a carrier for the journey means that each of the characters share an important aspect to their lives; “house and no money”. As members of the same household, so to speak, they all live under similar conditions and circumstances. Resulting from this, the characters also share many of the same experiences, meaning there is another similarity between the
To begin, learning to accept new ideas is a central theme. The couple had to accept the fact that the Neighbours had different beliefs, traditions and overall way of life. ‘The big women with black eyes and butcher’s arms gave her a bagful of garlic cloves to plant’. This quote shows imagery. In this quote, readers can visualise the couple and the Neighbours handing over their gifts. You can see that the couple is starting to
Everyone dreams of living a happy and fulfilling life. Sometimes, we need a fresh start. In “Mammita’s Garden Cove,” Max daydreamed about a life where he could start over in Canada. He thought hard about his life in this new place. However, the situation didn’t unfold like he wanted. Cyril Dabydeen uses literary techniques such as diction, imagery, and irony to express Max’s intricate attitude towards his new home in Canada, and his old home on the island.
In ‘Neighbours’, Winton conveys the idea of how the lack of mutual understanding within a community may result to one's seclusion. This is displayed when we are introduced to the couple feeling ‘like sojourners in a foreign land’. The use of simile expresses their unfamiliarity and detachment to the surrounding environment as this is also shown by their ‘wary’ and ‘cautious’ behaviour. Their inability to understand their European neighbours is further established by their shocked reaction to the ‘sounds of spitting’, ‘washing’ and the
Despite an expanded outlook on the world, Luke and Anna find themselves in a place of vertigo as they struggle to come to terms with the harsh world that is Garra Nulla. The metaphor “some days she feels like a fly caught in an invisible web” establishes a visual of one who is confined by their negative experiences, unable to escape, whereas the description of “an invisible web” depicts an image of an unexpected challenge that has impacted on Anna’s initially idealistic view of country living. However, despite the couple’s dislocation and the destructive yet regenerative bushfires an overall feeling of hope at the end of the novella is reassuring. Lohrey delineates this through the symbolisation of the black swans at the closing stage of the novella. “Look”, she says, “the swans are back.” Representing a return to normality in their world as the re-emergence of the swans metaphorically represents the return of hope. The omniscient narrator reveals Anna’s inner dialogue “Ah, she says so you are leaving us. So you are on your way at last. But it’s okay, it’s alright; yes, she thinks, I am ready for this…” displaying that they are finally able to attain comfort over the grief of losing their son. Despite Anna’s and Luke’s negative experiences, the responder attains a feeling of reassurance as through the distinctive images created we observe a return to normality and ultimately a positive feeling of
The novel begins with a journey, both physical and emotional; the Brennans are physically moving houses and towns, but also moving into new, unfamiliar territory. The leaving of ‘home’ is synonymous with the leaving of what id known, familiar and comfortable, in a literal and metaphorical sense.
A little boy scavenges in a dumpster in an alley, desperate for food. Separated from his family, he is lost on the streets of Calcutta. After weeks of barely surviving on the treacherous streets, he is taken to an adoption agency and adopted by an Australian couple. Although it seems like fiction, it is fact. This remarkable story is Saroo Brierley’s, and his memoir A Long Way Home, tells this miraculous story of his childhood and how he came to find his birth family. Throughout the memoir, Brierley weaves a tale of his hardships and developing his identity. In his memoir A Long Way Home, Saroo Brierley uses the literary devices of pacing, imagery, and external conflict to illustrate how the hardships one must endure shape one’s identity,
In the essay, "Westbury Court," by Edwidge Danticat describes his past experiences in Westbury Court. An otherwise undesirable place to live with no consistent hot water and trash pilled up in front of the apartments, as his home. Danticat uses expressive and literary purposes, along with classification and narration, to convey his theme that individual experiences shape us and how we interpret things.
The text is very descriptive and loaded with symbols. The author takes the opportunity to relate elements of setting with symbols with meanings beyond the first reading’s impressions. The house that the characters rent for the summer as well as the surrounding scenery are introduced right from the beginning. It is an isolated house, situated "quite three miles from the village"(947); this location suggests an isolated environment. Because of its "colonial mansion"(946) look, and its age and state of degradation, of the house, a supernatural hypothesis is implied: the place is haunted by ghosts. This description also suggests stability, strength, power and control. It symbolizes the patriarchal oriented society of the author’s time. The image of a haunted house is curiously superimposed with light color elements of setting: a "delicious garden"(947), "velvet meadows"(950), "old-fashioned flowers, and bushes and gnarly trees"(948) suggest bright green. The room has "air and sunshine galore"(947), the garden is "large and shady"(947) and has "deep-shaded arbors"(948). The unclean yellow of the wallpaper is
Cloudstreet is a mystical hymn of each character’s journey to finding peace and redemption within their lives. From separate tragedies, the Pickleses and the Lambs come to Cloudstreet seeking a fresh start. Winton’s exploration of a mystical journey to redemption is represented through the complex relationship between Fish and Quick Lamb. Their relationship is ridden with guilt, despair, a sense of mystical hope and a fervent desire for freedom, ideas that are widely important for the maintenance of human hope.
In conjunction with the symbolic representation of Elisa’s life, the dramatic description of the environment can also be seen as a unique representation of the relationship conflict between husband and wife. Steinbeck’s foggy description demonstrates conflict through the following statement, "a time of quiet and waiting." This description is interesting because the fields are personified as waiting for rain, however, “rain and fog do not go together” therein lies the conflict just as Elisa waits for a positive change in how her husband treats her (Palmerino, Gregory J). Gregory P. further points out that, “The natural elements of the foothills ranch seem as unwilling to confront each other as the characters that inhabit its environs. Hence, fog and rain can be seen as the female and male equivalents to Elisa and Henry.” This only further solidifies the deep rooted troubles within Elisa and her relationship with her husband. The setting of the story is personified to act as a symbolic representation of the couple’s relationship (Steinbeck, John 337-338).
Australian Poet Judith Wright exploits her concerns for the environment and human rights within society; these themes are present in ‘Metho Drinker’, ‘Remittance Man’ and ‘Sanctuary’. The idea of human nature is exposed through an archetype of addiction, where lack of empathy and compassion is expressed through the microcosm of society. ‘Metho Drinker’, being an existential work, depicts Wrights concerns of modern progress and exclusion. Wright exposes the entrapment of both figures with themes of conformity verses individualism, the inevitability of death and man’s relationship with nature. Poetic techniques such as omniscient narrative and third person are used to heighten tension between reality and us as the responder. As an audience ‘Remittance Man’ compels us to reflect upon the English class system of the 1900’s and the lack of human compassion towards migrants and lower classes. This contradicts ‘Sanctuary’, which foreshadows the eventual destruction of nature through the progression of society’s modern world. Personally I was impressed by Wright 's position as an advocate for those without a voice, be it individuals or those of the natural world.
As the tale begins we immediately can sympathize with the repressive plight of the protagonist. Her romantic imagination is obvious as she describes the "hereditary estate" (Gilman, Wallpaper 170) or the "haunted house" (170) as she would like it to be. She tells us of her husband, John, who "scoffs" (170) at her romantic sentiments and is "practical to the extreme" (170). However, in a time
As the problems of their neighbors are broadcast into the Westcott’s living room, the weather outside begins to reflect the climate inside: "There were hundreds of clouds in the sky, as though the south wind had broken the winter into pieces and were blowing it north" (821). The Westcott’s view of society and of themselves is being changed from a beautiful, solid picture of appearances into many jagged, separate pieces that do not seem to fit together.
Living in England during World War II had an impact on her life because it coincided with the time that she was moving around, making it symbolic of her life at that time. She would be lured into a false sense of security in a new home (think of the times in between bombings) and then her world would be turned upside again as she was moved away from her father, and into beaten down homes, and then again to a somewhat
When Willy and Linda purchased their home in Brooklyn, it seemed far removed form the city. Willy was young and strong and he believed he had a future full of success. He and his sons cut the tree limbs that threatened his home and put up a hammock that he would enjoy with his children. The green fields