Cloudstreet

‘Cloudstreet’ is a rich novel with multilayered of meanings embedded. Its cultural context is identifiably Australian, which may be a barrier for readers of different context. However, through its richness in value and universal themes, contemporary readers are able to cross cultural and contextual barriers. One theme which permeates the whole novel is reconciling the past. Winton explores this in two levels, personal and national levels. Context is less important in interpretation for reconciliation on personal level. However, context will influences very much on national level. The need for personal reconciliation can also be seen through Quick. Quick is driven by his guilt that he feels in causing Fish’s accident ’Fair dinkum Quick Lamb hates himself’, indeed it blights his life, shapes his personality and cast a misery shadow in his life. ‘He knows it should have been him, not Fish.’ Quick traps himself in ‘the gallery of the miserable’, posting his wall with scenes which constantly remind himself of misery around the world. His misery radar grows to a degree that he yearns for freedom and escape; he has to leave the stifling environment to heal himself. His wondrous journey with spiritual occurrences leads him to gain a better understanding of himself, thus acceptance of the past. One of the spiritual phenomenons occurs is when Quick lies half conscious on the ground, Fish appears rowing a box across the field of wheat, it is then Quick makes a conscious decision that he wants to live. Such personal examination of the pain of the past is not bound by context. The fundamental humanity explores in the novel allows readers to respond to the shared emotional experiences. Winton uses Quick to comment on Australia’s past and the need for acceptance of it before change can be wrought. Quick’s naivety joins the police force as it’s a tangible way ‘to fight evil’ is stripped away when he recognises the sheer ordinariness of the Nedlands monster. ‘It’s not us and them anymore. It’s us and us and us’. He recognises the common humanity of us all. The reconciling of personal past is clearly shown through Dolly and Rose. Dolly as a hopeless mother, who had giving in to the hardships which has shaped her life. Her only escape from the world is through alcohol, and uses her beauty and enormous affairs to validate her worth and her place. Rose, on the other hand, deals with her frustration and disappointment by punishing herself. She lashes out at her mother for her abrogation of responsibilities, ‘Hating you is the best part of bein’ alive.’ Her hatred towards Dolly makes her bitter and blighted in her view of the world, and seeks escape through employment and relationship with pretentious Toby Raven. She tries to obliterate her past by wanting to live in a new house until she realises where she belongs. Her relationship with Dolly is only repaired when Rose learns the truth about Dolly’s past and understands the forces which had driven Dolly to be the way she is. Reconciling their past and the birth of Wax Harry allows healing and understanding of their belonging, and reconciles hope for Dolly, a new chance for change and grow. As a contemporary reader, we can recognise Dolly’s painful past and her strong character as Winton had integrated the modern female characteristics in Dolly. The universal of family, love and acceptance allows readers to comprehend the nature of humanity. Winton had integrated modern female character in ‘Cloudstreet’, ‘but the women are gradually seem as strong as compared to the weak and inert men’, says Elizabeth Guy in her essay “Tim Winton writing the feminist’. Oriel is a strong character who believes in control and power. Her grief past shaped her significantly, the bushfire and death of her brother all contributes to her unescapable past. She aims to control every aspects of her life and is determined to hold onto something in her life, that is through hard working and family. Her perception of herself as ‘hard as nails’, implies tremendous burden which prohibits her to show any weakness. Oriel’s pain is palpable as she struggles to deal with her failure to fully resuscitate her beloved Fish. Fish’s inability to recognise her breaks her heart immensely as she fights for her miracles to happen. Oriel’s view of life as a battle, ‘I’m losing the war. Living in the tent, she can ‘lace it up and never come out… then I could get on with the real war. She feels disorientate and has lost her sense of belonging, ‘I didn’t belong anywhere, not in my body, not on the land’. Her life is hold back for 20 years, it is only until the death of Fish, that she can finally accept the fact that the miracle will never happen, Fish will never come back. By physically and emotionally let go of Fish, she is able to dismantle her tent and return to the house. Reconciliation on national level depends very much on context. The black fella represents Australian history when we undervalued and denied their existence. He possesses wisdom that white characters lacks and guides Quick in his journey of self understanding, and he helps various characters to realise the importance of connection to land and place. ‘You shouldn’t break a place. Places are strong, important.’ He also encourages Quick to recognise the value of family unity. ‘Go home, this isn’t your home’. He shows the need for understanding of their cultural spiritualism and the strength of Aboriginal belief in connection with the land. Winton uses symbolism throughout the novel providing it with spiritual dimension which allows readers to explore the metaphysical world. Cloudstreet as ‘the great continent of house’ is brought to life by the descriptions of ‘cracks’ and ’moans’. It replicates the Australia history commenting on the need to reconciling the Australian past. With music note ‘the middle C’ and the warring spirit droned throughout the novel, their voice are unheard, shows that the past is reverberating through time, reinforcing Aboriginal past by commenting on the stolen generation when children were forced to leave their families and assimilate with Europeans. The spirits are trapped in Cloudstreet for twenty years until Rose and Quick fills it with their love, with the birth of Wax Harry it allows reconciliation of the two disparate families and the nation, allowing the house to breathe ‘its first painless breath in half a century’. The river in the novel holds a strong attraction for all characters and provides key climatic moments in the text. The river is recognises as a life force as Quick tries to articulate his bond with the river, ‘Everything important things that happened to him, it seemed, had to do with a river.’ The description of ‘the beautiful, the beautiful, the river’ flows throughout the novel, emphasising the flow of time and cyclical nature that they end up where they started. The river is thus a symbolic of continuity and the ebb and the flow of life. Cloudstreet is a nostalgic novel described as ‘an epic and praises to Australia’, it elaborates reconstructions of a world that no longer exists and celebrates Australia’s past through many different ways. The novel is riddled with the names of products that are either no longer available or no longer used in everyone life. Bairds department store where Rose worked and the ‘Daily News’ where Toby Raven worked had gone out of business. Palace hotel and ladie’s lounge no longer exists. Winton also reflects Australia of today, showing ordinary families in transition as they develop and adapt to the circumstances they are faced with. The language Winton uses evokes a sense of time, the slang that comes naturally to Lambs and the Pickles such as, ‘skylarking’, ‘chiacking’, creates a vivid portray of the bygone era. The realism of their words and the bizarre and humorous situations all contributes to the satisfaction and entertainment of the readers. Thus, whatever reading or perspectives is adopted by a responder, the dense beauty of theme and language gives ‘Cloudstreet’ textual integrity. The myriad of issues dealt with allows fore accessibility. The universal appeal means that paradoxically a novel that is identifiable Australian retains the ability to appeal across cultural and contextual barriers.