Essay 3 – question 2 info
“Cloudstreet dwells on the human desire to find meaning in life.” Tim Winton expresses many themes in his novel “Cloudstreet”, one of which is about finding one’s place in the world and the search for the meaning of life. Basically all of the main characters in the novel experience this desire and battle to find it. In the beginning of the book, Oriel Lamb is a devoted religious woman, though all of this changes after Fish’s accident. She cannot come to terms with the fact that her son was brought back crippled. She questions why there is evil in the world and why good people have to suffer. Oriel does not understand why God had punished her since she was such a devoted and hard working woman. She becomes disappointed and angry with God, losing trust and almost excluding him from her life. She begins to surround herself even more with work after she starts up a shop at the front of her half of the house.
Essay 4 – question 1 some info
This essay discusses the novel Cloudstreet, by Tim Winton, from the point of view expressed by one of the overseas reviews in the novel. This review, written by Sunday Telegraph, comments on Winton’s novel; “A fragmented, hilarious, crude mystical soap opera… one of Winton’s great gifts is his ability to combine reality with a dash of wild poetic fantasy. In a rich Australian idiom, Winton lets his characters rip against an evocation of Perth so intense you can smell it.” As well as exploring the ideas discussed in this detailed review, this essay also comments on whether this is sufficient to hail the novel as a classic. Tim Winton is a talented, compassionate writer of rare authenticity and great versatility. He breaks through the boundaries of the tangible, revealing life as the mystery, which many of us encounter in our daily living. There’s something intensely personal and magical about the way a truly great novel melds with the mind of a reader. Cloudstreet is an outrageous tale, due to the life affirming events, which take place. This is why it is sometimes described as a soap opera. The extraordinary things that unfold in the lives of both families transfix the reader, just like any modern soap opera.
Essay 5
q) “Literary works can explore the cultural myths of the period in which the text was set/produced such as racial, class or gender stereotypes. Respond to this statement referring to at least one text.”
a) Texts often portray a society’s ideologies of class and gender stereotypes during the period of time in which the texts was set. Issues such as class and gender are often explored in an explicit manner through juxtapositioning difference class and gender groups. However in Tim Winton’s novel Cloudstreet, Winton explores the same issues of class and gender through a more implying manner. The novel is set over a twenty year time period between 1943 – 1963 and is almost entirely dedicated to one social group, therefore making adequate comparisons between different classes almost impossible. Winton therefore uses the exploration of education, and for employment as a vehicle to develop the idea of gender and class. Employment is used as a device by Winton to show the differences in classes, particularly in Cloudstreet as it is focused almost entirely on one class group. Winton uses the Sam Pickle’s need for employment to convey the difference classes and their values. Sam Pickles is the working class man; he is defined by his occupation. After injuring himself at work Sam is disempowered and lacks direction. “Dolly saw it was his right hand. His bloody working hand. A man could hardly pick his nose with a thumb and half a pointer.” The values of the working class need for employ
Essay 6
The novel Cloudstreet, written by Tim Winton, is a powerful, moving and epic tale of two separate dysfunctional families and the hardships of life they are put through. The families, the Lambs and the Pickles, go through different situations however, end up both moving to Subiaco to escape and start over. With number one Cloudstreet being both their residence for the next twenty years, the families learn to communicate with one another and overcome the evident separation of them, thus resulting in a uniting journey. Within the text, many different narrative techniques are found. These techniques include such things as multiple and shifting point of views, the episodic structure, diction, and punctuation. All these techniques are strongly evident in different segments, and hence, induce a certain reaction from the reader. Cloudstreet can be viewed as Fish's story, from the beginning of the prologue to the very last pages of the book. It is his journey of self discovery. In the beginning of the book, Fish is described as being 'smarter and better looking than him (Quick), and that people love him more... He's always wisedicking around, talking too loud, being loveable.'(pg. 27). Fish's accident takes place back at the Lamb's old home town of Margaret River.
Essay 7
Cloudstreet, by Tim Winton “A texts setting and structure will normally be used by writers to develop and convey its themes.” The novel Cloudstreet, by Western Australian born novelist Tim Winton is essentially a story revolving around how two rural families have come to live together at number one Cloudstreet. This novel’s themes are about finding one’s place in the world and the search for the meaning of life. As in this instance, Winton has successfully used setting and structure, crucial factors in any prosperous novel to help create a feeling of a real-life type atmosphere and perspective. This essay will demonstrate how Winton has used setting and structure to help develop and convey his themes. The story follows the lives of the Pickle family and the Lamb family and how they have come to grow, develop, love and change over a period of twenty years, while living with each other. Unfortunately, both moves coincided with different family disaster’s. For the Lamb’s, the unfortunate event takes place in the form of the near drowning of Samson, or as he is better known as Fish. While for the Pickles, it occurs with the loss of Sam’s (the father’s) fingers in a fishing accident. The reader can relate these events to the fishing accident of Fish because these accidents affect both families in a way which causes them to move and live in the same house at Cloudstreet.
Essay 8
Through his novel Cloudstreet, Tim Winton shares with his readers some of his thoughts about families. Through the two families in the novel, the Pickles and the Lambs, as well as insight into the characters past families, Winton reveals his feelings on what a families are and what they are here for, turning the tables on conventional thoughts on families. Families are a natural grouping and a natural process in life. Throughout Cloudstreet, Winton reveals his attitudes to exactly what makes up a family unit, and the natural nature of family. Both families in the novel consist of both parents and several children, true to the definition of what a family is. More importantly, however, all parts of the family are still together, whether or not they believe themselves to be better off together or apart. Stick ability is a powerful theme in Cloudstreet, and it is even talked about in the novel by other characters referring to the Lamb family By sticking together, the families are unknowingly helping both themselves and the other members of their family.
Essay 9
The novel Cloudstreet by Tim Winton thoroughly explores the theme of reconciliation. Reconciliation is the acceptance, healing, understanding and moving on that takes place between characters, between self and between characters and their environment. Winton displays a nostalgia attitude associated with homecoming that is very significant to the theme. The characters are longing for a home or in other words a place that brings peace and comfort. The characters and setting play a vital role in their journeys and interaction to promote the theme of reconciliation, which is surrounded with nostalgia attitudes. The character of Dolly is described as a beautiful woman who is lazy, irresponsible and an alcoholic who desperately attempts to hold onto her youth through engaging in sexual activities. Dolly is the anthesis of what we expect a mother to be. Rose is the daughter of Dolly. Rose is full of dreams and ambition however this potential for greatness is hindered by the fact that she must at such a young age take on the responsibility of her family. Rose learns to cook and clean, and even though she has a strong desire to stay in school she does the selfless thing and leaves to get a job and help support herself and the rest of her family.
Essay 10
In Cloudstreet Winton explores the theme of a sense of place using the characters in his novel. This sense of place gives characters comfort, security and identity; and in some cases an escape from their troubles. Characters such as Quick and Oriel find it necessary to leave Cloudstreet in order to find their sense of place. Dolly, however wishes she could relive her life in Geraldton as that gave her an identity and thus a sense of place. Throughout the novel all characters embark on a journey to reveal their sense of place. This journey gives the readers a greater insight into Winton’s characters. Winton portrays a sense of place as having a range of different qualities to each character in the novel Cloudstreet. A sense of place can give a character an identity, which alters the way in which other characters perceive and relate to them. Some characters find that their sense of place is an escape and comfit to them. A lot of characters in Cloudstreet search for this sense of place in order to feel comfort and recognition. In the case of Quick Lamb, he tends to find comfit in being outdoors. Quick decides to move out of Cloudstreet and move to the outback where he believes he will have a sense of place.