for Fish that led to his being revived. That this faux miracle is had by the deeply Christian Lamb
family, makes the journey they take in comprehending that love is a form of spirituality, all the
more compelling, and from this, we as readers, are able to learn a great deal about the nature of
spirituality. This encounter is compounded by the other experiences by the Lamb family,
particularly Quick, that strengthens the idea that spirituality can’t be confined to one philosophy.
When Quick is taking a sabbatical in the country he has an experience mimicking the book of
John in the Bible catching an enormous amount of fish which ‘leapt into the boat on their own
accord’(p 216). This experience, where he also sees an Aborigine walking on water, occurs
whilst he is suffering intense guilt about Fish’s disability, and this leads Quick to a religious
awakening. Coming home to Cloudstreet glowing, like the prodigal son Moses (’lord, he’s
glowing like a lamp’ p 225) signifies that he has accepted the fate of Fish and the role he played
in the tragedy, so no longer feels the need to blame himself. Thus the religious symbols have
acted as a catalyst for signifying to Quick that there is another realm of life, and it leads him to
recognise that spirituality encompasses love, in particular the love that he has always felt for his
brother. This discovery, illustrates that although the characters in Cloudstreet attempt to deny
their spirituality after the accident, ‘except no one believes anymore, the disappointment has been
too much’ p 47), it is presented as being so interwoven in their lives they cannot deny its
presence, and thus we as readers can recognise that it is integral to our own lives as well.
The ‘enormous flaking mansion…with a look of godless opulence’ (p 47) in which the two
families live, is personified through being alive with history, presenting to readers another form
of spirituality, the idea that spirituality is present even in inanimate objects. Prior to the house
being inhabited by the Pickles and the Lambs it was owned by a lonely, wealthy old widow who
fancied herself a ‘Daisy Bates of the city’(p. 36), taking in aboriginal girls in an effort to make
‘ladies’ of them. One of the girls suicides in the library causing the widow to close off the old
house, and she dies soon afterwards. The unhappy nature of events leaves the house in
recognition of the tortured spirits of the aboriginal girl and the old woman, which is seen by the
Pickles and Lambs families in the way it reflects evil for twenty years. Oriel Lamb feels the
presence of the spirits reflected in the house and this provokes her to move into a tent in the
backyard, proclaiming the house was saying to her ‘wait, wait… and she wasn’t the sort to argue
with a living breathing house’. From this encounter Winton evokes a dual world between reality
and the surreal that is both whole and holy, because it is constantly reinforced that the spirits of
these unhappy prior inhabitants are present, and that the present occupants are aware of this and
can interact with them. Through the former Christian Oriel’s acceptance of these strange events,
we learn from her change in ideas that we shouldn’t be closed to thoughts of the seemingly
absurd in the spiritual realm. This is reiterated in the haunted room as Rose has her baby, Wax
Harry, and she feels ‘the spirits on the walls are fading…. finally being forced on their way to
oblivion freeing the house’ and the positive forces of love obliterate the evil. We are guided by
these examples to see that, as the characters embraced their spirituality by being open to the
mysteries in life, grace comes to them, unbidden and unsought, in the form of being able to see
the light that was always there. Through the house being personified, Winton gives readers an
overwhelming impression that where spirituality is found is not important, rather it is that it is
acknowledged, which Oriel and Rose eventually discover.
The ‘water’ in Winton’s work is shown as inherently spiritual, it is integral to the lives of the
characters and symbolises miracles, paradise, regeneration, revelations all whilst existing outside
a linear time. However, it is when Quick and Fish journey down the river at night that the
distinction is clearly made between the water metaphorically and in the literal sense, both of
which reveal to readers different meanings of spirituality. In literal terms, the river is seen to have
a presence that enables extraordinary things to happen, a young boy rowing a boat from
Fremantle to Crawly, a near drowning, a love blossomed and two families unite. As Quick
states, everything important to him seemed to have happened on the water, it was a ‘broad
muttering , living thing …but it resisted all the same, having life, giving life, reflecting it’.
The river is used as a reverse spirituality, or even as a spiritual substitute, and we see this through
the characters actions. As Carl Jung said, ‘Meaning, makes everything more bearable’ and the
characters, in particular Quick, Rose and Fish use the river they consider so sacred to find
meaning, thus the river is used as a vehicle in the search for spirituality. As Tim Winton says ‘ I
remember looking at the landscape, and apprehending the God through that’. This reinforces to
readers that the search for spirituality in our lives is inevitable, because it is omnipresent and can
be found even in inanimate objects. The metaphorical water reference is in relation to the
character of Fish, who was saved from death as a child but who remains only half in the physical
world. This world haunts him incessantly and is feels so inherently connected to water that he
must be restrained in the presence of water, and cries that he wants, ‘the water, the water’. When
he drowns himself in the river, he becomes a man again and bursts into ‘the moon and the stars
of who I really am,’( p. 424) alluding to the idea of a world after the living, a heaven where he
becomes complete again and everything is perfect. Through the river, Fish Lamb becomes
connected to the spiritual, and so the concept of a spiritual realm is suggested. The presentation
of spirituality in cloudstreet is fundamental to the notion of the river, for it is within the river that
the characters are seen as really connecting with their spiritual selves, and thus it is reinforced
that another realm does exist.
Characters like Sam and to some extent Lester believe in a different form of spirituality, of
fatalism, a belief that all events are predetermined and therefore unalterable . At the start of the
novel we see this phenomenon in action as Sam gets out of bed against his better judgment, ‘ Sam
knew damn well that when the shifty shadow was about… stay under your sheet and don’t
move,’(P.9) and suffers the consequences, cutting his fingers off in an avoidable accident. From
thence on we are introduced to the idea of the shifty shadow that grants luck or disaster where it
rests, and are presented a version of spirituality that operates not on love but odds. Yet despite this,
the philosophy appears equally reasonable. Likewise Sam experiences a miraculous streak of luck
with a lowly ranked horse, Blackbutt that keeps winning, and he ‘ knew it didn’t make any sense at
all…but luck came from some other place, and he didn’t question it’ (p. 86). He shares this
encounter with Lester, who partakes in Sam’s luck, and this influences him to change from a man
who ‘can’t say he has ever been persuaded by luck, to being wound up in a new kind of excitement
where it ‘was like having a light shining on you; it suddenly felt like anything was possible’(p.101).
Sam’s influence is passed onto Rose, who accepts the circumstances in which she really ‘meets’
quick as being predetermined, ‘do you believe in fate?’(313)Lester uses a butter knife to determine
events in fun, playing with the idea of fate being in the hands of a spinning utensil. It is interesting
to note that it is the men in the novel that accept these psychic experiences, knowing that you must
simply accept fate. Fatalism is presented to us through a series of events in the characters life that
are seemingly not plausible by any other reason but luck. The idea of the shifty shadow goes against
Winton’s other dealings with spirituality, that it exists on the power of love, yet is consistent with
the view that there is something beyond our existence, another realm whether it be luck or love.
Cloudstreet is a book of celebration of everything to do with life, and spirituality is an integral part
of our existence. Although it can be said that Winton certainly has a biblical bent, he allows us to
consider the different aspects of spirituality by presenting to readers an eclectic amalgam of
traditional Christian values, working class superstitions, aboriginal spirituality and the supernatural.
The biblical allusions allow us to see that events in the bible are indeed relevant to our life, in the
same way they can be used as a catalyst for acceptance of spirituality. The house and the river being
personified reinforces that spirituality can be found in inanimate objects, or indeed anywhere, whilst
the fatalist point of view reiterates that there is another realm. Cloudstreet overwhelmingly presents
a view that it does not matter how one interprets spirituality, as long as one acknowledges it in your
own way for the search for meaning in life is inescapable. Whether the world operates on love, luck
or God, Tim Winton presents spirituality as being part of a life that is ‘holy and somehow
integrated.’
Interview with Tim Winton by Andrew Taylor
Miels, Y, Singing the Great Creator (Reading Tim Winton)
Miels, Y, Singing the Great Creator (Reading Tim Winton)
Collins dictionary, (2004)
Quin, Rodd, (2004), Ideology in Cloudstreet, English teachers association of W.A.
