Cloudstreet
... memories Fish, as the novels narrator serves as the essence of spirituality. “Being Fish Lamb. Perfectly. Always. Everyplace. Me.” Page 424. We can relate the name Fish, to the symbolic figure of a fish that Jesus used meaning peace and the name Lamb symbolically representing that we as lambs follow the herd as the lord is our shepherd. This ultimately conveying a duality of his name, in which we can associate many aspects of his character. In his visions we see guardian angels and of him being able to talk to their pig confirms the aspect of the otherworldly in life. We see water as the most symbolic force in Fish’ life, as water symbolises cleansing, a type of cleaning and a new way of seeing or thinking about something. It is in Fish’s heaven that we see his other-self and his desire to remember this world and too see it again. The spiritual ramifications of the novel’s prologue and epilogue scenes are unmistakably clear. In water as there is death, there is rebirth or life. This is shown in the marriage of Quick and Rose and the birth of Wax Harry. Creating harmony within the two families and symbolically meaning that in the death of one loved one – Fish, we see rebirth, harmony and the chance of a new life in both the child, Cloudstreet and between the two families Besides providing an interesting story line, texts may portray attitudes and values connected with many aspects of the society in which they were written or represent. This is the case in the novel, Cloudstreet, in which values and attitudes of Australian life are presented in the story of two families sharing one house. The author, Tim Winton, may have directed these attitudes and values at the Australian society to provide the people involved within, an understanding of themselves and their culture, and also make an attempt at pushing his own interpretation of them. In Cloudstreet, Winton has effectively used the role of the woman and the man to express more modern attitudes and values of Australian life. Lester and Oriel Lamb are prime examples of this. Being the man of the house (or half of the house), it is usually expected that Lester go out and work hard for his money, to come home to a wife who supports him and looks after the house and kids. But this is not the role he plays in Cloudstreet, in fact the complete opposite. Lester is portrayed as a sensitive man who cooks and cleans regularly, helping out with many of the household chores. He never seems to have a quarrel with Oriel, his wife, having most of the control over the household, or him having to pull his own weight. In fact, it is Lester who seems to be the mother of the house, looking after the children, especially Fish, and working hard to make ice-cream, pies and other treats for their shop in the front room. Oriel is the compliment of Lester, as she has all the qualities you would expect to find in a man, she is strong, independent and determined, working hard to improve the family business. This is clearly noticeable when she eventually succeeds in putting another small goods store out of business, located on the main road. As it can be seen, Winton has effectively taken a step away from the traditional stereotypes of, "the man and woman of the house," and presented a current shifting in the values and attitudes of our modern society. In society, the attitude often depicted towards Aboriginals is not one of good nature and has become more of a stereotype. In Cloudstreet, however, the attitude towards Aboriginals is the complete reversal of this bad stereotype, possibly a message from Winton. The Aboriginal in Cloudstreet, referred to as "The Black Man," is conveyed as a guide or guardian angel to both families occupying the house. The one he appears to most of all is Quick, who first encounters The Black Man when he gives him a lift into Perth. On this occasion, The Black Man offers Quick wine and bread, similar to the story of Jesus feeding 5000. Soon after, Quick sees him again, "walking on water" at Margaret River, establishing in the mind of the reader that he is almost spirit like. Much later on in the book, Quick encounters The Black Man at his new house, the one he and Rose planned to live in. The Black Man says to Quick, " This isn't your home. Go home to your home mate," referring to Cloudstreet, as if he was guiding him back to his family. This same sort of guidance is offered to Sam when he sees The Black Man on voting day. Sam ponders on selling the block the house is located on and The Black Man tells him not to break the place because "Places are strong, important." From this, readers can see that Winton has portrayed this Aboriginal as an almost Christ like figure, guiding the two families and possibly tries to depict that not all Aboriginal's come under the stereotype society has given them. An attitude or value expressed often during the novel by Winton is the feeling of togetherness, which is displayed through the families living at Cloudstreet. When Rose and Quick discover their love on the river, they realise that they have lived under the same roof for nearly 18 years and have struggled their way through it, almost ignoring the family on the opposite side of th...