Cloudstreet, by Winton, is a saga following the life paths of two struggling families sharing accommodation in a gloomy house but living separate lives. Sagas are not, however, confined to family life; Cloudstreet is also a historical novel in its detailed evocation of Western Australian society through two turbulent decades after World War II. Notwithstanding, Cloudstreet has epic qualities which dislocates it from the particularities of time and setting. Responders are able to sense Winton's desire to confront them with values intrinsic to human life such as love through discord and differences. The fundamental question is not, however the correct reception of the text rather the values the responders bring to the text to shape its meaning.
Already early in the saga, it is apparent that the Cloud Street house represents the Australian continent. This idea is crystallised on the arrival of the Pickles family, where Winton employs the language of colonial exploration: "The Pickleses moved around in the night, stunned and shuffling...
Cloudstreet
Oriel College
Oriel CollegeThey have no money and this great continent of a house doesn't belong to them. They're lost". These images are reminiscent of the Australian continent with its vast interiors, its barrens and its seemingly unforgiving character. Further, this representation is manifested when the Pickles's tenants, the Lambs, arrives. When Lester Lamb recalls the Margaret River, Winton personifies that the house "moaned". This creates an explicit link between the alienated land and its indigene with the haunting of the Cloud Street house. Oriel also comments: "Strangeness is ordinary... there's been queerness all our life". This "strangeness" and "queerness' is a consequence of colonial usurpation of Australia which prevents the full sense of belonging for the 'whitefellas'.
Though, equally valid, there are many other symbols other than the house that reinforce a different perception; such a symbol...