i just did this one as a practice essay, and Its probably not as good as it could be (because i havent finished revising cloudstreet, and isn't as long as it could / should be cos i wrote it under non-exam conditions, but i will put it up anyway)
If anyone (lookin at you mr bundy "tastes good dont it! haha") can give me feedback as well that would be great.
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Perhaps the best way to describe Cloudstreet is as an episodic saga; a series of common, mundane events which are strung together to reach epic proportions. . Winton does this by integrating the novel, reaching a point of textual integrity to which the novel can be read.
Being a modern Australian classic one would presume that coming from an Australian context, the text would be received as good old yarn of epic proportions. Winton embraces this, taking on the underdog nature of Australian tradition:
Perth is the largest country town in the world
The use of the Australian vernacular creates a point of common place among its readers:
Dolly throws open the library door to see rug rolled up and shivering epileptic in the corner by the piano where to the room is fugged up with the smell of hot bodies
The effect upon personal reflection for the reader, is a sense of patriotism and pride in ones national identity it is of course a novel written by an Australian, and arguably for Australians.
Embodied within the sense of Australianism comes an elevation of the typical events, to epic status; a moment of national pride. For example, Sam Pickles lucky streak - the symbolic blackbutt representative of all things unreal about Australia the lucky land.
It is of course without doubt however that Winton employs more than just the Australian identity to achieve epic status for his wonderful novel.
Spiritualist readers may also argue that Winton employs the use of spiritualism to further the meaning and significance of such mundane events.
There are two sides seen between the lams and the pickles. Lester and Oriel are god fearing people after the not quite a miracle return of Fish. The Pickles of course are those who believe in luck the fortuitous shifty shadows
Sams stump is glorified through the miraculous and ironically lucky death of Joel who left him Cloudstreet:
Thank you lady luck you rotten slut
Of course besides the personal religious vindications of the lambs and the pickles, the novel is full of spiritual allusions. Quicks prodigal return in reference to the fable of the return of the prodigal son. All of course turning the mundane into more significant and worthy that are of epic proportions.
The constant aboriginal spiritual references the blackfella and the spirits in the library, elevate the text even further to take into consideration elements of aboriginal spirituality.
Cloudstreet of course on the surface, may seem literal and mundane but the text is full of more metaphysical deeper meaning events. Winton embodies this through his magic realism among other things.
The text can be read in other contexts which also elevate the significance of events.
A feminist reading might portray the plight of female characters as important:
well she thinks, Im a woman, she wants to cry, but ends up being grateful
The female characters in the novel are of course the strength of the text . Holding their domestic duties in a patriarchal world, they manage to show courage. The males of the text are weak in many ways.
Perhaps most significant to the Cloudstreet saga, is that each character desires to reach their particular point of belonging. If of course the text had been told within the seconds it took Fish to drown, a point of equilibrium had been achieved. Families stick together after fishs drowning, the Lambs seek refuge from outside the church whose ritualistic nature are shown to be outside the faith held by Lester and Oriel Lester proclaiming:
it wont do unless it fits in with them
Even with the topical issue of reconciliation, Winton is able to show belonging as out of place through the ironically correct calls of:
go home to your home, this isnt your home, go home to your home mate with the blackfella.
In maintaining a wider story, or image to which Winton is aiming to achieve, which can be viewed from a variety of different readings, it is able to see the hidden meaning in the mundane events. What seems as simple, and basic on its own, adds to a complete picture of understanding.
Winton is able to explore the everyday nature of his epic fable whose time is undefined over a twenty year period, however it is of course the larger significance of the text in its complete form, that shows it as epic.
