How Cultural Identity Is Represented In Tim Winton's Cloudstreet

A unique aspect in this text in regards to characterisation is the strong character given to the actual house, Cloudstreet. This characterisation is extremely significant in representing race in relation to the representation of Australia’s cultural identity. The house is constructed with a definite and troubled past, with direct links to Australia’s historical context. There is a direct reference to Australia’s stolen generation – where Aboriginal children were taken from their families and taught the customs of the western world. This renowned racist policy of taking Aboriginal children from their homes, “led to enormous disruption and anguish” for many Aboriginal families for many years to come. The previous owner of the house, a widow who was lonely and rich, made her large house a place in which young Aboriginal women were procured in order to conduct assimilation to make ladies of them so they could set a standard for the rest of their sorry race. Even though this owner believed she was doing the right thing by teaching the girls westernised etiquette, they were not happy and the emotional and social cost of this action was extremely high on both the taken children and the families left behind. After an Aboriginal girl killed herself by drinking ant poison and the sudden death of the owner, the house was boarded up and held its breath. This diminutive section of the characterisation of Cloudstreet highlights the marginalisation of Aboriginal people in this particular context whereby, White Anglo Saxon was the dominant race. The house is reflective of the identity of Australia in this timeframe, where western ideology is dominant. By persistently highlighting the negative aspects of this mono-cultural society, like the unhappiness of the Aboriginal girls and the inability of Aboriginal people to vote. Ultimately, the characterisation of the actual house Cloudstreet is extremely influential in the representation of race, which adds to how the identity of Australia’s culture is represented. It is by this characterisation that the marginalisation and fundamental treatment of Aboriginal people is not endorsed, thus the text is challenging a renowned aspect in regards to the construction of Australia’s cultural identity.

The characterisation of Lester Lamb significantly supports the representation of the dominance of Oriel Lamb. In regards to the representation of gender, Lester’s character construction furthers the notion of challenging the identity of Australia’s cultural identity. Lester Lamb married to Oriel Lamb, and as a result of her domineering nature, is largely disempowered and marginalised. Lester is an extremely passive character who sometimes give the impression that he is a bit slow always a little behind the moment. Lester’s easygoing nature resulted in a friendship that adds to the way in which Australia’s cultural identity is represented. The strong bond of mateship that Lester makes with Sam Pickles highlights the value of mateship that is cemented throughout Australia’s identity. Even though the two characters hold opposite values, with Sam relying on luck the shifty shadow of God to get him through life’s trials and tribulations and Lester’s determined hardworking nature, they still value each other and respect one another’s beliefs. Lester’s character is constructed with a high level of intuition, which challenges the gender stereotypes as women are generally stereotyped as those with a strong sense of intuition. This sense of intuition is represented when Sam gives Lester a pig as a gift of his appreciation. This pig speaks in tongues, with only Lester and Fish initially hearing it: The flaming pig. The pig has just spoken. As a result of the pig’s talking abilities and Fish’s newfound love for the pig, Lester attempts to tell Oriel that the pig is to stay. It is in this conversation between Oriel and Lester that we can clearly see the dominance of Oriel Don’t

Some topics in this essay:
Oriel Lamb, Swan River, Tim Winton, Lester Lamb, Anglo Saxon, Perth” Raven, Toby Raven, Ultimately Spirituality, Wax Harry, Sam Pickles, cultural identity, australia’s cultural, australia’s cultural identity, representation australia’s cultural, representation australia’s, cultural identity represented, aboriginal people, tim winton, prose fiction, identity represented, culture represented, australia’s culture, identity australia’s, aspect australia’s cultural, class gender race,