Cloudstreet
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Tim Wintons “Cloudstreet” tells the story of two working-class families, the Lambs and the Pickles, who are forced to live in the same house. It explores the importance of family, spirituality and bringing together. The novel begins with both families in dismay, with unstable relationships. By the end, all conflicts are resolved.
The language, setting and characters are distinctively Australian, shown in the use of Australian colloquial speech such as drongo and staggerjuice.
Class is of the lesser topics that is only briefly discussed in the novel. More particular is the affect that the war of the time (WW2) had on these classes. One of the main characters in the novel, Quick Lamb, who attends the local school notices a younger boy called Wogga McBride and his younger brother. He knows that they are poor from the state of there clothes.
Quick watches them for many weeks, especially the strange way they eat. They hide what theyre doing so nobody can see what there eating. Over this time Quick discovers that theyre not actually eating anything. This has a adverse affect on Quick. The truth that they dont have anything to eat as well as the fact that they feel the need to hide this for the fear of what others would think severely depresses Quick.
After discovering the truth of McBride brothers Quick becomes grateful for everything he and his family has. In the book he says “Were lucky, the old man was too old and I was too young. Weve got food, coupons, a full ration book. Were getting away light.”. This shows Quicks view on the different classes, the “lucky, and the unlucky, the haves and the have nots.
It is my personal view, as well as the apparent view in the book that war further separates the usual gaps between social classes and causes some discrimination. In the story the McBrides need to pretend to eat lunch to avoid discrimination from the kids that could afford to buy food.
I hope that one day the human race will evolve beyond the need to discriminate and help the less fortunate, like Quick did by caring and by sharing his lunch.