Cloudstreet Notes:
This topic covers not only plot, characters, themes, motifs and techniques, but readerresponsive view points and context. It greatly stresses textual integrity (all the aspects
which combine to make Cloudstreet a great novel). A personal expression needs to be
included with reference to techniques and how different interpretations have shaped its
meaning for you.
Chapter by Chapter Summary / Plot:
No. Chapter
Summary
0
Prologue
A group of people are picnicking by the river. A man runs to
the jetty and throws himself in the water.
Part I
1
The Shifty Shadow Rose, Ted, Chub introduced. Rose feels the ‘shadow’. Sam
is Lurking
Pickles wakes up to the smell of his dead father – shifty
shadow. Merv Pickle’s story- water diviner. Sam loses his
fingers. Dolly sleeps with Catalina pilot & later has a
nightmare. Sam & Joel go fishing, Joel dies.
Part II
2
Fish Lamb Comes Lester ‘Lest we forget’ & Oriel Lamb introduced as ‘godBack
fearing people’. Mason (Quick), Samson (Fish) & Lester go
fishing. Fish drowned under the netting, but Oriel brought
him back, “but not all of Fish Lamb had come back.”
Part III
3
Back in Time
The past – an old, rich lady took in Aboriginal girls to
educate them. One poisoned herself. The lady had heart
failure and died in the library. Joel bought the house after
Eurythmic won.
4
A House on Cloud House left to Sam in Joel’s will – can’t sell for 20 years.
Street
They move from pub to No. 1 Cloud Street. Rose searches
house, finds Library, cleans it, but comes to conclusion:
“well it could just stay closed”. She receives the books from
Joel’s pub. Lester loses the ₤2000.
5
Nights
Dolly misses her old home where she was known. Sam
remembers better times with Dolly.
6
Sam’s Big Idea
Rose comes home to find Lester building a fence to halve the
yard with old tin sheets & half the rooms locked. Sam builds
the tin bog
7
Even the Only Quick Lamb is nostalgic as the ‘Lambs of God’ leave home
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Miracle that Ever because they can no longer stay in a town ‘when everything
Happened to You
blows up in your face’.
Number One
The Lambs are surprised at the house’s size. Lester meets
Dolly. Lester sets out house rules: corridors=no-man’s-land.
Pickles’ kids appraise the newcomers. Rose sees Fish and
thinks he is beautiful.
Across
the The Lamb side of the yard is cleared and hens put in – Oriels
Corridor
bossy character is explored. Dolly dislikes her. Dissent in
house.
The Knife Never They spin the knife at the dinner table. Religious talk –
Lies
Lester says: “let’s not be hypocrites and thank God” meaning
that he doesn’t understand the concept of God. Lester brings
up idea of opening a shop. He considers consulting God, but
opts for the knife and wins.
Enterprise
Dolly hates the Lambs, especially Oriel. “”That woman
didn’t believe in bad luck the way Dolly did”. The shop
opens.
Stickability
Cloudstreet becomes part of the area. “The place was an old
stroke survivor, paralyzed down one side”: the Pickles were
forgotten.
The Dance
“Fari dinkum, Quick Lamb hates himself” & feels guilty for
‘his ruined brother’. He collects depressing newspaper
pictures.
Props
Introduction of Blackfella. He’s overwhelmed at being
allowed inside.
The Lamb Girls
Introduction of Lamb girl’s personalities. They prefer city to
country.
Medicine
Lester & Oriel talk about Quick’ guilt & about Fish. They
take Fish to ‘quack’. Fish doesn’t register Oriel’s presence.
Fish likened to Lazarus. He mentions that he wants to go to
‘the water’.
VE
‘Victory in Europe’ day. Hitler’s dead.
Fish Forgets
Fish can’t remember who he was or who those around him
are. He can’t or refuses to even see Oriel. He still looks like
Fish though.
Kitchentalk
Oriel’s story= raised the children of her stepmother, burnt in
bushfire but healed by father. Lester’s story= Vaudeville and
Anzac.
Cake
Quick’s 12th birthday cake sold by Oriel for a quid.
Tuba
Lester joins the army band. Fish & Quick talk about when
Fish is sad, when he wants the water.
Science
Lester’s thinking about luck & how the Lambs live by
making their own luck through hard work.
No Wading
Dolly is irritated by Oriel’s ‘perfection’: it’s like “she did it
24
Bells
to shame everybody else, especially Dolly.” Dolly talks to
Lester about their old home. We discover memories of
Dolly’s father who wasn’t her father.
The Lambs are ecstatic about the war’s end – Japs were
‘creamed’.
Part IV
25
Break
in
the Sam feels lucky.
Weather
26
Makin Millions
Sam had left for a while, but came back with a job at the
Mint after winning a two-up game. Rose enjoys a normal
family dinner.
27
Winning
Sam bets on Blackbutt and wins a lot. Sam buys presents:
Rose= desk, boys= airguns.
28
Fair Dinkum
Sam wins Stan, the cockatoo.
29
Quick Lambs Sad Quick notices Wogga McBride pretending to eat. He tails
Radar
them and watches Wogga get hit by a train.
30
Fish Waiting
S.Fish talks about P.Fish and Quick.
31
Debts
Quick lays in bed until Lester talks to him about Fish and his
debt to him. Quick cries.
32
The Kybosh
Oriel wakes up and Lester is gone.
33
Like
a
Light Sam & Lester talk about their pasts. Sam takes Lester to the
Shinin
races. They get drunk. Blackbutt wins again. Rose goes to
the pub to get Dolly who is drunk again. Oriel is angry at
Lester – a quiet anger.
34
The River
Sam takes the family to Freemantle. They fish. He buys a
boat and Quick and Fish row it back. Oriel is upset that Lest
defied her. The boys share a vision of flying through space
before Lester finds them.
35
Burning the Man
Guy Fawkes day- Dolly forgets, but Oriel invites them to the
Lamb’s party. Rose has fun. Fish screams when the dummy
is burnt. P.Fish talks about ‘the water man’. Fish plays piano
– Middle C.
36
The Hand Again
The Pickles kids make a cubby, it collapses and Ted’s penis
is caught in a Capstan tin. Sam loses at the races – the Hairy
Hand.
37
Poison
Rose finds Dolly near the tracks. Oriel helps Dolly and
cleans the house. Rose tears apart her room in anger.
38
Summer
Almost Christmas. Oriel bakes, Dolly does nothing.
39
Red’s Method
Boys peeking under the change sheds at the girls changing –
Red pees on them. Sam wins a pig and gives it to the Lambs.
Oriel buys a tent and hides the account books and the till.
40
The Pig
The pig talks to Fish. Lester hears it but Oriel doesn’t believe
it.
41
The Horse
42
The Tent Lady
Part V
43
Combustible
Material
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
Lester buys a horse on Sam’s advice – failure. Oriel makes
the tent.
Oriel moves out to the tent.
Quick = 16 yrs. Became a cadet, a good shooter. Mr
Krasnostein, a Jewish teacher, gives Quick some disturbing
photos of Hiroshima, worse than the pictures on his wall. He
is disgusted at anorexic Rose
Bones
Dolly always drunk, Sam loses a lot, Rose has to cook, clean
… hates Dolly, starves herself to spite her.
A Desertion
Lester starts his Vaudeville act. Quick leaves.
And the Pig Won’t P.Fish tells of how he misses Quick and how ‘he just wants
Talk
to be bad’. “He wants Quick”
That Ted Pickles
Dolly praises Ted – like his father, but harder, meaner –
better.
Battalions
Oriel sees G.M. Clay’s – Ex 2nd AIF – store. Embarrassed
when he asks where Lester served in the last war. Decides he
needs to go.
The Good are Lester misses Quick – likens him to the Prodigal son.
Fierce
A Mugs Game
Dolly hates the Lambs, especially Oriel. She goes to the pub
every day. Sleeps around, one guy in particular – Gerry M.
Clay. She’s scared of how Rose looks at her, hates her &
Dolly hates her back.
Across the Rails
Ted has sex with a girl by the rail tracks.
All Money Down
Basic wage goes up. Mrs. Clay tells Sam to control his wife.
Now Black Now Rose loves Fish. Lester tells Rose to eat, but she just throws
White
it up. Oriel offers to take her to a doctor, but she bolts.
Dusk
The Library feels corrupt, a dark man watches.
Night After Night Sam reflects on the bad things going on in his life: Rose and
Dolly.
Not a Brass Razoo Dolly tells Rose she’ll have to get a job. They fight, but Sam
stops it.
Carn Fish
Lester tries to get Fish out of bed, but Fish wants Quick &
the water. They spin the knife together
Ghostly Sensations Sam contemplates suicide. Rose saves him with comfort.
The
Vanilla The Lambs’ ice ream was a hit, G.M. Clay not only closed
Victory
shop, but skipped town, leaving a wife and kids. Oriel feels
guilty.
Mrs Lamb Weeps Rose daydreams about Fish & sees Oriel cry as Fish ignores
her.
Bad,
Worse, Dolly comes home beaten by G.M. Clay. She and Rose have
Worstest
an argument over Rose hating Dolly.
62
63
Closed Shop
Wherever
River Goes
64
The Dark,
Dark
Girl on the Switch
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
The Lamb family goes crabbing. Red cops one in the chest.
the S. Fish tells P. Fish about what is happening there & to
Quick. He tells him of what will happen when he meets the
water.
the The Pig back at Cloudstreet.
She gets a job at the Bairds switchboard. She is very proud
of it.
Birch Hat finds herself a man from Pemberton.
Geoffrey
Came Calling
Jacks and Jills
Two Old Girls
Hell?
Ted
Shoots
Through
And then Comes
Autumn,
and
Behind it, Winter
The Man Who
Came Knocking
Hectic work at Bairds for Rose, but her anorexia is over.
Oriel meets a widow, Beryl Lee at the Anzac.
Oriel has a nightmare/memory of being alone.
He’s got lots of hormones.
Beryl Lee moves in to prepare to replace Hat. A postcard
arrives from Quick. Chub is fat. Geoffrey Birch proposes.
A large man burst through the door, hits Sam and tells him
his son, Ted is getting married because his daughter is ‘up
the duff’.
Fish cooks with Lester. Lester tells a ‘story’ about a flood.
73
The Big Country
Part VI
74
Down
Among Quick has spent all this time shooting roos and other animals
Them, Killing
for skins. He gets kicked by a dying roo & has a vision of
Fish box-turned-boat. Fish takes Quick’s dog, but no him.
75
Goanna Oil
Lucy Wentworth rubs down Quick. S.Fish calls out Quick.
76
Safety Off
Quick sees himself and almost shoots.
77
The Florist Shop
Quick gets caught with his dick out and Lucy Wentworth
naked. Her parents are shamed. Quick picks up the
Blackfella as he is driving & drops him off at Cloudstreet
after telling him his story on the ride.
78
Baulking
At Quick goes the Earl & May, Lester’s truckie cousins, for a
Shadows
job. He still cuts out sad pictures from the newspaper.
79
Tho Mine Enemies Quick nearly dies in an accident with the truck and takes a
Rail
break to go fishing.
80
Earl’s Dory
Quick goes fishing & catches a lot of fish. He sees the
Blackfella walk on water. Quick becomes confused.
81
This Side
S. Fish feels Quick is about to return. P. Fish cries loudly.
82
Load of Pigs
Quick is glowing. Earl & May take him home.
Part VII
83
Madhouse
Lambs are frantic about the wedding. Quick arrives,
glowing.
84
85
86
The Do
Country
Keeping Watch
Hat gets married.
Lester & Oriel talk about her beliefs, the house & Fish.
Quick fades after a week of being watched by Beryl and
Fish.
87
In the Poo
Sam owes the union. Lester helps him hide. They talk about
Dolly, Ted and the house.
88
Wallpaper
Red notices Beryl fading.
89
Morning
Quick wakes up to his mother. She asks what he saw: him
running.
90
Fatted Calf
Lon talks bad about Fish making Lester angry. Quick sees
Lon, now a plumber, and Red and Elaine, all grown up.
91
Voop
Quick sees the pig and officially meets Beryl.
92
Matinee
Lester sleeps with Dolly.
93
Disciples
Lester returns for Sam who wants to use Lest’s money to
gamble.
94
Wakings
Oriel thinks about her loses. Elaine imagines her future is
Beryl. Lester and Sam lost the bet. Rose keeps a diary. Quick
talks to Lester about Oriel & Lester mention the dream of his
father.
95
Promises
Beryl walks in on Lester changing. She confronts him about
Dolly.
96
The
World Oriel watches Beryl fade.
Through Beryl
97
Business
Sam wanders.
98
Beryl Fades Out
Red tells Oriel Beryl is fading. Beryl decides to leave to the
convent.
99
Ticking
Oriel takes Quick prawning. They talk like adults about guilt
over Fish & Oriel’s talent as a mum. They catch a lot of
prawns.
100 The Whole Damn Sam wins at his two-up game.
Cake and Candles
101 Feast
Sam gets home. Dolly is relieved. The Lambs share the
prawns. Fish talks to the Shadow-girl in the Library who
always cries.
Part VIII
102 Voices
Rose, 24 yrs, comes home alone from a party. She meets a
‘Nice Voice” at the switchboard, Toby.
103 Toby Raven
Toby can’t drive. He takes her to an Italian restaurant. They
talk about books. S. Fish talks about how Rose used to love
him. They have sex. She falls in love with Toby. He writes
bad poetry and becomes moody. They fight. Ted is married
and has a kid. Toby sells a poem but finds at the party that
they have the wrong guy. He tells the party members Rose’ s
situation which will be the basis of his new work. Rose runs
off angry and sad.
104 Silhouttes
Quick patches up the boat and starts to fish for the shop. Fish
wants to go, but is refused. Quick talks to Lester about
ambition. Quick smuggles Fish one day to the river. He finds
Rose crying.
105 Hypothetical,
as Rose goes with them. Fish falls asleep. Quick & Rose talk
the
Smartbums about each other and make jokes. Rose asks what they’d be
Say
like married.
106 Dwellingplace
They have sex in the library, lessening the darkness there.
107 Outside Chance
Quick tells his family he is marrying Rose. Lester and Oriel
are surprised. Rose tells her parents: Sam’s all for it, Dolly
isn’t.
108 Grandeur, Almost Hey get married. At the reception, Oriel dances with Dolly.
Part IX
109 The House is The sixties. New pipes are put in. Fish sees the Blackfella.
Trembling
110 How Small Our “Clean and new, that’s what [Rose] wants” her house to be.
Dreams Are
Quick decides to become a copper.
111 The Day the Fifties They rent an apartment while their house is built. Quick
Finished
graduates from the academy. Rose is pregnant.
112 Flatfoot
Quick is transferred to Nedlands.
113 The Shifty Shadow Dolly falls down the stairs and breaks a leg.
114 Steam
A man falls while contemplating his mother &women in a
sauna.
115 The Blacks and Fish plays piano in the library. He gets angry at the dark and
Whites
light spirit women on the walls.
116 Steel
Rose loses her baby. They find out Ted died in a sauna.
117 The One
Dolly rages at losing her baby, Ted. S. Fish tells P. Fish to
listen.
118 Two Florins
Rose becomes thin again. She quits Bairds. Lester drops by
to show Quick a fish. They say things are too quiet. Lester
shows Quick two florins, 1933 (Fish’s birth-year) that the
fish spat out.
119 Weathering It Out Sam keeps losing at bets, Dolly is always drunk. Sam finds
Fish beating at the library walls & he sees the old woman
spirit.
120 Whirling Dark
A description of Dolly drinking & Rose being a recluse.
121 Lost Ground
Sam visits Rose to talk about Dolly and ask for help with
her. They argue over her. Sam doesn’t want to lose his
family.
122 Arrest
Rose remembers the Catalina pilot back at the Eurythmic.
Quick takes her to see her mother.
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
145
146
147
The Girl With the
Brown Fatness of
Hair
Mothers
Dolly remembers Rose getting her from the pub. Dolly asks
why Rose hates her. Rose is angry at her and leaves. Sam
asks her to come back and talk to Dolly.
Rose went back. Dolly talks about wanting grandkids and
Ted. Rose asks what Dolly’s mother was like and gets a
shocking response: her mother was her grandmother. Healing
begins.
Tonic
Rose began eating. Lester gives them a car. Rose gets
pregnant.
He Does
Lon gets Pansy Mullet pregnant and is married.
Doomiest
Sam feels pain.
Flames
Oriel dreams of fire and the river.
The New House
The Blackfella appears to Quick at the new house. Tells him
to go home, that this isn’t his home.
Christmas
Stan, the cockatoo, goes missing. The pig is attacked by
dogs.
Summer Madness An evil man haunts the back lanes with a rifle.
Bloody Mayhem
Quick is called out to work. Rose reads ‘murder’ in the
paper.
Heat of the Night
S. Fish is angry that he sees the murderer but can’t stop him.
Murder, Murder
Trying to catch the murderer. Rose is scared. The murderer is
scared of by the pig. He sees the Blackfella. Quick sees the
Blackfella who tells him to go home.
Home
Sam, Oriel & Lester talk about bringing Quick & Rose back.
Rose & Quick arrive at Cloudstreets asking for a place to
stay.
The Walls
They dislike the library. Quick sess the old lady and dark girl
fighting, like in his old pictures.
The Light in the Oriel contemplates her safety & why the house still rejects
Tent
them.
Only Streets Away The murderer strikes, knowing what he does & enjoying it.
Fish Wakes
Rose hears Fish wake & talking foreign talk.
He Knows What The Nedlands Monster strangles a young woman and rapes
Rape and Murder her after she is dead.
Mean
Oriel Hears
Oriel hears Fish, but won’t shut him up because he wont
notice her.
Businesslike
The monster stuffs the girl through a fence & goes home to
family.
Quiet
Oriel wakes, felling that Quick will be home with news.
Loaded House
Lester senses the House’s misery.
Morning
Quick can’t stop the monster. He looks for the Blackfella.
The
City
is The city is scared and angry.
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
Howling
Dolly and Rose
Bastard of a Place
Hole in the Wall
Dolly imagines the birds eating her corpse.
Lester leaves for work.
Quick makes a window in the library. Fish sees the spirits &
feels Rose’s baby, saying the ladies won’t like it, meaning
the spirits. Dolly sits at train station. Sam won a bet on the
monster striking.
No Man’s Land
Rose can hear a note in the room. Quick is happy to be back.
Slipping
A new victim. Quick gets depressed and remembers his
pictures.
Does the Poo Fish catches Quick crying.
Hurt?
Something’s Up
S. Fish talks about how something is happening, someone
found the gun. They find the monster. Quick gets called:
almost a dad.
Him
The Nedlands monster is a small, disappointing man.
Wax Harry
Rose goes into labour in the library. The dark girl and old
woman fade. It’s a boy, Wax Harry. The house is free
Part X
157 Long,
Hot, Rose, Quick and the grandmothers love Harry. Lon & Pansy
Peaceful Days
have a baby girl. Rose enjoys working in the shop. Rose is
likened to Oriel.
158 Fortune
Sam is well known at work. Thinks of selling house to retire.
159 News
Kennedy assassinated, Nedlands Monster hanged. Oriel cries
when Quick mentions her Bible. Lester says she tries to live
the ‘love thy God and Thy neighbour’ commandments.
160 Fishing
Lester sneaks out to go to church.
161 The Past
Quicks buys flowers from Lucy’s florist. She doesn’t
recognize him.
162 Waiting
S. Fish tells Oriel to wait as she contemplates why she can’t
return to the house yet.
163 Floater
Quick finds a floater in the river. He remembers Fish’s
drowning. The boy is the Nedlands Monster’s kid.
164 Put Yer Dukes Up, Lon is caught mid-sex & forced back to work by Oriel. He
Woman!
does a shit job, is forced to redo it. They have a fist fight &
Oriel wins.
165 Turning
Quick is deeply troubled by the drowned boy. Rose comforts
him.
166 Coming
S. Fish tells P. Fish his time is almost come.
167 Get a Haircut
Quick takes time off work to go on a drive with Rose.
168 Lester on His Lester prays at Quick & Rose’s new house.
Knees
169 Voting Day
Sam meets the Blackfella & tells him he plans to sell
Cloudstreet. The black man tells Sam not to break the place.
170 Gift Horse
Sam tells Dolly his plan & she is against it.
171 Below Deck
They all have dinner together & talk of selling. Sam decides
not to.
172 Inland
Fish asks to go on holiday with Quick & Rose. Rose allows
him. Fish shits himself on the ride and Quick cleans him up.
173 Spaces
Rose admits she wants to stay at Cloudstreet. They see the
naked dancing children as Fish glows with moonlight.
174 Soon
S. Fish tells P. Fish that they will soon become whole.
175 Stayin
They go on a picnic to celebrate them staying and 20 years.
176 Moon, Sun, Stars
The Lambs and Pickles have fun and dance. Fish runs to the
jetty and falls in.
177 Epilogue
Dolly helps Oriel pack up her tent.
*Chapters underlined are not all in the typical narrative voice e.g. Spiritual Fish (S. Fish
and P-Physical-Fish) as narrator for all or part of the chapter.
Characters:
Relationship Web:
Sam Pickles: He is a compulsive gambler. He only works so as to fuel his addiction. He
believes very firmly in lady luck, the shifty shadow, the hairy hand of God. He genuinely
cares about his family, but this love is diminished by his impulsive nature: he constantly
gambles away what little the family has. He entrusts his life entirely to the shifty shadow,
forgoing hard work or determination in order to get by. He doesn’t believe that you can
make or change your own luck. “Luck don’t change, love. It moves.” When his brother
Joel, a fountain of luck, dies and leaves him the house and 2000 pounds, he gambles the
money away, but luckily, can’t sell the house, or he would have gambled that too. This
unyielding following of the hairy hand of God robs Lester of ambition and any work
ethic he might have had otherwise. Luck does serve him well on the rare occasion,
handing him a job at the Mint, but Lester just uses the earnings to gamble some more. His
relationships with the women in his life are those of sincere care: he loves Dolly for who
she is, knowing who she is and how she mistreatments him, and he loves Rose, and even
though she doesn’t know why, she loves him back. In his dark moment, where Lester
contemplates suicide, Rose is there to comfort him and bring him back. He believes, as
do many, that he is useless, and he recognizes his weaknesses. This allows him to accept
the weaknesses of others.
Dolly Pickles:
Dolly’s personality is the result of an incestuous relationship: her mother was her
grandmother and her father was her grandfather. Her second oldest sister (from the seven
girls that her father fathered) married their father. Because of this, Dolly hates women,
especially sisters. It is said that Dolly loved her father, and this feeling of love led to her
‘jealousy’ of her sister: she would have thought that she was in competition for their
father’s affection. Dolly hates Oriel, because in her, Dolly sees herself as a failure. She
fails to recognize Rose’s efforts at sustaining the family and refuses to admit that it is
because of Rose that the family survives. She forgoes typical motherly duties, such as
cooking, in favour of drinking. Ted is her favourite child. She has an affinity with the
tracks as they provide an escape route, should she be daring enough to take it. This
highlights how she feels trapped and confused in her own life and longs for release. She
loves men, for the thrill and their feel. She has little or no remorse for her sexual actions,
in fact, she seems proud of them. In the beginning of the novel, she misses her home
where she was known and where she had a reputation. Sex, and her ability at it, makes
her feel valuable. The relationship between Dolly and Rose is healed when Dolly, in a
melancholy drunken stupor, brought on by Ted’s death, lets slip her sad family story.
Rose finally understands why her mother is like she is and is able to let go of their
horrible past because of it.
Rose Pickles:
She is one of three children, but the only daughter of Dolly and Sam Pickles. She is seen
as the most ‘mature’ of the bunch, being the one who bears most of the typical adult
responsibility, even at a young age, by having to cook, look after the family and
ultimately get a job to sustain the family, her father’s gambling addiction and the alcohol
needs of her mother. Rose loves her father as he is the only person who acts even
remotely like a parent should. Her conflicts lie greatly with her mother whose duties she
has had to take up. She seeks to protect those around her, evident in her care of her father
during his suicidal moment and her infatuation with Fish, the epitome of need and
innocence. Rose has needs too, mainly to be loved and to be independent. This need is
shown through both her relationship o Toby Raven and to Quick, as well as her desire to
get a new place, all their own, as well as her getting a job. She likes order: a mother
cooking, father with a job and children at school like on pg 86: “Rose kept the colours
inside the lines and all the patterns were proper, sensible and neat. Happiness. That’s
what it was.” This reveals why Rose takes up the duties of her mother, to keep the family
ordered and proper, to let ‘happiness’ prevail. Rose desires to surpass her mother, to go
beyond her drunkenness and her inability to be a mother. Two times in the novel, Rose
suffers with anorexia. The first time, the anorexia was to upset her mother and spite
Dolly: denied a mother, she denied herself good health. She looks like her mother, not as
beautiful though, and purposely making her self look sick would have been a jab at her
mother. “Hating [Dolly] is the best part of being alive” (175). She is cured when she gets
the job at Bairds; able to stand on her own two feet, proud and independent. The second
bought of anorexia is brought on by the loss of her first child with Quick. Her inability to
nurture herself and to protect something she loved is cause to deprive herself of food and
good health. This time, her reunion with Dolly is what saves her. Rose, after the terrible
incident with Toby Raven, is married to Quick after their encounter at the river. She loves
his endearing patience and calmness, something she is lacking in.
Fish Lamb:
Fish Lamb (Samson) is the central figure of Cloudstreet. His name bears two distinct
references to the Christian Bible: Fish is the symbol of the early Christian church while
Samson is the name of a biblical figure whose strength lay in his hair and was betrayed
by a woman, Delilah. Ultimately he killed himself in order to kill a large number of the
Philistine enemy. The two characters can be likened if Oriel is juxtaposed with Delilah:
Delilah led to the death of Samson, whereas Oriel brought Fish back from the dead and in
doing so deprived him of his greatest desire, a wholeness of mind and spirit. Fish started
out as a loved, smart character. Easy to like, charismatic and quick witted. In an ironic
turn of fate, Fish drowns and dies, but desperate not to lose her son, Oriel brings him
back, although only half of him returns. This causes the split between Spiritual Fish, or
dead Fish, and the Physical, alive, Fish. The entire novel, minus the epilogue and fist
parts, is the retelling of P. Fish’s life up until the moment when he is reunited with the
water and his Spiritual self: when he once again becomes whole. He plays the piano in
the Library, always hitting middle C, the note which the old lady’s nose hit when she
died. It is the sound of the miserable, the dead, the terrible, and even Rose and other
characters can hear that ringing and it makes them feel horrible.
Quick Lamb:
Quick feels intensely guilty for not being able to save Fish. He feels that the tragedy was
his fault and that “he knows it should have been him, not Fish” (pg 60). Because of this,
he thinks that he should not be happy and surrounds himself with images of sadness. He
calls himself the “Lost Lamb”, unable to find a place where he is free of guilt long
enough to truly be himself. When he leaves Cloudstreet, he attempts to find himself
through being alone. He works shooting kangaroos for pelts. He experiences a vision of
Fish in an oranges box rowing over the wheat. He encounters the Blackfella, a hitchhiker
who leads him back to Cloudstreet, however, he isn’t ready to return yet. He is eventually
brought back glowing, after another encounter with the Blackfella on the water. He falls
in love with Rose after they talk, simply and relaxedly, on the River. He is much like his
father, easily ruled by the women in his life; Oriel and then Rose. He has very little drive
or ambition. He becomes a cop, like his father, except he wants to combat the evil which
he plastered over his walls. He becomes frustrated and depressed when they can’t catch
the Nedlands monster, although when he sees the drowned child, reminiscent of him
puling fish out of the water, he realises that they’re all the same. They’re people, “it’s just
us and us and us.” He is a simple character, and unique defined by his simplicity.
Oriel Lamb:
“You know about boats. You can’t steer if you’re not goin faster than the current. If
you’re not under your own steam then yer just debris, stuff floatin … I’m not standin for
the bad; bad people, bad luck, bad ways, not even bad breath. We make good, Lester. We
make war on the bad and don’t surrender.” (pg 229) This quote sums up Oriel’s
character. She is a fighter, in charge of things and determined. She doesn’t believe in
luck, and she tries not to believe in a higher power, God, although it’s very hard to
remember not to. She was let down by God, by the only miracle to ever happen to them,
and this destroys her faith in religion, although it is difficult for her not to relapse into
believing. When she was young, her father saved her from a fire by killing his last pig
and putting the bladder on her burns. He later remarried a young woman almost her age.
The new children were like Oriel’s children and she had to raise them. Her beloved
brother Bluey was sent to war and killed. She’s lost a lot and had to fight to keep what
she has. The loss of Fish affected her greatly. She lost faith in God and in religion,
although she often relapses out of habit. She’s a tough, bossy character, her children, and
her husband especially, following her orders. She believes hers is the right way, and
doesn’t hesitate in showing others.
Lester Lamb:
“He’s a farmboy, you can see it on him – honest as filth” (pg 99). Lester is very much the
second in command of the family, always talking orders from Oriel. He is easily swayed
to other’s idea, such as the two times when Sam takes him gambling, despite it being
against his ethics, or rather, those that Oriel forces on him. He is often seen as the soft
parent, the one who you go to for fun and laughter and when you’re in trouble, because
you know he doesn’t have the heart to punish you. He is a true blue bloke, honest and
trustworthy, hard work ethics and lots of laughter. He was in the Anzacs at Gallipoli,
cavalry. The second time he went to the army, he was in the band. He has a vaudeville act
down at the Anzac club for a large part of the novel. He tries, like Oriel, to forgo Godd
and belief in him, although it’s just as had for him. He is an understanding character. His
character is central to the theme of family and relationships: “Take away the family and
that’s it, there’s no point…It’s why I don’t shoot meself quietly in the head with the old
Webley.” Lester loves his family deeply and it’s his reason for continuing to live.
Blackfella (F):
He is seen as the conscience of the book. He appears in the hours of need for the family.
His role in the novel is to keep the two families whole and together. He does so by urging
Quick to come home, keeping an eye on the family and ultimately by convincing Sam not
to sell Cloudstreet. He is also a constant reminder of the horrible acts towards the
Aboriginal community inflicted by ‘white’ Australians. He carries the forgotten
memories, those that no one wants to or that no one can remember. He is the voice of
wisdom and of reason.
Beryl Lee (C):
Oriel meets her at the Anzac club and knows immediately that she is a widow and that
she is lonely. She invites Beryl to move in with the Lambs and to work for their store, to
replace Hat who was getting married and Quick who had left them. She helps out in the
shop and Oriel becomes emotionally attached to her. She loves Lester and tells him in no
uncertain words that he is the reason she must leave to a convent. She has deep respect
for Oriel and cannot continue loving Lester knowing he is Oriel’s husband. She is deeply
Catholic.
Toby Raven (E):
Rose Pickles meets Toby Raven while she is working at the switchboard. He isn’t like her
family, but ambitious and part of the ‘new’ crowd. His character is an expression of the
times: taking Rose to an Italian restaurant shows the influx of immigration at the time, his
attitude reflective of the era: money hungry and ruthless enough to sell a personal account
of someone’s life for his own gain. He also helped Rose to mature and was a learning
experience for her: the world can be harsh and cruel, especially outside the comfort of
your known world, your family. It can be said that this realization helped Rose to take a
critical look at Quick and to regard him as a man instead of as one of the Lambs next
door.
Lucy Wentworth (D):
When Quick leaves home, he goes to the country to shoot roo’s. One family he works for
are the Wentworth family. Their daughter, Lucy, is a very forward girl. She acts on her
attraction to Quick, hoping that he will get her out of there, which ultimately he does. He
is her first sexual partner and helps Quick grow up as a man.
G.M. Clay (A&B):
Dolly Pickles is somewhat of a harlot. In the very first chapter (ignoring the prologue),
we see her having sexual relations with a Yankee Catalina pilot, and very early on we
hear about the raunchy sexual exploits of her and her husband. Throughout the novel, two
of her most pronounced extramarital affairs are with G.M. Clay and a once-off with
Lester Lamb. This affair with G.M. Clay adds to the shame of Mrs. Clay as she is
humiliated by both the families living at No. 1 Cloud Street. Oriel Lamb attempts to run
G.M. Clay’s shop out of business, successfully, by selling Lester’s home-made ice cream.
This competition spurs on her and her family’s efforts with the shop. When Oriel finally
runs him out of business, he skips town leaving behind a wife and kids. Oriel feels awful
about this and deems to send care packages to the woman. Her behaviour can be likened
to that of Australian white settlers: they ran the Aboriginals out of the land, and after it
had near killed them and it was too late, they realised that what they had done was wrong.
They attempted to patch things up with money and privileges, thinking it would fix it, but
nothing could fix what they had done.
Merv Pickles: Sam’s father, he too was a compulsive gambler, albeit more of a drunkard
than Sam. He wished for his son to become a jockey, another link to the horse races. He
was a water diviner. He died in a drunken state.
Uncle Joel: (note: it is unknown the direct relationship of ‘Uncle’ Joel). He bet on the
horse Eurythmic and won big. With the winnings, Joel bought a large house in which to
retire in and funded his pub, named after the champion horse. He was a fountain/lightning
rod for good luck, unlike Sam. When he dies of heart failure/heart attack, his will sells
the pub and gives Sam the house at No. 1 Cloudstreet and 2000 pounds.
Ted & Chub Pickles:
Ted is Dolly’s favourite son because he reminds her of a younger, more perfect Sam, a
Sam that she wished for. He later gets a girl pregnant and leaves. He becomes a jockey
and dies while trying to get his weight down in a sauna. His death stresses Dolly and acts
as somewhat of a common ground for her and Rose: both of them lost a child. Chub is a
fat child which doesn’t really play a major in the novel’s story.
Hattie, Elaine, Red & Lon Lamb:
Hattie, one of the two twins (Elaine) is a champion at marbles. She is the first of the
Lamb children to get married. Elaine is ferociously jealous of this, as she was always the
more ‘mature’ one when it came to boys. Even Lon and Quick ‘beat’ her to the altar. Red
is the tomboy of the family. She has a wicked humour an provides comic relief. Lon is
the youngest. He is a permanent baby to Fish’s childlike, stuck mentality. He grows to be
rebellious and to have a lot of angst. He fights his mother and gets a girl pregnant.
Wax Harry Lamb:
He is the second child of Rose and Quick, although their first child was a miscarriage.
Wax Harry is instrumental, not only to the relationship between Dolly and Rose, but also
to the union of both the families living at No. 1 Cloud Street. His birth in the library is the
final ‘shoving force’ for the spirits that live there. Rose and Quick’s ‘union’ in the
Library and the insertion of a window had greatly diminished the hold of the old hag
spirit and of the young Aboriginal girl’s siprit, but it wasn’t until new life, brimming with
potential, hope and innocence, not a single sadness off of which they could leech, was
brought into that room that the spirits were driven out for good. Wax Harry also helps to
unite the two families together, like when Oriel decides to have a large family dinner in
Lester’s room so as to create a common ground; not the Lamb or the Pickles dinning
room, but somewhere where both of them were equal. He is also fundamental in the
healing between Dolly and Rose as Dolly splurges affection on him and Rose trusts her
mother to look after him.
Themes:
Family / relationships: The main theme of Cloudstreet is the relationships that enter the
house and those that grow, are formed and are reinvented inside it. The novel was written
to reflect a time when Family values were much stronger than these days; it is a nostalgic
view at how families used to be. This is emphasised by Quick and Rose who represent
typical society, wanting to leave home and be their own family, yet desiring to come
back, to be a village, a new tribe, the Lambs and Pickles. Oriel loves her family, and is
sick of losing so much of it. She shows sadness when Hat marries and leaves. Dolly
shows the same sadness when she loses Ted, only in a very different way. Lester is a the
epitome of familial values, constantly putting his family first and telling Quick that what
he lives for is his family.
Luck / Fate: Luck is experienced in two very different ways by the two families. Sam,
and indeed Dolly and Rose, believe fervently in luck and the Shifty shadow, although
Rose also believes in the ability to overcome bad luck with work and determination. The
Lambs however play with luck; they think it a trivial thing made for games like spinning
the knife.
Religion / Spirituality / God: Religion is a prominent theme in this novel. From the
character’s names (A Fish being the early Christian Church’s symbol and the Lamb’s of
God, both images of the Church) to the multiple references of ‘the River’ referring to the
hymn “Shall we Gather at the River”, aside from the many Christian hymns that Lester
sings throughout the novel, religion is a reoccurring theme in Cloudstreet. It can be
thought of in three distinct categories: the lack of religion, as experienced by the Pickles
family, the unwanted hold it has on the Lamb family, and the spirituality and values of
the Aboriginal Blackfella.
The Blackfella is often likened to Jesus, as he appears at critical moments in the unity of
the family (when Quick ran away, when Sam was about to sell the house …) and tries to
instil in the characters the importance of family sticking together. He also performs
‘miracles’ such as walking on water, like Jesus did. Oriel and Lester lose faith in God, or
at least they try to, after Fish’s accident. However, the idea of a higher power, one who
understands what’s going on and what they have to overcome and why, is a hard habit to
break. They believe in a work ethic: hard work is what shapes your life, and luck has
little to do with it. Although, the family do believe in luck, as exemplified in the spinning
of the knife, it isn’t as fervent as the Pickles belief in it and they do not base all their
decisions on it. The Pickles family is ingrained with the idea of luck, the Shifty Shadow,
and how it is what guides their lives. To them, an especially to Sam, luck drags a man
along whether he wants to or no. rose is a bit different, she believes people can change
and work to make their lives, although she does believe in luck and how it can affect a
person.
Motifs:
War: This does not only mean the world war which keeps popping up in the first parts of
the book, but the wars that each individual character must battle. Oriel says, “It’s all war
… Everything. Raisin a family, keeping yer head above water. Life. War is our natural
state.” (pg 229). This coincides with the theme of the struggle to survive. There are many
mentions of the depression, the war and the way that the characters have battled through
in order to be survivors. “I just begin to disappear. But I want to live.” –Rose.
The River / Water: A River is the life blood of a country. It’s the reason why Perth was
built there and why it is semi-prosperous. Water is necessary for life; essential. A River is
a common gathering place, a place to have fun, be free. In the novel, the river is the axis
upon which the lives of the characters revolve. The story starts and ends at the River, the
two families are united by Quick and rose when they get together at the river. Most
importantly, Fish was separated at the river; he longs to return so that he can finally
return to being himself, to being whole. The river is a cleansing thing which symbolises
life and the spiritual dimension.
The House: It is represented as a continent unto itself. Cloudstreet is the world of its
inhabitants. The people that live inside it are very introverted, stressed by the fact that,
even though both had previous partners, Quick and Rose ended up together,
strengthening this withdrawn attitude. The house itself is thought of as ‘a living breathing
house’ (pg 134). It exudes an ominous feeling of dissent towards its inhabitants, almost as
if to say ‘you aren’t welcome here’. The spirits of the house, that of the two women who
died in the library, are a symbol for the lack of belonging that the two families. Right
from the beginning, both families only believe that Cloudstreet is a temporary thing: the
Lambs looking to move on and the Pickles, or at least Sam, looking to sell. Neither
family feels at home until the very end. A horrible incident took place in that house, and
terrible events shaped the lives of both families: Sam losing his hand, Joel and his home,
and the Lambs losing half a son. It isn’t until the final vestiges of these incidents are
cleared that the house can fully heal and allow the family to feel welcome. The house is
also likened to a ship or boat which helps bring the concept of the house to that of the
river, the two major images in the novel.
Light: Light is a common form of imagery and symbolism in many writing styles.
Winton uses it in a unique way however: Quick glowing and Beryl fading. He uses light
to physically show a character’s feelings and thoughts. Sam’s arm sparking is a physical
indication of his feeling the shifty shadow.
Techniques / idiosyncrasies:
Tim Winton has been acclaimed for his novels; Cloudstreet is one of the top 100 on
Angus and Roberston’s best seller list, and has remained on that list for many years. His
writing style is unparalleled and is uniquely Australian.
Vernacular and slang: Winton uses words and phrases typical not only to Australia, but of
the era. ‘Carn’ is used often, meaning ‘come on’, and ‘Whacko’ to signify amazement or
great joy. He uses language specific to the characters, and in doing so expresses a
sardonic humour and a vulgarity of tone that was prevalent in 1940-1950’s Australia. He
makes constant and detailed references to sex in a blunt and raw way, again typifying
Australian dialogue and notions of that epoch.
He also uses dark humour, poking fun at a moment of great sadness or anger. E.g. “Fish
started to geyser away” is a comedic scene, very descriptive and following a dramatic,
tense moment in which fish dies, followed by the hurt moan; “Never, never was there a
sadder, more disappointed noise.” The family’s cheering is broken by Quick’s
melancholy insight into the mater.
The lack of quotation marks: all speech and thought is written without any quotation
marks or hyphens to indicate speech. This achieves two ends: the flow of the written
word is not corrupt by the constant indication of speech such as quotation marks and the
use of ‘he said, she said’ & an ambiguity is maintained allowing for personal
interpretation of who is speaking and what is being said. Also, the entire novel is
encapsulated in “those seconds it takes to die, as long as it takes to drink in the river”,
meaning that it is all the memory of Fish Lamb and therefore, no actual words were said,
only thoughts and ideas.
Imagery (Simile, metaphor …): “four finger fell to the deck and danced like half a pound
of live prawns.” (pg 13). Winton uses much imagery in his writing, but largely, the
similes and metaphors are based on typical Australian objects and ideas. It is vivid, often
comedic, and well executed.
The amalgamation of words to form one: e.g. the chapter entitled ‘kitchentalk’. It creates
a unique feel to Winton’s writing style and combines two ideas to create a new and more
appropriate, to the setting, theme and tone of he novel, emotion or idea.
Cyclical nature: The prologue is written from the end of the novel’s plot. It gives you a
glimpse of the ending of the book, although a first time reader wouldn’t know that. It
links up with the last chapter and in reading all the way through to the end, one
understands that the whole story has been told in an instant, in a single memory/thought
from Fish’s mind in that moment when he becomes whole. The two halves of the story,
the prologue and the last chapter, are united at the same time that Fish becomes whole in
his death.
First and third person narrators: The perspective in which the novel is written changes
frequently. In some scenes, the story is told focusing on a certain person, such as some
chapters being Lamb centric and others Rose centric. It describes what they/she can see
or feel and think. Some chapters throughout the book are told in first person. These are a
link o the cyclical nature of the book. A person reading for the second time knows that
the story is the memory of Fish and the interruption of the writing style to include ideas
and vision from a first person account brings this to mind as it is spiritual Fish talking. He
often talks directly to his Physical self, longing for a reunion and comforting him.
Title: The title, cloudstreet, is printed without capital letters. It uses a form typical and
unique to Winton, the combination of two words to create a unique writing style, a
prevalent technique used throughout the novel. The words themselves however have a
distinct meaning: clouds are the ‘barrier’ between heaven and earth, halfway between
here and the here-after. The novel’s plot centres greatly on the thought of a spiritual
dimension and the main character, Fish, is stuck somewhere in between the two, much
like the clouds are.
Context:
Societal:
“Perth is the biggest country town in the world trying to be a city. The most isolated
country town in the world trying to be the most cut-off city in the world, trying
desperately to hit the big time. Desert on one side, sea on the other. Philistine fairground.
There’s something nesting here, something horrible waiting. Ambition, Rose. It squeezes
us into corners and turns out ugly shapes.” (pg 289). Toby Raven is an invaluable
character in understanding the thoughts of the people of the era. It was a time of growth
for Perth, from a small town to a city, and the people were brimming with Ambition. A
war gone and plenty of game for those willing to take it up. People were after money and
making names for themselves, often disregarding ethics and morals, such as when Toby
Raven tried to sell his girlfriend’s story as his own work, ignoring the fact that her life is
meant to be kept private and he deeply embarrasses her.
“This is what it means to be a city, they say, locking their doors and stifling behind their
windows” (pg 365). The Nedlands Monster changed Perth. Before it, Perth was just a
large town, friendly, but dull enough to be ignored. When the murderous monster was on
the lose, the whole place changed. People were scared and locked their doors. It took a
disaster like this to fully make Perth an actual city, important enough to be looked at and
considered. It’s often thought that such blatant disrespect for life can only come from a
morally degraded ‘city’, not a sweet, innocent town.
Rose highlights a major change in society of the time. She wants her own place, away
from family and a place that she can call her own. She wants things new and clean, a
house that’s never been lived in before. This was the thinking of many of her time and it
caused a decline in familial values and unity. It also brings to attention a disturbing train
of thought, especially in Australia. As early as the birth o the country, the settlers wanted
to make things new, a place where no one had lived before, and they deluded themselves
into thinking it was so. In order to afford a new house, many had to follow the example of
Quick and Rose, working multiple jobs and longer hours, often sacrificing family and
friends, a social life, adding to the degradation of familial bonds.
However, morally corrupt or lacking values aren’t the only societal traits established in
Cloudstreet. Sam’s continual work at the Mint, even though he was well past retirement
and could barely do his job, shows an era where loyalty to a worker trumped the need for
fast paced and precise work, where workers weren’t sacked easily and without feeling.
It’s also easier to get a job, like when Rose gets employment easily after dropping school.
A job like that would need qualifications and training in today’s world, and would most
likely require a long search.
Historical:
Many historical mentions in the novel give rise to validity and intertextuality. The
Nedlands Monster, Kennedy’s assassination, the sacking of Quick’s Jewish teacher and
talk of Hiroshima, Hitler and concentration camps as well as mention of a basic wage
which came into play after the second World War, all are examples of this. Also, dates
such as the day when Oriel moves into her tent, New Years Day, 1949, signify other
events, like the declaration of Israel.
Aboriginality:
Cloudstreet brings to attention a distressing moment in Australia’s short history: the near
genocide of the Aboriginal population, the stolen generation and our disregard for their
culture and them as human beings. The book takes place in a great decline for Aboriginal
spirituality: they had been killed off and forced to adopt Western ‘civilisation’. The
Blackfella is vital in two roles: he expresses the need for family from both a Christian and
an aboriginal point of view. Aboriginal’s lived in familial groups which were broken up
by killing and the stolen generation. He provides the wisdom that “too many homes
busted” and that the Lambs and the Pickles should value what they have. This need for
family is a necessity to Christians too, and he expresses this through a likeness to Jesus
by walking on water and appearing barely clothed.
Perspective views:
Feminist:
A feminist view would consider the roles of the three main women in the novel, but also
the short, yet vital role of Lucy Wentworth. She freely had sex with an unmarried man
(Quick) in the hopes of getting herself away from the life she was living. She used sex as
a stepping stone to escaping her droll life. She used her femininity for her own advantage.
Dolly does much the same, using sex for her own purposes, although hers are to feel
valued and adored. She loves men, many men, many times, to fill a void. Sex is
something she is good at, one of the few things she is good at, and she does it a lot to
forget about the things she can’t do, the things she won’t do, the things she doesn’t want
to remember. Dolly is the typical matriarch. She is a strong, opinionated woman, always
right, always fighting against one thing or another, and always ready to defend herself
and her family. She is the provider in more ways than one; she works herself hard at the
shop, Cloudstreet, and to put everyone in order, as well as by cooking, cleaning, sewing,
etc … Most women in the novel represent stereotypes. Rose is no different. She fulfils
the role of mother to her best ability when Dolly refuses to do so. She is like Oriel in the
way that she likes things organised her way, although she does give way to Oriel. She is
very much the dominant character in her marriage, telling Quick what she wants and
expecting it.
Post-Colonial:
This deals with the changing time and how it affects the society’s development. One
example we can use is the Yank Catalina pilot. After the war, Australia had a great influx
in American culture, where before it had greatly been under a British power. Australia
was forced to adapt to this change. The Italian restaurant adds to this, highlighting how
other cultures began impacting on that of Australia. The war reconstructed Anglophile
Australia and this is evident in the above examples.
Quotes:
 “Luck doesn’t change, love. It moves” (pg 20)
Lester says this to Rose at the hospital after his accident. We are instantly introduced to a
prevalent theme that surfaces throughout the entire novel: luck. Sam believes fervently
that luck is what decides for them, that hard work and determination play no part in the
outcome. He believes that, by following the tide, ebb and flow, of luck, by feeling your
way, you can become a winner, although more often than not, Sam s a loser.
 “Fish started to geyser away and Lon laughed again and they were all shouting
enough to hide the hurt moan that Fish let when the air got to his lungs. Never,
never was there a sadder, more disappointed noise.” (pg 31)
This line, near the beginning of the book, shows how Fish Lamb got torn in two. When
he drowned, half of his soul ‘died’ and was united with the water, where as Oriel brought
back half of him, a half that was desperately seeking a reunion with the other half that
had been lost to him. This brings to attention a question that is prevalent in a critical
reading of Cloudstreet: should Fish have been allowed to die? In this sentence, we see the
matter from Fish’s view, describing life, the act of breathing, as a disappointing thing,
especially when compared to the last lines of the book which glorify death.
 “Because not all of Fish Lamb had come back” (pg 32)
We learn about how Fish was torn into two: Spiritual, dead, Fish and Physical, alive,
Fish. He is stuck somewhere between the physical and the metaphysical dimensions, not
wholly in one or the other, and therefore not able to be fully himself in either place.
 “We blame him, she said. And I blame you. And God” (pg 64)
Oriel talking to Lester about how Quick blames himself for Fish’s accident. This brings
to attention the Lambs’ attitude to God and religion: they had believed in it fervently,
once, but the ‘Fish incident’ had changed that. God had let them down. Their miracle had
been like a big slap in the face. Their faith had been tested by losing a son, but it was
shattered when they only got half of him back.
 “There’d been times when he’d thought the kid was better dead than to have to
live all his life as a child, but he knew that being alive was being alive and you
couldn’t tamper with that, you couldn’t underestimate it. Life was something you
didn’t argue with, because when it came down it, whether you barracked for God
or nothing at all, life was all there was. And death.” (pg 65)
Lester thinks this during his conversation with Oriel about what Fish thinks. It highlights
a motif that resonates throughout the novel: should Fish have been allowed to live? In the
end, Lester believes that life is paramount: any life is better than no life at all, it’s all we
really have and should be worth holding on to, even if it’s only half a life.
 “It’s like Fish is stuck somewhere. Not the way all the living are stuck in time and
space; he’s in another stuckness altogether. Like he’s half in and half out.” (pg 69)
Fish was torn when in the moment he died: part of him was able to go to the beyond, to
the water, but another part stayed behind. The physical Fish longs to be united with his
spiritual self and this is exemplified with his longing for ‘the water’. Fish is not fully
alive, yet he’s alive enough to know that something isn’t right with himself: something’s
missing.
 “To be alive, to be feeling, to be conscious. It was the cruellest bloody joke.” (pg
161)
Sam talks about Rose’s anorexia, Dolly’s cheating and his bad luck. This quote answers
Fish’s predicament (whether he should have been allowed to die) from Sam’s point of
view: life can be so hard that death seems a much easier option.
 “The blade turn and turns, slow, slower and Lester thinks – is this all there is to it?
Just chance, luck, the spin of the knife? Isn’t there a pattern at all; a plan?”(pg
166)
Lester is spinning he knife with Fish and he begins to wonder about the design of fate and
whether a higher power is guiding them. The Lamb’s have been disenchanted with
religion and with God, even though it’s harder to shake it off than they realised.
However, Lester starts seeing things from Sam’s perspective: perhaps lady luck, the
shifty shadow, the hairy hand, is what guides them. He starts feeling hopeless and this
helps him try to understand why.
 “Hoping is what people do when they’re too lazy to do anything else.” (pg 175)
This is Rose telling Dolly about how she feels towards her, and how she feels about life
in general. Here we see that Rose is a lot like Oriel and the Lambs in the fact that she
believes that luck isn’t the only factor in the control over life; while she believes in luck,
she thinks that had work and determination can change a person and a person’s path in
life.
 “Her life always came back to the river.” (pg 176)
Oriel, sitting near the water with Fish tethered and her family, minus Quick, around her.
She realises the significance of the River as a pivotal area in her life: the River has a
profound tendency to mean a drastic change or moment in her life.
 “The River. Remember, wherever the river goes every living creature which
swarms will live … so everything will live where the river goes.” (pg 178)
S. Fish is talking to P. Fish about how important the water is, how much he wants them to
be together again, about how much P. Fish needs the river, their wholeness, themselves.

“I want the miracle finished off. I demand it, and I’m gonna fight to get it.”
(pg233)
Oriel, when asked what she wants by Lester, tells him this. She desperately wants her son
back whole and complete, unlike the half alive thing that she has now, the child that
doesn’t even recognize her or even acknowledge her existence.
 “But it’s not us and them anymore. It’s us and us and us. It’s always us.” (pg 402)
Quick says this to Rose after he pulls the Nederlands Monster’s child from the river. He’s
come to the realisation that, had things turned out differently, he could have become cold
and hard like the monster and done terrible things. He realises that crims are human too,
only with different stories and different personalities. This highlights a major theme in
the novel, family and relationships. It’s always us, focuses on how Quick believes his
family can shape him, so as to become something different from the monster. It just the
family, on their own.