Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Cloudstreet, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Chance, Choice, and Personal Responsibility
Family vs. Independence
Trauma and Guilt
Religion and the Supernatural
Shared Humanity
Summary
Analysis
A twenty-four-year-old Rose Pickles gets home to Cloudstreet after another night of dancing at the Embassy. She finds it thrilling to dance with and talk to the young men of the city, but she always ends up coming home alone anyway. She can hardly imagine herself admitting to a potential boyfriend that her family lives in half of this big old house. She falls asleep to the sound of someone crying; it seems someone’s always crying in the house at some time or another. She’s come into her own as a woman at this point, though she still has trouble thinking of herself as an adult. She continues to work at the switchboard at Bairds and enjoys harmless mischief with Darleen, Merle, and Alma.
At this point, Rose has mostly achieved the independent lifestyle she’s been craving for years, though there are still some complications. While she spends less and less time with her family and more time meeting young men in the city, her hesitation to bring those men to Cloudstreet reveals an underlying discomfort with herself. She hasn’t struck a balance between family life and independent life; rather, these two sides of her are in constant conflict. Her enjoyment of her new life is diminished only by the idea that her home is still the strange old house on Cloud Street that reminds her of a past she wants to forget.
Themes
Rose finds that she’s much sharper and more confident when talking to customers through her headset, and she uses this to her advantage to arrange meetings with young gentlemen who call the department store and take an interest in her. She tells them to meet her at a large pillar on a specific street; this way, she can walk by in the crowd, size them up anonymously, and keep walking if she doesn’t like the looks of them. She has limited success in dating, and she finds herself disappointed in the “perfect gentlemen” who take her to the movies. But even if she can’t keep up with the wild romantic antics of her coworkers, she’s still grateful that she isn’t at Cloudstreet most of the time and gets to enjoy movies and dancing.
Rose’s lifestyle reflects the path she wants her life to follow at this stage of her development. She’s determined to leave her family and all of its baggage behind her, becoming a person who isn’t associated with Cloudstreet any more than she has to be. Her interest in romance reveals that she might be interested in starting a family of her own, but at this point, she wants her new family and her old family to be separate and independent from each other. In some ways, Rose is trying to move on with her life, but in others, she’s running from people who care about her.
Themes
One day, Rose receives a call from a man whose resonant voice excites her in a new way. She flirts and messes around with him, redirecting his call to several different departments after he insists that he’s waiting on a very late order of Earl Gray tea to arrive. But he plays along and calls her back after she hangs up on him, asking her if she wants to meet somewhere and telling her she seems like a smart girl. She tells him to meet her at the same place where she meets the other gentlemen, by the pillar. Rose’s coworkers tease her about all this, but her boss steps in and tries to keep them all on task.
This encounter is a sign of how far Rose has come since her childhood days at Cloudstreet. Now that she’s living independently for the most part, she’s free to enjoy new possibilities, romantic or otherwise. Similar to Lucy Wentworth and Quick, this date represents Rose’s introduction into a more adult world.
Themes
After work, Rose sees him waiting for her by the pillar and her immediate impression is that he’s a very distinctive and impressive-looking young man, quite different from the men she’s dated so far. She’s almost too nervous to approach him, but when she manages to introduce herself, he makes a very forward compliment about her appearance and she feels her heart swell with excitement. The two of them go out to lunch and chat, and the young man, Toby Raven, tries to guess facts about Rose and her life but only gets a few of them correct. Rose, meanwhile, guesses that Toby is a reporter. They arrange a date for Friday.
Toby’s incorrect guesses about Rose’s life are hints that his first impressions of her might be wrong. But this minor disconnect doesn’t discourage Rose, and her correct guess about Toby Raven’s line of work suggests that she’s more insightful than he is. Despite how much Toby intimidates Rose, she seems to have a clearer understanding of the situation so far. This highlights how Rose is beginning to thrive in her independent lifestyle, though it’s notable that she’s still excited by the idea of forming a new connection with someone who would probably make her more dependent on him if they established a life together.
Themes
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On Friday night, Toby takes Rose to an exclusive restaurant called Maria’s for their date. The place seems to be brimming with people speaking many different languages, and all of them seem to know Toby, who apparently comes here often. Rose feels overwhelmed and intimidated by all this, worried that she might be out of her depth and telling Toby that the two of them aren’t the same. Toby smiles and tries to keep her confidence up, telling her that her earlier guess was correct: he’s a journalist. They’re both delighted to learn that the other one reads, but Rose doesn’t remember the authors of her favorite stories when he asks. Toby lists several high-profile authors as Rose tries to make herself comfortable.
While Rose and Toby bond over their shared love of literature, it’s worth noting their different approaches to the subject. Toby listing high-profile authors as his favorites makes him come across as educated and sophisticated, which seems to be his intention. Everything Toby does during his date is an attempt to build himself up and make himself seem cultured. Rose, meanwhile, only remembers the stories themselves, as knowing the authors wouldn’t be much use to her. What seems like a point of connection between Toby and Rose ironically brings their differences into focus. Nonetheless, Rose remains excited to experience this independent lifestyle, even if it means she has to engage with Toby on his level.
Themes
After dinner, Toby drives Rose around town, and she’s too full of wine to feel too worried about his reckless driving habits. They look out over the dark river in his car, and Toby calls Perth one of the strangest towns in the world, as it’s nothing but a small town that’s ambitious enough to want to become a city. Rose is dazzled by his talk in spite of herself, and she thinks of her own life as mundane and simple compared to the glamorous things he talks about. They kiss in his car and later have sex in his flat, and Rose is ecstatic. After the slightly disappointing sex, Rose almost feels that she wants to cry in the sad silence, but she finds herself feeling grateful instead.
As Toby tells Rose about how strange Perth is, he might be projecting his own insecurities onto the town. Toby is an unimportant journalist by his own admission, but he has grand literary ambitions that dazzle Rose. This makes him seems similar to his own disparaging description of Perth, but Rose is too enamored to notice. From her point of view, his ambitions are noble ones, as this is what the outside world is supposed to be like. While Toby intimidates Rose, she’s excited by the challenge of becoming independent and sharing in his lofty goals. However, her impulse to cry after they have sex is a sign that there might be trouble ahead in their relationship.
Themes
Rose feels sure that she’s in love with Toby by the time summer rolls around. During their months together, he takes her to dances and sophisticated gatherings, but Rose figures that it’s mostly Toby’s family name that earns him admission to these events. She goes out of her way to avoid meeting him at Cloudstreet, as she still wants to keep her bizarre home and family a secret from him. Toby writes poetry that seems like awful nonsense to Rose, and his mood darkens when publishers turn down his work. The two of them enjoy reading together, and Toby reads quite a bit about sex, despite his performance in bed never meeting his own high expectations. While he has his flaws and doesn’t appreciate her speaking up much when they’re among his artistic friends, she feels she loves him all the same.
During these months, the first cracks begins to show in Rose’s perfect mental image of Toby Raven. While the two of them grow closer and continue to share in their love of reading, their attitudes about literature continue to diverge. Rose seems to read because she enjoys the stories, while Toby’s reading appears to be more of a status symbol, or a means to an end. He reads and writes to make money, to impress his friends, or to be better in bed, but never simply for the love of reading. Despite this, Rose shows maturity by staying patient with Toby, believing that their differences are an inevitable part of forming a relationship. She’s still determined to live an independent life where she decides for herself if Toby is right for her.
Themes
In the autumn, Rose discovers that Toby is writing a book of his poetry. She starts typing it out for him, doubting if anyone will really buy and read the kind of esoteric poetry that he’s writing. One evening, she tells him that he’s not a poet and she’s not a typist, suggesting that they go out to the football game and reminding him of what he said to her about foolish ambitions. He laughs condescendingly at the idea, and Rose heads home. Things become quiet between the two of them for a few days, and she feels disconnected from the girls at work, who still lovingly tease her about Toby’s highbrow pursuits.
At this point, Rose’s independent spirit begins to clash with Toby’s preconceived notions about her. She isn’t ashamed to let herself relax and unwind at a football game, but Toby considers this beneath her, putting the two of them at odds once again. After this, Rose has to reflect on what it really means to be independent, as it seems she’d have to change aspects of herself to please Toby. His strange and esoteric poetry is another indication of the deeper disconnect between him and Rose.
Themes
Rose struggles to fall asleep, as she’s experiencing a bad period and hears a girl crying in the house. She knows that no one who lives in the house anymore is young enough to cry in a voice like that, but she shrugs it off. Dolly walks in and shows Rose a postcard from Ted, telling her that he lives in South Australia and has married the girl he got pregnant. Rose reflects on how she’s an aunt now, and Dolly comes to terms with the fact that she’s a grandmother. She cries and tells her daughter she’s old, and Rose absently comforts her.
The young girl crying in the house is another sign that Cloudstreet is haunted, although these strange occurrences are usually only background noise to the preoccupied families. Meanwhile, Dolly still misses her youth and resents Rose for this reason, but things seem to have calmed down between Dolly and Rose lately. This isn’t because they’ve made peace with each other, necessarily, but simply because they’re going through the motions of family obligations as Rose becomes increasingly distant from the goings-on at Cloudstreet.
Themes
Rose wakes up in the evening to the sound of Sam knocking on her door, telling her that a young man’s here to see her. She discovers that it’s Toby; he found her by asking the other girls on the switchboard where she lives. He excitedly explains that one of his poems has been accepted, and that he’s been invited to the editor’s house for a party tonight. Rose congratulates him but still hurls plenty of sarcasm his way. All the same, she agrees to come along, and the two of them arrive at the Dalkeith mansion that night. Toby explains that the gathering is swarming with university people and others from what he calls the “usual literary establishment.”
It's possible that Rose only agrees to attend the party with Toby because she still wants to get away from her family at Cloudstreet. As much as Toby has irritated her lately, Rose would still rather spend time with him than with her mother. Additionally, the party also seems to confirm that Toby has talent and potential, which Rose was beginning to doubt. This party gives Rose the opportunity to give Toby another chance and believe that she can still be happy with him.
Themes
At the lavish gathering, Toby spots a group of men huddled together and rushes forward to join them. Rose does her best not to seem flustered, but she already feels uncomfortable and ready to leave. After some discussion among the men, it quickly becomes clear to Rose and Toby that there’s been some mistake; they contacted the wrong Toby, his poem was never accepted, and he isn’t actually meant to be here. Nonetheless, Toby desperately pretends to be who they think he is, following their suggestions by telling them he’s planning on writing a comical piece about a woman who lives in a tent, and a famous writer and a shopgirl. He begs Rose to tell them about his idea as she storms out of the mansion and walks down to the dark river.
This dramatic tipping point ends Toby and Rose’s relationship once and for all. From his desperate attempts to turn the details of Rose’s life into a comical story, it becomes clear that Toby only cares about impressing powerful people. He’ll do anything to climb the social ladder—even mock Rose in front of the party’s guests for his own gain. Ironically, this reveals that Toby was depending on Rose far more than she depended on him. She had looked up to him as the herald of her new life away from Cloudstreet, but now her pursuit of independence has left her alone and disappointed.
Themes
During the past few months, Quick hasn’t known what to do with himself now that he’s back home. He feels that Cloudstreet itself wants him to stay there, but it’s hard for him to imagine why. In the summer, Quick finds the same old boat that Lester bought—the one that Quick and Fish tried to row all the way home in. While out on the river at night, it suddenly occurs to him that he could catch fish to sell in the shop for a living. Oriel likes the idea, and the job makes Quick feel more useful, though not necessarily satisfied with his place in the world.
It's been some time since Quick has accepted that his place is at Cloudstreet, but he still hasn’t figured out what exactly all of those visions and signs were trying to tell him. He knows he needs his family and vice versa, but it still isn’t clear to him where he fits into the picture. While he’s given up on complete independence at this point, he’s still searching for a specific purpose within the family he belongs to.
Themes
Fish often asks to accompany Quick on his fishing trips, but Oriel still doesn’t like Fish being too near the water. Fish reminds Quick of the time their boat sailed among the stars, and Quick realizes that he had somehow let himself forget that memory until now. He pretends not to remember, but he reflects on how he and maybe his whole family often ignore or accept the strange occurrences that happen around them. Disappointed that he can’t tag along, Fish often messes around in the backyard instead, and Quick hears him talking to the pig.
Oriel’s reluctance to allow Fish near the water implies that the pain of his accident is still fresh in her mind after all these years. On the other side of the spectrum, Quick forgetting about what happened during his childhood boat ride with Fish is a sign that weird and supernatural events are woven seamlessly into the Lambs’ lives at this point. Like his mother, Quick doesn’t attempt to question what these events might mean. From the sea of stars to Quick’s glowing to the talking pig, strangeness is simply a fact of life now.
Themes
Lester accompanies Quick on the river some nights, and Quick is grateful that his father is much quieter out on the water than he is in the house. One night, Lester once again reminisces about the recurring dream he has, about his father and the rushing water. Quick interrupts and tells him the dream isn’t true, but Lester tearfully defends himself, telling Quick he knows it happened, even if it’s just a dream. Lester admits that all he’s really wanted is to be loved—by Oriel, by his family, and even by God. He feels outdone by Oriel, but he’s unambitious anyway; he only wants to be a good man. Quick agrees, but Lester points out that it’s all too easy to be a good man out on the river, where there are no other people to answer to.
This conversation mirrors Quick’s time with Oriel on the river earlier in the novel. Once again, parent and son are talking openly about their struggles and insecurities, but Lester shows his feelings even more openly than Oriel did. Lester’s insistence that his dream really happened—even if it was only a dream—contributes to the theme of supernatural elements seamlessly blending into reality. Just like Lester’s Bible stories, his dream of his father means the world to him even if it isn’t true in a literal sense. His remark about being a good man also adds a new layer to the conflict between family and independence. He implies that morality can only meaningfully exist in a community, not just in the mind of an individual. In Lester’s view, being a good person boils down to being a human among other humans.
Themes
Quick continues his fishing work throughout the year, and one night he finally decides to let Fish come with him. He stipulates that Fish is tied to his seat in the boat and wears a makeshift belt of buoys, just in case he falls in the water. Out on the dark river, Quick idly asks Fish what they’re going to do with themselves. Quick asks Fish if he’s happy, and Fish says yes, but he seems to know that Quick is generally unhappy. Fish admires the water, seeming almost entranced by it, and Quick asks if Fish remembers the day he drowned. Their one-sided conversation is cut short when Quick hears someone crying on the bank nearby.
History repeats itself once again as Quick and Fish row across the river. Their presence here foreshadows that something significant might be about to take place, for good or ill. Even as an adult, Quick still feels guilty about letting Fish drown, especially now that Fish is also fully grown and still living with his brain damage from the accident. On the other hand, Fish sensing Quick’s misery indicates that Fish is still somewhat in tune with his brother’s feelings, even though Fish’s overall awareness has been stunted.
Themes
The crying person turns out to be Rose, who’s just fled from the mansion party and from Toby Raven. Rose blows her nose and wonders aloud to Quick if Cloudstreet will ever leave either of them alone. Quick offers to give her a ride, and she says it doesn’t matter where they go. She tries to compose herself but ends up sobbing heavily and uncontrollably as Quick rows on. Eventually she falls asleep. When she wakes up, they’re still on the river at night, though Fish has fallen asleep under his seat. Quick and Rose make small talk and drink a bit, as Rose doesn’t seem eager to talk about what just happened to her.
The coincidence of Quick and Fish showing up on the river at this particular moment is what prompts Rose to wonder if Cloudstreet will ever leave her alone. Similar to how Quick was drawn back home by signs and visions, Rose feels that Cloudstreet somehow wants her back. Her sobbing is an admission that her attempts to live a completely independent life have failed. Rose can’t help but feel despair at the idea that she can never truly escape Cloudstreet or her family, as the outside world seems to reject her.
Themes
Rose asks Quick what happened to Fish to make him the way he is. Quick sighs and doesn’t answer, and Rose hates herself for offending him. She apologizes but seems to offend him again when she asks Quick what he’s like. He eventually answers that he feels a bit lost, but he wonders why she asked the question. She was only wondering, and she thinks it’s strange that she never got to know him after living under the same roof for so many years. Rose reminds him of the time he accidentally hit her with a bag when he ran away from home, and Quick casually remarks that she’s grown up to be good-looking. Rose blushes a bit at this, taken aback by how simply and offhandedly he said it.
Rose’s reactions to Quick are telling, implying that she cares more about his opinion of her than she’d like to admit. She feels guilty for asking him about Fish, and flustered by his remarks about her appearance. Both of these reactions hint that Rose could be developing romantic feelings for Quick, despite her childhood crush on Fish. Meanwhile, Quick is harder to read, as his emotions seem more conflicted at this point. His refusal to answer Rose’s question about Fish reveals how the trauma of Fish’s accident still hurts Quick years later.
Themes
Quick and Rose get to know each other better as they chat. Quick tells Rose that everyone loved Fish before the accident, and Rose can sense the painful and sincere feeling behind his words. She doesn’t feel like going home when he asks her about it, so they end up fishing together instead. They work in silence for about an hour, and Rose feels strangely happy despite her anger and despair just a little while ago. She watches Quick work and admires his stoic expression. She asks him about his expression, then suddenly asks if he thinks they’d make a good married couple. Quick throws the beer bottle into the water in angry surprise and they argue a bit over her hypothetical question, but he ends up smiling at her before she asks him once again to answer the question.
This sudden, romantic shift in the conversation highlights the strange headspace that both Quick and Rose are experiencing at this point. Rather than dwelling on her inability to become fully independent, Rose instead throws herself in the opposite direction by asking Quick about marriage. After all, if independence can’t make her happy, maybe starting a family can. She regrets bringing up Quick’s trauma, but at the same time, she wonders if sharing their struggles will make it easier for both of them. The suddenness of her question reflects her persistent desire to make her life better as quickly as possible, especially in the wake of the Toby Raven disaster.
Themes
Later that night, with Fish asleep in his room, Quick and Rose stumble into Cloudstreet’s dark library together, brimming with breathy excitement. As they kiss and touch each other, Quick tells her they’ve gone mad, and that they’ll be embarrassed afterwards. Rose tells him that they’ll be something else entirely afterwards. They passionately have sex in view of no one but the library’s two ghosts who watch invisibly, startled by this display of the living and the young. Quick and Rose are ecstatic. They don’t dress and leave the library until daylight, when they’re already eager to announce their love to their families.
Rose’s suggestion that this experience will change them turns out to be correct, at least in the short term. By joining together in sudden and unexpected passion, Quick and Rose both discover that their place in the world is simply with each other. Although this revelation doesn’t solve all their problems, it does begin to change them for the better. Their first night together is a stark contrast to Quick and Rose’s experiences with Lucy Wentworth and Toby Raven, respectively. While their previous romances made them feel uncertain and alienated, it’s clear that Quick and Rose have an immediate connection far stronger than anything they’ve experienced before. The library’s ghosts also provide contrast, getting pushed to the sidelines as new love makes old traumas momentarily less important.
Themes
Oriel doesn’t seem to have much to say when Quick tells her he intends to marry Rose Pickles. She simply tells him to light the stove inside and dismisses him. Sam, on the other hand, laughs so loudly at Rose’s admission that Quick can hear him from the backyard. Quick tells Lester the news as the two of them unload last night’s fish from the truck, and Lester collapses on the floor in surprise. Red congratulates Quick and tells him he doesn’t deserve Rose, while Elaine looks angry and jealous as usual. Oriel storms in and tells everyone to be sensible about the news, but she breaks down into tears before long. Rose feels a steely, invincible determination as she breaks the news to her parents, not allowing Dolly’s bitter pessimism to put a damper on what she’s feeling.
It’s significant that Quick and Rose aren’t trying to keep their love a secret. Not too long ago, Quick or Rose might have tried to distance their romantic affairs from their families, like when Rose tried to keep Toby Raven away from Cloudstreet. But at this point, both of them have given up on complete independence and recognized that their families finding out is both important and inevitable. Oriel is likely weeping over the news because she feels she’s going to lose Quick again. Dolly, meanwhile, jealously retains her resentment of Rose at this happy turning point in Rose’s youth.
Themes
The wedding is held six weeks later. Fish holds the rings as Quick nervously waits for Rose’s arrival in the chapel. But after Rose appears with the priest and walks down the aisle, Fish starts bobbing and dancing around as he makes a noise somewhere between singing and speech. The congregation watches silently until he collapses happily to the floor. At the raucous afterparty later on, Quick and Rose watch in astonishment as Oriel approaches Dolly and offers to dance with her. From the look on Oriel’s face, “something massive has been summoned” within her to compel her to do this. The two women turn and spin together with surprising grace, and many of the drunk onlookers weep. Fish sleeps outside in the truck the whole time.
The union of Quick and Rose is what compels Oriel to finally swallow her pride and dance with Dolly. While she’s gone out of her way to distinguish herself from Dolly and the Pickles family over the years, Oriel now recognizes that the two families can no longer avoid each other. Their dancing represents the possibility that the Lambs and Pickles can make peace with each other and maybe even become one enormous family, though both women still struggle to come to terms with this idea.
Themes
