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Val/Carmen Maria Machado’s Wife
Joel is the pastor who joins Machado’s church when she’s 16 years old. He and Machado become close friends despite their large age gap, and after they meet several times in his church office with the door closed, they begin going out to diners late at night to talk. Machado shares personal details, like her experience of sexual assault, with him, and he tells her that he loves her. But when Joel learns that Machado kissed a boy for the first time, he tells her to ask for forgiveness, and the joy of her romantic moment turns to shame. Machado is confused by Joel’s conflicting stances on chastity and love, and it’s clear that he uses her naivete to his advantage. His influence, and the wider influence of Machado’s Christian faith, send her mixed signals about what a healthy relationship looks like, which leave her ill equipped to identify inequalities and abuse in her future romantic encounters, including in her relationship with the woman from the Dream House.
Joel Quotes in In the Dream House
The In the Dream House quotes below are all either spoken by Joel or refer to Joel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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19. Dream House as Bildungsroman Quotes
“What should I do?” I asked him, the question slipping out of my mouth before I could stop it. Until that moment I’d been, secretly, excited, bolstered with the newness of a man’s stubble across my face, hands that went where I wanted them to. But in Joel’s silence, which carried a whiff of disapproval, I recalled the sin of it.
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Joel Character Timeline in In the Dream House
The timeline below shows where the character Joel appears in In the Dream House. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
19. Dream House as Bildungsroman
...at a Christian camp. When Machado is 16, her church welcomes a new pastor called Joel. Machado is attracted to Joel and feels like he treats her as though she’s an...
(full context)
At the camp, Machado stays up late every night to talk to Joel. He tells her about his struggles with lust and says he doesn’t know if he’s...
(full context)
After they return to the States, Machado visits Joel at church regularly. They sit in his office with the door closed and discuss religion,...
(full context)
Machado’s mother doesn’t like that Machado calls Joel by his first name and not “Pastor Jones.” Machado hates it when Joel refers to...
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Machado leaves for college and cries as she says goodbye to Joel. He tells her she can call him and that he might be able to visit....
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A few weeks later, Joel stops picking up Machado’s calls. She wonders whether he’s jealous or has lost interest in...
(full context)
