Meaning of Life and Australian Cultural Identity Essay

From depart catastrophes, two rural families flee to the city and stimulate themselves sharing a great, breathing, shuddering joint called Cloudstreet, where they begin their lives once again from scratch. For twenty years they roister and rankle, laugh and curse until the roof over their heads becomes a home for their hearts. (Winton, 1991) Tim Wintons critically acclaimed fable, Cloudstreet is a masterful tale of love, gist and heartbreaking tragedy that speaks strongly of a post war Australian society that was essentially rebuilding itself after years of political turbulence and financial struggle.Good Morning/Afternoon Ladies and Gentleman. I am a representative of the National English Curriculum board and today I am here to demonstrate to you how Cloudstreet is authentic and believable, and as Marieke Hardy suggests It is Australian. meter reading it felt like coming home. through and throughout Cloudstreet, there ar numerous impressions that portray the Australian c ultural identity element and the theme of piety and otherworldliness is especially prominent and appealing.The concept of luck, indigenous spirituality, and the see for the heart and soul of heart, atomic number 18 all Australian ideas that Winton expertly portrays. Spirituality can be defined as a concern for that which is unseen or intangible as opposed to physical or mundane. (Greenberg, 2008) It encourages a sense of peace and dissolve within an individual and promotes a feeling of be acheing. Additionally, organized religion can be defined as the belief in, and worship of a superhuman irresponsible power. (Religion) Both concepts argon widely integrated into the core of the novel and are depicted by means of the Australian notion of luck. Luck, which some would argue has long been etched into the Australian consciousness as a familiar on the job(p) class superstition, is, whether they are conscious of it or not, a anatomy of religion for both families. The Pickl es family, roughly notably surface-to-air missile, rely on the shifty nates of God (p 12) to warn them about future events, while the Lambs simple game of spinning the knife (p 53) acts as their metaphorical smell compass.The Lucky Country (Horne, 1964) is a phrase that originated from a book of the corresponding name written in the 1960s, and since then, has gained widespread popularity and thus, been attached to the Australian agriculture for a long clock. Winton has cleverly examined this historical background to incorporate an unblemished facet of the Australian identity into the novel and its characters. Also related to the concept of luck, is the fact that after Fish drowns, Oriel, once a devoted and graven image fearing Christian, begins to question her faith and the reliability of believing in God.When Fish is resuscitated, scarce only some of him comes back, (p 32) both she and Lester are emotionally obligate to abandon God and Christianity and instead, turn to lu ck, hard work and the idea that life and death, was all there was, (p 65) in order to endure their circumstances. This draws on the common Aussie battler tradition, of which a working class person overcame challenging situations through perseverance, faith and steadfast determination.In terms of the Australian cultural identity, Winton has again taken an important and recognized historical Australian idea and shape it to evoke feelings of familiarity and intimacy between the readers and the characters of Cloudstreet. The frequent appearance of the Blackfella is yet other example of how the Australian cultural identity is portrayed through question of Aboriginal Spirituality. However, in many scenes throughout the novel, the blackfella signifies both Christian and Aboriginal spirituality through allusion and comparison.For example, he is likened to Jesus by walking on water and again when he produces a never ending leave of wine and bread in supples car. This comparison is part icularly effective as it symbolises the coming together of Christianity and Aboriginality, which was a particularly overdelicate Australian issue during the time period of the novel, due to Aboriginal marginalisation and the rise of Christian ideals.Essentially, the Blackfella acts as a reminder of the original religion inherent to Australia and its development, during a time when social and political change was qualifying that of its native beliefs. The Blackfella also acts as the conscience of the characters when they have lost their way of life or their family unit is threatened. This can ultimately be seen when he leads Quick back to Cloudstreet after he runs away to the bucolic, knowing that Quick feels secretly lost without his family, and needs them to feel fully alive.He also persuades Sam not the sell the house and states that you shouldnt break a place. Places are strong and important, (p 406) referring to not only the house and its tragic Aboriginal history, besides also to the fragile families who live inside it. In doing so, he ensures that the families period whole and together, which is an important and dominating religious value for Aboriginality and Christianity, both during the time period of the novel and in our modern Australian society.Consequently, the Blackfellas federal agency in Cloudstreet is a significant contribution to the novels relevancy to the Australian cultural identity. The Australian cultural identity is also illustrated in Cloudstreet through the spiritual symbolism and personification of the river, and its connection to the characters search for the meaning of life. This is particularly significant for Quick Lamb, who, is spiritually conjugated to the river in a number of ways. The river acts as a place of peace, design and belonging for Quick.Connecting with his mother when they go prawning, glowing after fishing in the country, and or so importantly, falling in love with Rose Pickles, are the approximately si gnificant spiritually defining events that Quick experiences while on the river. Through realising just how symbolically important the river is to him, Quick finally understands the true meaning of his life, and gains a feeling of belonging that allows him to finally shed his self-degrading title of the lost lamb. (p 310) Australia is a country that values the water.Geographically, we are surrounded by it, with most of our population residing close to the shores. As a result of this, the water is seen as a common gathering place, from which one cannot easily escape nor realise as irrelevant to the Australian way of life. Winton has taken this idea and co-ordinated it into Cloudstreet, to emphasise and promote a relevant part of Australian culture. Finally, the rivers spiritual and religious connection to Fish Lamb is perhaps the most important concept of the novel.After Fish drowns and has his soul ripped into two separate pieces (spiritual fish and physical fish), the river that he so desperately longs for, essentially becomes his admission to the spiritual world to the place where he belongs. It is not until the end of the novel when Fish is finally free to reunite with the water that he is real whole again. I burst into the moon, sun and stars of who I really am. cosmos Fish Lamb. Perfectly. Always. Everyplace. Me.(p 424) For many, water in Australia is culturally considered to be the blood of the country a place of cleansing and rejuvenation. Likewise, for Fish, the river embodies the epitome of the spirit of Australia in the form of life giving water. Although his life was initially taken by the water, it is in the end returned to him when his physical self re-joins his spiritual self. In conclusion, Winton flawlessly encapsulates the cultural identity and spirit of Australia in Cloudstreet through symbolic representations of luck, Aboriginal spirituality and the search for the meaning of life.The characters connection with religion and spiritualit y resonates strongly with the reader and successfully evokes feelings of belonging and familiarity that confirms Cloudstreet is indeed a classic Australian novel. Bibliography Associates, R. Q. (2008, September 16). political theory in Cloudstreet . Retrieved 2013, from www. englishcurriculum. com. au Cloudstreet Notes. (n. d. ). Retrieved 2013, from Sydney class Tutoring http//www. sydneyhometutoring. com. au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Details-Cloudstreet-notes. pdf. Dot Point Notes Cloudstreet. (n. d. ).Retrieved 2013, from Sydney Home Tutoring http//www. sydneyhometutoring. com. au/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Dot-Point-Notes-Cloudstreet. pdf. Greenberg, N. (2008, October 8). Retrieved 2013, from Can Spirituality Be Defined http//notes. utk. edu/bio/unistudy. nsf/935c0d855156f9e08525738a006f2417/bdc83cd10e58d14a852573b00072525d Horne, D. (1964). The Lucky Country. Penguin Books Australia. Religion. (n. d. ). Retrieved 2013, from Google Definitions https//www. google. com. au/sea rch? q=religion+definition Winton, T. (1991). Cloudstreet. McPhee Gribble.