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The Dream House Themes and Symbols
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Themes and Symbols based on The Dream House by Craig Higginson
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LANGUAGE⬧ Looksmart is a gifted linguist and was told by a teacher that he could become a poet
⬧ English is viewed as the language of the coloniser. Looksmart describes it as a
"language of lies and liars" (page 118).
⬧ Looksmart inadvertently starts to speak poorly when confronting Patricia and this
pleases him because he feels that it will show her how little her language means to
him.
⬧ Looksmart speaks English to Bheki - instead of Zulu - perhaps to indicate that he has
outgrown him and the farm (page 117).
⬧ He avoids telling Bheki too much as he feels that "Power lies with those whỏ withhold
their information from others" (page 118). (manipulation)
⬧ Looksmart says that he does not trust words. He finds the way in which people use
them, suspicious.
⬧ Looksmart is described by Beauty as someone whose head is too full of words, which
made him not want to listen to anyone else. She also says that people don't really
change, no matter which words they use to try and confuse you. (Page 120)
⬧ Beauty by contrast has very few words and she finds it difficult to express herself
clearly - even in her mother-tongue, Zulu
HOME
⬧ Looksmart does not even feel at home in his own country due to apartheid. Even
after it has been abolished, he still thinks someone is going to ask him what he is
doing in a certain place. Also, due to the trauma associated with Grace's death,
Looksmart left the farm - where he'd been born and had always lived. Looksmart was
never truly completely himself, comfortable or at home anywhere (even within his own
family) after that. In the end, Looksmart returns to the house he associates with
tragedy in order to transform it by making it "open plan" (revealing the truth) and
improving the view by cutting down the trees. He also aims to reproduce the new and
improved version of the house throughout the valley. Interestingly, he does not
destroy the original which is linked to his pain as he is not ready to let his grievance
go yet Looksmart is creating homes in a gated community to which people can go to
escape the crime in the cities.
, ⬧ The landscape of the novel is in a state of transition: the new houses being built can
be described as rising up out of the mud towards a promising new future or could be
perceived as ruined structures in a battle zone.
⬧ Do white South Africans still feel safe and at home in South Africa? Consider the
brutal farm attack which is mentioned in the novel.
⬧ Patricia's dream house is her childhood home in Durban as when she lived there, life
seemed less complicated. She even decides, by the end of the novel, to not have
Richard live with her in Durban
⬧ Was Dwaleni ever home to Richard? He came from the UK and was from a different
social class to Patricia - who only married him because she was pregnant. Richard
was always an outsider whom Patricia started to take very little notice of after
Rachel's death. Perhaps that is why he sought solace with other women. Throughout
the course of the novel, Richard is trying to find his way back home and is confused
by the replica houses which are in the process of being built on the estate.
⬧ Beauty's greatest desire is to build her own home and she aims to do so when she
retires. She has already secured land, which overlooks the mountains, from the local
chief.
.
⬧ Bheki opts to remain in the place he has always called home - to be helped by a
fellow black man as he feels this is what should happen.
TRUTH
⬧ Looksmart tells Patricia that it is the truth that she needs to fear (page 83)
⬧ Looksmart comes to confront Patricia with the truth about Grace's death, but
ironically, he is the one person who, by the end of the novel, does not know the whole
story.
⬧ Why does Looksmart lie about not remembering how he caught his first fish Whose
version of events relating to the fish is true? Does Looksmart lieto Patricia or is he
trying to illustrate just how unreliable memory is?
⬧ Why did Beauty withhold the truth for such a long time? Did she feel that Richard
and Grace were both at fault? Was she afraid of losing her job because it would be
her word against his - her white employer?
⬧ What are Looksmart's true feelings about Patricia? Does he really hate her?
⬧ Patricia cannot recall not wanting an injured Grace to be transported in her car. What
is the truth about her motivation? Are Looksmart's perceptions about the incident
accurate?
⬧ The idea of Richard digging up Rachel and/or his other unborn child could symbolise
the notion of unearthing the truth.
⬧ Beauty tells Patricia to "find the truth for yourself” after telling her version of the
attack. (Page 236)
⬧ Beauty does not believe that Looksmart is ready to hear the full truth about Grace.
(Page 235)
⬧ Does his version of the truth set Looksmart free at the end of the novel?
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