THE DREAM HOUSE THEMES
Reconciliation
• First step – apologising to Looksmart/ Looksmart coming back to the farm.
• End – knew who killed Grace and found out more of the truth.
• Obstacles overcome – Patricia’s racism and Looksmart’s double consienceness.
• Turning point – Patricia asked Beauty for the truth.
• Why no official reconciliation occurred – Got closure but will still hold grudges due to racism,
society, the state of South Africa and everyone experiencing the same events differently.
o They left without a word.
Essay
• Intro – There must be an element of truth before reconciliation can occur but not all truths need
to be revealed.
o Looksmart forces Patricia to re-evaluate the past – Graces’ death.
▪ “Doesn’t amount to much in the end”
▪ Accepts that Richard was “taunting the dog”
▪ Patricia re-examines her role in the “murder” and “cannot forgive” her for
viewing Grace as “less than human”
▪ “Sometimes a crick in the neck is exactly what the doctor orders”
▪ Looksmart gets the closure he needed to as he initially could not “separate” his
“love and fear”
▪ Damaged relationships with family.
▪ Although “he will never be free” of the past, he can “hand some of his burden
across to Patricia” in the hope of forging more honest, meaningful relationships.
o Patricia learns with, Beauty’s help, the relativity of truth.
▪ After forcing Patricia to acknowledge the past, she learns the nb of truth and it
subjectivity.
▪ Looksmart left with “gaps carried away inside him” – did not know the truth.
▪ Beauty teaches Patricia that “sometimes, a small amount of truth is enough to
satisfy a person’s appetite”
▪ Finds out about Grace and Richard “each and every time” and accepts “the
mystery that must run through all things”
▪ She learns from Beauty the importance of “finding the truth for herself”
o This relativity brings about reconciliation.
▪ Managed to reach partial reconciliation.
▪ Looksmart initially visited to bring “guilt, darkness” and leaves with compassion.
▪ He will leave her roses “exactly as they are” although, it is a lie.
▪ She finds “she likes him for his lies far better than she likes him for his truths”
▪ They do not fully reconcile as the full truth is subjective and doesn’t just involve
them, they “remain a little more to one another than a silhouette”
▪ They reach partial reconciliation and “each keep their peace”
• Outro – Concluded that truth is a vital precursor in the journey towards reconciliation.
o Patricia’s acknowledgement comes about through Looksmart and Patricia’s
conversations and about perceptions that shaped each person’s truth.
o Ultimately revealed that truth is essential in achieving reconciliation.
, Truth
• Found through confronting the past and through communication.
• Truths – Grace’s death, racism, raising of Looksmart and his name, fish incident.
o Richard raped Grace, pregnant, Grace wanted to kill it, Richard killed her.
• Obstacles – anger, different/divided cultures, races and perceptions of the events.
• Truths agreed upon – Patricia wronged Looksmart and Richard killed Grace.
Essay – subjective and objective truth
• Intro – Truth is multifaceted and although they can involve facts, they can be manipulated as
each character views events in the past differently which in turn shapes his own version of the
truth: a relative truth.
o Subjective and objective truths can be seen through Patricia’s realisation of the relativity
of truth after Looksmart reveals the story on the death of Grace.
▪ Patricia believes that the past “doesn’t amount to much in the end” and truth is
a “concept only children believe in”
▪ Looksmart’s visit causes her to reconsider her truth.
▪ She saw Grace’s death as a “sorry affair” and believes Grace “provoked the dog”
▪ Looksmart forces his version of the truth as he wants Patricia “to be sorry”
▪ He tells her that he “saw it as a murder” and “cannot forgive”
▪ Patricia admits that “maybe she got it wrong”
o As Patricia, Looksmart and Beauty remember Looksmart’s first fish, it is revealed that
truth is not fixed.
▪ Patricia remembers the excitement of the scene while Looksmart claims that
“his mind is blank” causing her to doubt her beliefs.
▪ When he admits to remembering the event, the truth is revealed but
demonstrates how the objective truth is intertwined with the subjective truth.
▪ While Patricia believed Looksmart was eager, he remembers feeling inferior like
“her toy monkey with a battery up its arse”
▪ He said that she “gave him a rock to smash its head” illustrating his and
Patricia’s vastly different memories of the scene.
o Each character must find a version of truth that best allows them to move forward.
▪ Patricia sees that in order to move forward, one must find their won version of
the truth.
▪ “sometimes a crick in the neck is exactly what the doctor orders” after speaking
to Beauty about the death of Grace.
▪ Beauty revealed that Looksmart’s story also contained “gaps” however,
“sometimes a small amount of truth is enough to satisfy a person’s appetite”
and thus Lookmsarts version of the truth allows him to move forward.
▪ These truths made Patricia begin to take responsibility for her role in Grace’s
death and for both characters to gain greater clarity on the past.
• Outro – thus be concluded that it is effectively illustrated that facts must co-exist with
perceptions in order to create a version of the truth that is unique for each person.
o Relationship between subjectivity and objectivity of the truth is explored in both Grace’s
death and the fish incident where Beauty confirms that the truth contains multiple
narratives.
o Characters must learn to find their own version of the truth, that allows them to look
forward towards the future rather than dwell on the past.
Reconciliation
• First step – apologising to Looksmart/ Looksmart coming back to the farm.
• End – knew who killed Grace and found out more of the truth.
• Obstacles overcome – Patricia’s racism and Looksmart’s double consienceness.
• Turning point – Patricia asked Beauty for the truth.
• Why no official reconciliation occurred – Got closure but will still hold grudges due to racism,
society, the state of South Africa and everyone experiencing the same events differently.
o They left without a word.
Essay
• Intro – There must be an element of truth before reconciliation can occur but not all truths need
to be revealed.
o Looksmart forces Patricia to re-evaluate the past – Graces’ death.
▪ “Doesn’t amount to much in the end”
▪ Accepts that Richard was “taunting the dog”
▪ Patricia re-examines her role in the “murder” and “cannot forgive” her for
viewing Grace as “less than human”
▪ “Sometimes a crick in the neck is exactly what the doctor orders”
▪ Looksmart gets the closure he needed to as he initially could not “separate” his
“love and fear”
▪ Damaged relationships with family.
▪ Although “he will never be free” of the past, he can “hand some of his burden
across to Patricia” in the hope of forging more honest, meaningful relationships.
o Patricia learns with, Beauty’s help, the relativity of truth.
▪ After forcing Patricia to acknowledge the past, she learns the nb of truth and it
subjectivity.
▪ Looksmart left with “gaps carried away inside him” – did not know the truth.
▪ Beauty teaches Patricia that “sometimes, a small amount of truth is enough to
satisfy a person’s appetite”
▪ Finds out about Grace and Richard “each and every time” and accepts “the
mystery that must run through all things”
▪ She learns from Beauty the importance of “finding the truth for herself”
o This relativity brings about reconciliation.
▪ Managed to reach partial reconciliation.
▪ Looksmart initially visited to bring “guilt, darkness” and leaves with compassion.
▪ He will leave her roses “exactly as they are” although, it is a lie.
▪ She finds “she likes him for his lies far better than she likes him for his truths”
▪ They do not fully reconcile as the full truth is subjective and doesn’t just involve
them, they “remain a little more to one another than a silhouette”
▪ They reach partial reconciliation and “each keep their peace”
• Outro – Concluded that truth is a vital precursor in the journey towards reconciliation.
o Patricia’s acknowledgement comes about through Looksmart and Patricia’s
conversations and about perceptions that shaped each person’s truth.
o Ultimately revealed that truth is essential in achieving reconciliation.
, Truth
• Found through confronting the past and through communication.
• Truths – Grace’s death, racism, raising of Looksmart and his name, fish incident.
o Richard raped Grace, pregnant, Grace wanted to kill it, Richard killed her.
• Obstacles – anger, different/divided cultures, races and perceptions of the events.
• Truths agreed upon – Patricia wronged Looksmart and Richard killed Grace.
Essay – subjective and objective truth
• Intro – Truth is multifaceted and although they can involve facts, they can be manipulated as
each character views events in the past differently which in turn shapes his own version of the
truth: a relative truth.
o Subjective and objective truths can be seen through Patricia’s realisation of the relativity
of truth after Looksmart reveals the story on the death of Grace.
▪ Patricia believes that the past “doesn’t amount to much in the end” and truth is
a “concept only children believe in”
▪ Looksmart’s visit causes her to reconsider her truth.
▪ She saw Grace’s death as a “sorry affair” and believes Grace “provoked the dog”
▪ Looksmart forces his version of the truth as he wants Patricia “to be sorry”
▪ He tells her that he “saw it as a murder” and “cannot forgive”
▪ Patricia admits that “maybe she got it wrong”
o As Patricia, Looksmart and Beauty remember Looksmart’s first fish, it is revealed that
truth is not fixed.
▪ Patricia remembers the excitement of the scene while Looksmart claims that
“his mind is blank” causing her to doubt her beliefs.
▪ When he admits to remembering the event, the truth is revealed but
demonstrates how the objective truth is intertwined with the subjective truth.
▪ While Patricia believed Looksmart was eager, he remembers feeling inferior like
“her toy monkey with a battery up its arse”
▪ He said that she “gave him a rock to smash its head” illustrating his and
Patricia’s vastly different memories of the scene.
o Each character must find a version of truth that best allows them to move forward.
▪ Patricia sees that in order to move forward, one must find their won version of
the truth.
▪ “sometimes a crick in the neck is exactly what the doctor orders” after speaking
to Beauty about the death of Grace.
▪ Beauty revealed that Looksmart’s story also contained “gaps” however,
“sometimes a small amount of truth is enough to satisfy a person’s appetite”
and thus Lookmsarts version of the truth allows him to move forward.
▪ These truths made Patricia begin to take responsibility for her role in Grace’s
death and for both characters to gain greater clarity on the past.
• Outro – thus be concluded that it is effectively illustrated that facts must co-exist with
perceptions in order to create a version of the truth that is unique for each person.
o Relationship between subjectivity and objectivity of the truth is explored in both Grace’s
death and the fish incident where Beauty confirms that the truth contains multiple
narratives.
o Characters must learn to find their own version of the truth, that allows them to look
forward towards the future rather than dwell on the past.
