The Dream House - Craig Higginson
Characters
- Patricia
- Looksmart
- Richard
- Beauty
- Bheki
☆ The novel has no ending
Style
- Each character has their own specialized way of speaking. This creates the
personality of the character and we’re able to find out more about each of the
characters through the way in which they are written. E.g In Beauty’s chapters she
tends to speak in zulu and english which tells us she’s bilingual
- The novel has a theme of hopelessness around it. E.g
☆ “ She has been rather hoping the whole house would go up in smoke, with all of
them inside” - Patricia - This sentence gives us the impression that Patricia has
completely given up on her life and comes of as suicidal but it could also be
attributed to old age and events that have occurred throughout her life that have
possibly made her feel this way e.g beng turned into the other woman, her husband
getting Dementia, her daughter dying after being born, her dogs dying of old age
☆The way Looksmart describes the house as he sees her for the first time e.g Eerie,
Haunting, gloom(pg.47)
, ☆ Most of the characters in the novel feel isolated and alone. They feel that they do
not belong anywhere and have no use.
Part One: Ends on an ominous note - “She is about to call a third time when the
flyscreen at the back of the house creaks open , appears to consider its next move
and snaps back shut”
Symbolism
The mist:
- Symbolises the conflict between the characters personal truth (lies, untruth and omissions)
and real truth
- The mist of untruths does not allow the characters to know and understand one another
completely
- Thus it hides/divides them from one another
- “The mist” allows Patricia to deny the truth about how she was disgusted by idea of Grace’s
dying body being placed in the backseat of her new car
- “There is more mist than rain now”
- “Sometimes a small amount of truth is enough to satisfy a person’s appetite. The challenge
is to know which words to end at.”
- “The more she speaks her version of events, the clearer they become, each detail….”
- In Part 3 the mist turns into rain : - “Everything is lost in this rain, everything is lost”
, The Bloodwood Tree
- The sap of the bloodwood tree can supposedly seal a cut and promote healing
- Rachel is buried under the Bloodwood tree
Weaver Birds
- Represents growth and renewal and the idea of living in a dream house
Dogs
- Symbolises Hatred and Fear
- They are there as companions and to protect Patricia and Richard
- One of them (Chelsea?) is responsible for killing Grace - Richard sent the dog out to attack
her (as stated by Beauty and Looksmart
- “What I want is for you to remember the dogs….”
Dwaleni Farm
- The farmhouse that Patricia and Richard live in is falling apart and dangerous
- Symbolises the past and possibly SA under the Apartheid Regime
- The landscape of Dwaleni is half-destroyed and half-constructed
- This reinforces the transitional landscape in SA
- “The name Dwaleni means built on rock..nothing much seems to grow there”
Rachel
- Patricia and Rachel’s marriage is buried along with Rachel
- Their hopes as a couple are also ‘stillborn’
, - Patricia was going to leave Rachel’s body on the farm but she changed her mind -
representation of her acknowledgement of the past and the importance of taking
accountability
The Fish
- Symbolic of Patricia and Looksmart’s relationship
- Patricia told Lookie to return the fish to the river when they went fishing and Looksmart says
he would have wanted to return it. This illustrates the two characters’ attitudes towards each
other
- The fish incident highlights the complicated relationship between truth and memory
Fire
- Damnation
Themes
POWER
“But she still fears uBaas. Even today – when he can hardly even dress himself –
they both know that he is the one with the power over her and that he will never let
either of them forget it”
Characters
- Patricia
- Looksmart
- Richard
- Beauty
- Bheki
☆ The novel has no ending
Style
- Each character has their own specialized way of speaking. This creates the
personality of the character and we’re able to find out more about each of the
characters through the way in which they are written. E.g In Beauty’s chapters she
tends to speak in zulu and english which tells us she’s bilingual
- The novel has a theme of hopelessness around it. E.g
☆ “ She has been rather hoping the whole house would go up in smoke, with all of
them inside” - Patricia - This sentence gives us the impression that Patricia has
completely given up on her life and comes of as suicidal but it could also be
attributed to old age and events that have occurred throughout her life that have
possibly made her feel this way e.g beng turned into the other woman, her husband
getting Dementia, her daughter dying after being born, her dogs dying of old age
☆The way Looksmart describes the house as he sees her for the first time e.g Eerie,
Haunting, gloom(pg.47)
, ☆ Most of the characters in the novel feel isolated and alone. They feel that they do
not belong anywhere and have no use.
Part One: Ends on an ominous note - “She is about to call a third time when the
flyscreen at the back of the house creaks open , appears to consider its next move
and snaps back shut”
Symbolism
The mist:
- Symbolises the conflict between the characters personal truth (lies, untruth and omissions)
and real truth
- The mist of untruths does not allow the characters to know and understand one another
completely
- Thus it hides/divides them from one another
- “The mist” allows Patricia to deny the truth about how she was disgusted by idea of Grace’s
dying body being placed in the backseat of her new car
- “There is more mist than rain now”
- “Sometimes a small amount of truth is enough to satisfy a person’s appetite. The challenge
is to know which words to end at.”
- “The more she speaks her version of events, the clearer they become, each detail….”
- In Part 3 the mist turns into rain : - “Everything is lost in this rain, everything is lost”
, The Bloodwood Tree
- The sap of the bloodwood tree can supposedly seal a cut and promote healing
- Rachel is buried under the Bloodwood tree
Weaver Birds
- Represents growth and renewal and the idea of living in a dream house
Dogs
- Symbolises Hatred and Fear
- They are there as companions and to protect Patricia and Richard
- One of them (Chelsea?) is responsible for killing Grace - Richard sent the dog out to attack
her (as stated by Beauty and Looksmart
- “What I want is for you to remember the dogs….”
Dwaleni Farm
- The farmhouse that Patricia and Richard live in is falling apart and dangerous
- Symbolises the past and possibly SA under the Apartheid Regime
- The landscape of Dwaleni is half-destroyed and half-constructed
- This reinforces the transitional landscape in SA
- “The name Dwaleni means built on rock..nothing much seems to grow there”
Rachel
- Patricia and Rachel’s marriage is buried along with Rachel
- Their hopes as a couple are also ‘stillborn’
, - Patricia was going to leave Rachel’s body on the farm but she changed her mind -
representation of her acknowledgement of the past and the importance of taking
accountability
The Fish
- Symbolic of Patricia and Looksmart’s relationship
- Patricia told Lookie to return the fish to the river when they went fishing and Looksmart says
he would have wanted to return it. This illustrates the two characters’ attitudes towards each
other
- The fish incident highlights the complicated relationship between truth and memory
Fire
- Damnation
Themes
POWER
“But she still fears uBaas. Even today – when he can hardly even dress himself –
they both know that he is the one with the power over her and that he will never let
either of them forget it”
