Meaning of Life and Australian Cultural Identity Essay Example for Free

Meaning of Life and Australian Cultural Identity EssayFrom kick downstairs catastrophes, two rural families flee to the city and find themselves sharing a great, breathing, shuddering joint called Cloudstreet, where they put down their lives over again from scratch. For twenty years they roister and rankle, laugh and curse until the roof over their heads becomes a station for their hearts. (Winton, 1991) Tim Wintons critically acclaimed novel, Cloudstreet is a masterful tale of love, meaning and heartbreaking tragedy that speaks strongly of a post war Australian society that was essentially rebuilding itself after years of political excitation 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 brazen suggests It is Australian. Reading it felt like coming home. Throughout Cloudstreet, there be numerous concepts that portray the Australian pagan identity element and the theme of religion and spirituality is especially prominent and appealing.The concept of luck, Aboriginal spirituality, and the take care for the meaning of life, are all Australian desires that Winton expertly portrays. Spirituality foot 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 purpose within an individual and promotes a feeling of belonging. Additionally, religion can be defined as the belief in, and worship of a superhuman controlling power. (Religion) Both concepts are astray integrated into the core of the novel and are depicted through the Australian notion of luck. Luck, which some(prenominal) would vie has long been etched into the Australian consciousness as a common souring class superstition, is, whether they are conscious of it or not, a form of religion for both families. T he Pickles family, nigh notably Sam, rely on the shifty shadow of God (p 12) to warn them about future events, while the Lambs unprejudiced game of spinning the knife (p 53) acts as their metaphorical life compass.The Lucky Country (Horne, 1964) is a idiomatic expression that originated from a book of the same name written in the 1960s, and since then, has gained widespread popularity and thus, been attached to the Australian close for a long time. Winton has cleverly examined this historical background to incorporate an accurate 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 disposed and god fearing Christian, begins to question her faith and the reliability of believing in God.When Fish is resuscitated, but only some of him comes back, (p 32) both she and Lester are emotionally forced to abandon God and Christianity and instead, turn to luck, 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 champion tradition, of which a working class person overcame challenging situations through perseverance, faith and steadfast determination.In term of the Australian cultural identity, Winton has again taken an important and recognized historical Australian idea and do it to evoke feelings of familiarity and intimacy between the readers and the characters of Cloudstreet. The frequent appearance of the Blackfella is yet another example of how the Australian cultural identity is portrayed through examination 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 supply of wine and bread in fasts car. This comparison is particularly effective as it symboli ses the coming together of Christianity and Aboriginality, which was a particularly delicate 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 loss that of its native beliefs. The Blackfella also acts as the conscience of the characters when they have lost their way or their family unit is threatened. This can ultimately be seen when he leads Quick back to Cloudstreet after he runs away to the country, knowing that Quick feels secretly lost without his family, and needs them to feel fully alive.He also persuades Sam not the manage 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, but also to the fragile families who live inside it. In doi ng so, he ensures that the families stay square and together, which is an important and dominating phantasmal value for Aboriginality and Christianity, both during the time period of the novel and in our moderne Australian society.Consequently, the Blackfellas role in Cloudstreet is a significant contribution to the novels relevance to the Australian cultural identity. The Australian cultural identity is also illustrated in Cloudstreet through the spiritual symbolisation 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 linked to the river in a number of ways. The river acts as a place of peace, purpose and belonging for Quick.Connecting with his get down when they go prawning, glowing after fishing in the country, and most importantly, falling in love with locomote Pickles, are the most significant spiritually defining events that Quick experiences while o n the river. Through realising besides 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 pull together place, from which one cannot easily escape nor regard as irrelevant to the Australian way of life. Winton has taken this idea and incorporated 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 instinct ripped into two separate pieces (spiritual fish and physical fish), the river that he so desperately longs for, essentially becomes his ga teway 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 truly whole again. I burst into the moon, sun and stars of who I really am. be 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 purging 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 eventually 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 spirituality resonates strongly with the reader and successfully evokes fee lings of belonging and familiarity that confirms Cloudstreet is indeed a classic Australian novel. Bibliography Associates, R. Q. (2008, September 16). Ideology in Cloudstreet . Retrieved 2013, from www. englishcurriculum. com. au Cloudstreet Notes. (n. d. ). Retrieved 2013, from Sydney Home 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/search? q=religion+definition Winton, T. (1991). Cloudstreet. McPhee Gribble.