It is only through death that the Physical Fish and Spiritual Fish can be united, and the cyclical narrative can reach its end.

Before his final release in the river at the end of the novel, Fish consistently yearned for “the water”, and his spiritual approach to it became a passionate devotion, “…he’s hungry for the water, he wants it more than ever.” The motif of the water is ultimately a metaphor for Fish’s release through death, which he thirsts for ever since “only half of came back”. Divided into Spiritual Fish and Physical Fish, the character acts as the narrator for the text and the entirety of the saga is told within the seconds of his dying breaths, “I’m Fish Lamb for those seconds it takes to die, as long as it takes to drink the river, as long as it took to tell you this.” The anaphora of “as long as” exemplifies the length of the saga and allows the novel to come full circle. Spirituality in Cloudstreet is most distinctly explored through the characterization and experiences of Fish. In representing relevant spiritual issues within Cloudstreet, Winton enables the novel to be able to connect to a wide variety of individuals with varying beliefs and increases the value of the text as a whole. The Lambs are a testament to this, as Fish’s near-death experience prompts them to disregard their belief in God, religious allusion clearly identifying this, “No one believes anymore: the disappointment has been too much.” After “The Lambs of God” could no longer be applied to his name, Lester struggled to completely disconnect from his faith and sought spirituality in knife spinning, “The knife never lies, you know… It always knows best.” The theme of luck and chance arises within this quote and it is an understanding that Lester shares with Sam, who blames his impulsive and irresponsible behavior on “the shadow”, a recurring motif within the text: ““Well the shadow was on him, the Hairy Hand of God, and he knew that being a man was the saddest, most useless thing that could happen to someone.” Winton’s utilization of episodic structure allows each differing spirituality to be showcased and compared to that of others, demonstrating the increasing diversity of faith within society. Following the absolute horrors of WWI and WWII, many previously religious individuals began to become disillusioned with their faith.

One of the most significant themes explored within Tim Winton’s Cloudstreet is spirituality, and the novel reflects a wide range of differing spiritualities, including the belief in luck and chance, religion, as well as exploring Australian history through Aboriginal spirituality.Īs an increasingly diverse and multi-faith nation, Cloudstreet reflects Australia’s changing belief systems and growing secularism, particularly prevalent to its 1940’s-1960’s context.

Cloudstreet winton