CLOUDSTREET - Tim Winton

[1937jk]

Hey guys,
For anyone who has studied the novel cloudstreet for module B,
To begin with I'm confused about Fish's character in the novel, I have read ideas that it is his voice that narrates the novel i.e he has an ability to communicate the characters feelings in a way they can not express themselves but I don't understand how he has the ability to have such a personal insight on all the characters?
Anyone feel free to provide what their interpretation of his character and his role in the novel is,
Thank you!

[ssarahj]

Hey guys,
For anyone who has studied the novel cloudstreet for module B,
To begin with I'm confused about Fish's character in the novel, I have read ideas that it is his voice that narrates the novel i.e he has an ability to communicate the characters feelings in a way they can not express themselves but I don't understand how he has the ability to have such a personal insight on all the characters?
Anyone feel free to provide what their interpretation of his character and his role in the novel is,
Thank you!

Hey there!

So one way of interpreting Fish is to think of him as two entities, there's "physical Fish" who is actually living in Cloudstreet, but is mentally disabled. Then there's "spiritual Fish", who is seen as the narrator of the novel. "Spiritual Fish" came about after Fish's first drowning, "not all of Fish Lamb came back", so one part of him is living in reality while another part has already entered 'heaven' or a transcendental realm. So "Spiritual Fish" is able to connect with other characters on a more spiritual level and have personal insight into the characters, especially Quick and Oriel. And therefore Winton made him the narrator of the story (I always thought of him as sitting up in the sky on a cloud, watching everyone's lives play out  )

To me, Fish always seemed to be longing to be reunited with himself, hence his obsession with the water and final return to the river at the end of the novel. So then his role is to kind of guide all the characters to reconcile with each other and come together so that he can then go and reconcile with himself.

As I'm typing this I'm realising that this sounds SO wishy washy and weird but I hope it seems at least a little bit logical to you... Post back if you want me to clarify, this is a really pivotal concept to understand in order to access the deeper meaning of the whole novel. 

[1937jk]

Hey there!

So one way of interpreting Fish is to think of him as two entities, there's "physical Fish" who is actually living in Cloudstreet, but is mentally disabled. Then there's "spiritual Fish", who is seen as the narrator of the novel. "Spiritual Fish" came about after Fish's first drowning, "not all of Fish Lamb came back", so one part of him is living in reality while another part has already entered 'heaven' or a transcendental realm. So "Spiritual Fish" is able to connect with other characters on a more spiritual level and have personal insight into the characters, especially Quick and Oriel. And therefore Winton made him the narrator of the story (I always thought of him as sitting up in the sky on a cloud, watching everyone's lives play out  )

To me, Fish always seemed to be longing to be reunited with himself, hence his obsession with the water and final return to the river at the end of the novel. So then his role is to kind of guide all the characters to reconcile with each other and come together so that he can then go and reconcile with himself.

As I'm typing this I'm realising that this sounds SO wishy washy and weird but I hope it seems at least a little bit logical to you... Post back if you want me to clarify, this is a really pivotal concept to understand in order to access the deeper meaning of the whole novel. 

Hey, thank you so much! That definitely helped me out heaps!!!  Just was wondering why is it that in particular he has specific connections to Quick and Oriel? I can understand his connection with Quick to a degree but Oriel struggles to connect with him hence why she moves out into the tent maybe? I'm not really quite sure

[ssarahj]

Hey, thank you so much! That definitely helped me out heaps!!!  Just was wondering why is it that in particular he has specific connections to Quick and Oriel? I can understand his connection with Quick to a degree but Oriel struggles to connect with him hence why she moves out into the tent maybe? I'm not really quite sure

The connections Fish has with Quick and Oriel are probably the most detailed by Winton throughout the novel.

So with Quick, think of the 'vision' he has about himself and Fish rowing a boat along the wheat fields, which you could argue is an example of their metaphysical connection. I can't think of anymore off the top of my head currently, however if you went back through your notes/the novel I'm sure you'd be able to find examples of their connection.

And with Oriel, have you noticed how she is the only one Fish doesn't recognise/acknowledge? You can relate this to Oriel desperately performing CPR and effectively bringing Fish back to life after his first drowning, basically making her responsible for Fish staying alive, when he actually wants to return to the water (i.e. die). So Fish ends up having some kind of weird unconscious block towards Oriel. But then notice that as you read closer to the end, the number of little chapters written from "spiritual Fish"'s perspective increases, and in these he refers to Oriel directly, something along the lines of "wait... stay strong Mum". And yep, you're right, the whole tent thing is also a great example! Therefore Oriel is a pretty solid example for showing the difference between "physical" and "spiritual" Fish 😃

[1937jk]

The connections Fish has with Quick and Oriel are probably the most detailed by Winton throughout the novel.

So with Quick, think of the 'vision' he has about himself and Fish rowing a boat along the wheat fields, which you could argue is an example of their metaphysical connection. I can't think of anymore off the top of my head currently, however if you went back through your notes/the novel I'm sure you'd be able to find examples of their connection.

And with Oriel, have you noticed how she is the only one Fish doesn't recognise/acknowledge? You can relate this to Oriel desperately performing CPR and effectively bringing Fish back to life after his first drowning, basically making her responsible for Fish staying alive, when he actually wants to return to the water (i.e. die). So Fish ends up having some kind of weird unconscious block towards Oriel. But then notice that as you read closer to the end, the number of little chapters written from "spiritual Fish"'s perspective increases, and in these he refers to Oriel directly, something along the lines of "wait... stay strong Mum". And yep, you're right, the whole tent thing is also a great example! Therefore Oriel is a pretty solid example for showing the difference between "physical" and "spiritual" Fish 😃

Ohhhh okay it makes so much more sense now, thank you so so much for your help!!!!!!