This essay analyses Higginson's subversion of the traditional Plaasroman genre and whether The Dream House still presents a landscape that allows for redemption and reconciliation. The essay received 97%.
The Dream House by Craig Higginson: Key Quotes by Character/ Theme
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St Mary's School, Waverley, Johannesburg
English
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The Dream House Essay
Kate Jones
Topic 20
Higginson writes the antithesis of the traditional South African farm novel to create a
dystopian farm. Yet, the outcome he creates is similar to that of the traditional ‘plaas roman’.
Explore how Higginson breaks the tradition of the farm novel and whether or not,
nonetheless, he produces a vision of a farm that ultimately restores and heals the bitter
protagonists.
In many ways, The Dream House contrasts and contradicts the traditional ‘plaas roman’,
especially through its setting, characters and symbols. While the ‘plaas roman’ farm is an
idyllic and peaceful location, Dwaleni is presented as barren, dark farmland situated in a
country that has only partly recovered from a hostile and violent past. However, despite the
clear subversion of the ‘plaas roman’, Higginson still describes Dwaleni as a place that
ultimately allows for the growth and redemption of characters and facilitates a partial
reconciliation between Looksmart and Patricia.
The ‘plaas roman’ is an early twentieth century genre, defined by JM Coetzee as a genre
which “concerned itself almost exclusively with the farm and platteland (rural society) and
with the Afrikaner’s painful transition from farmer to townsman”. In the ‘plaas roman’, the
farmland is described as tranquil, safe and prosperous. It is typically controlled by a
dominant patriarchal figure, a white man, and is portrayed as a place of clarity and simplicity,
a juxtaposition to the immorality and complexity of the city. The Dream House contrasts
these notions as Dwaleni and the farmhouse are portrayed as “a place with no more life left
in it”, an infertile landscape on which “nothing much ever manages to grow”. Although
Richard’s mere existence as a white man means that “he is the one with the power” over
the farm workers, he “was never much of a farmer”. His business ventures have been
unsuccessful, with Patricia’s breeding of Welsh ponies the primary source of the Wiley’s
income over the years. Thus, there is no dominant patriarch at Dwaleni, especially in recent
years as Richard’s mind has begun to fail. Furthermore, Dwaleni is initially a place of
obfuscation and a lack of clarity, both literally and figuratively. As the novel begins, the farm
is “engulfed in cloud”, the mist “fill[ing] the whole valley and invad[ing] … the house”.
Figuratively, Patricia’s ignorance about the past, and especially about Grace’s death,
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