Interview
The Dream House Notes
Detailed notes on "The Dream House" by Craig Higginson that I made during class. Very helpful - includes themes and quotes as well as in depth explanations chapter by chapter
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THE DREAM HOUSEGeneral
- the farm as a character
- The use of mist in opening and closing the novel, the truth is unclear
- Plaasroman
- The novel subverts the plaasroman genre ; this farm is not romanticised, barren
Patricia - elderly woman whose life is definite by loss and disappointment, barren, ignored truth but is
confronted by consequences
Richard - philandering and cruel man, in clutches of dementia
Looksmart - young, successful businessman
Grace and Beauty (domestic worker) should have had names switched
Themes
- Nature of truth ; lying to yourself and others
- Relationship between love and hate ; love fear, hate inextricably linked, outside influences on their bonds
- Home and belonging - the sense of unity in community and finding solace in others
Two wolves - Patricia and Looksmart
Internal and external concern / conflict
- increasingly uneasy in a world rapidly outstripping her
PART ONE
Chapter 1 – Patricia
“She draws back the curtains to reveal the mist” - lack of clarity
A cleansing, in order to move on
In between stage - growth and tearing down, transition
Her relationship with house, intimate
As the house breaks down, her body does - age
Clue : “not quite trustworthy companion” deception, what is truth
Attempt to maintain rigid control, of beauty and her life “the girl”
Everything is aged old battered
Ethunzini - into the shade
“Her grave has been waiting for her”
“She wanted to spend her last days doing little more than staring at the sea” purposeless, no desire for
progress
Richard - distortions due to dementia affects his POV
“Contact is very far from touch” - sterile relationship, a lack of
He dreams of death , how is that different from being alive , reality
“What do you mean two” she’s aware of her child but not Grace
The dogs have been allowed to destroy their fancy car
“In recent years they have started to appear out of place” - the transition of farm to upper class gold
estate, air of gentility, no authenticity for her – colonialism in a modern SA is jarring
“Bheki rarely speaks to her outside of what is practical” - silence
Marriage was a mismatch, destined not to succeed , sterility links to barren land
Richard has no function - leaves Patricia in control
“Meandering about” - his sexual antics
Car becomes a confessional for her
, Adored her father, who’s opposite to Richard
“The one good man in my life” - idolises her father, her version of good
Beauty
- silence when helping Baas, fear, tries to detach herself from what she physically is doing, respect
- Ironic, he’s at her mercy
- Despite her knowing what he’s done, she’s caring and compassionate
“Even now she is frightened of uBaas”
“ her fear has always been there”
Ignores his bad parts - to maintain this sense of dignity she feels he is owed
The arousal - links to the rape, the role of his body on the farm in harming other
Patriarchy’s downfall - degradation of his body
“Shameful”
“He is the one with the power over her and that he will never let either of them forget it”
Ghost imagery - haunting, the past
Hope “there is always a bit of good in everything even uBaas” for the deranged white man and for our
country
He’s childlike now
The role of language
UBaas is the one who can Neve keep his zip up - innuendos, sexual link
Page 18 - Patricia
- long standing relationship of 30 years “They have been lovers for over thirty years”
- The attraction is due to his intellectual capabilities contrary to Richards
- The relationship lacks passion, it’s just going through the motions “it doesn’t matter that they have
hardly touched in fifteen of them” sterility
John gives her a letter which forms a puzzle piece in the narrative
Wife died from cancer, affair happened when they were both married
John was an English teacher and then became headmaster, she used the leverage to get Looksmart into
private school
Johns a hypocrite - distributes communion while having an affair
All the relationships come to an end
“The mist hasn’t cleared” - mists within memories and narratives, decision making
The sex stopped on his account
He neglects the roses like he neglected Anna and their relationship
Beauty
The silent worker
Her silent love for Bheki
Beauty manifests a silent authority in the packing and running of the home
She stole the queen cup from uMesis (ghost of the queen) - characters haunted by past, lingering
memories, unresolved issues
Dainty
There was a time when uMesis would drink from nothing else
Beauty’s dream house is far removed from home in Durban
Inyumba - beauty’s sterility or barrenness
Her and Bheki have received the same version of events - same truths
Product of his marriage is a child that is less than in the community
Patricia
The ghost of her child
Looksmart - relies on his own justice
Persistence of the past - mantra of it happened such a long time ago, just get over it
Recognising pain, Patricia must learn that
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