... he believes "that everything that lives is holy and somehow integrated"2. The characters of Cloudstreet are thus exposed to a supernatural dimension and their spiritual journeys bring them to "find meaning in the chaos of existence"3. Many Christian biblical references are interwoven throughout the novel, however, "rather than 'religious', 'numinous' is a safer word to use ... for though they reflect his personal quest for the highest ideals in life and focus on the spiritual attitude of those who recognize a controlling power, they are not expressed in terms of any conventional religion."4 Winton avoids direct association with any particular form of spirituality but instead refers to one which transcends all religions. Winton employs the symbols of the house, the Aboriginal Blackfella and the water to present the landscape from which his characters, particularly the Lambs, are "totally affected" and consequently are brought to "apprehend God" and find their personal ...

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