Cloudstreet Character Analysis

Oriel Lamb

Oriel is the matriarch of the massive Lamb family. She's Lester Lamb’s wife and Quick, Fish, Lon, Hattie, Red, and Elaine’s mother. Throughout the novel, Oriel is the… read analysis of Oriel Lamb

Lester Lamb

Lester is Oriel's husband and the father of Quick, Fish, Lon, Hattie, Red, and Elaine. At various times in his life before the events of the novel, Lester was… read analysis of Lester Lamb

Fish Lamb

Samson Lamb (nicknamed Samsonfish or just Fish, “for his wit and alertness”) is the second oldest son of Oriel and Lester Lamb, and Quick, Lon, Hattie, Red, and Elaine’s… read analysis of Fish Lamb

Quick Lamb

Mason Lamb (nicknamed Quick because he’s “as unquick as his father”) is the eldest son of Oriel and Lester Lamb, and Fish, Lon, Hattie, Red, and Elaine’s brother. Quick… read analysis of Quick Lamb

Rose Pickles

Rose is Sam and Dolly Pickles’s eldest child and their only daughter. Ted and Chub are her brothers, though she doesn't share much of a bond with them and she usually prefers reading or… read analysis of Rose Pickles

Sam Pickles

Sam is Dolly’s husband and the father of Rose, Ted, and Chub. After losing his right hand and his brother Joel in quick succession, Sam has no choice but to move… read analysis of Sam Pickles

Dolly Pickles

Dolly is Sam’s wife and the mother of Rose, Ted, and Chub. She’s an alcoholic who constantly struggles with the pain of her past and her longing to travel and experience a… read analysis of Dolly Pickles

Hattie Lamb

Hattie is Oriel and Lester Lamb’s eldest daughter. She seems to grow up much more quickly than her sisters, and she becomes the marbles champion of the neighborhood. She’s overjoyed to marry a dull… read analysis of Hattie Lamb

Elaine Lamb

Elaine is one of Oriel and Lester Lamb’s three daughters. Throughout the novel, Elaine is consistently glum and lonely, always pining for a husband of her own. She becomes jealous when Hattie is the… read analysis of Elaine Lamb

Red Lamb

Red is one of Oriel and Lester Lamb’s three daughters. She's the self-proclaimed tomboy of the family, enjoying her reputation as rougher and more “boyish” than her sisters. As a young adult, she becomes… read analysis of Red Lamb

Lon Lamb

Lon is Oriel and Lester Lamb’s youngest son He’s an infant at the beginning of the novel, but as he reaches childhood, he considers his mentally impaired brother Fish to be the baby of… read analysis of Lon Lamb

Ted Pickles

Ted is one of Sam and Dolly’s two sons. He grows up without interacting with his sister Rose very much, and he eventually moves away from Cloudstreet to live with a young woman after getting… read analysis of Ted Pickles

Chub Pickles

Chub is one of Sam and Dolly Pickles’s sons. During childhood, he behaves much like his brother Ted, getting into trouble and failing to get along very well with his sister Rose… read analysis of Chub Pickles

Beryl Lee

Beryl is a lonely widow who lost her husband in World War II. She confides in Oriel at the Anzac club, saying that she sensed Oriel was a Christian woman. Moved by Beryl’s story and… read analysis of Beryl Lee

Toby Raven

Rose Pickles meets Toby Raven over the phone at work, and she finds him instantly charming and exciting. Toby appears to be an interesting and cultured gentleman, intimidating Rose but appealing to her desire for… read analysis of Toby Raven

Lucy Wentworth

Lucy Wentworth is the daughter of one of Quick Lamb’s employers, during the period when Quick lives on his own as a kangaroo hunter. Lucy immediately flirts with Quick and gropes him as he recovers… read analysis of Lucy Wentworth

Earl Blunt

Earl is Lester Lamb’s cousin. He lives on a farm in Margaret River with his wife, and the two of them are stern and humorless, hardened by the intense difficulties of the Great Depression. Quick… read analysis of Earl Blunt

Joel Pickles

Joel is Sam Pickles’s brother, who seems much luckier than Sam until his sudden, fatal heart attack while fishing on the beach. Joel owns the pub that the Pickles family inhabits at the beginning… read analysis of Joel Pickles

G. M. Clay

G. M. Clay is a World War II veteran and the owner of a shop near Cloudstreet. He becomes Oriel’s competition for a brief period, and Oriel is determined to make her own… read analysis of G. M. Clay

Minor Characters

Geoffrey Birch

Geoffrey Birch is a dull but polite young man who marries Hattie Lamb. While the rest of the Lamb family doesn't seem very impressed with him on the whole, Hattie adores him, and the two of them seem to live happily together after their wedding.

Cloudstreet

Tim Winton

Cloudstreet Characters