LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in In the Dream House, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Queer Visibility
Christianity and Shame
Abuse, Trauma, and Healing
Storytelling, Responsibility, and Freedom
Summary
Analysis
When Machado was young, Machado’s father told her that if she couldn’t think of the answer to a test question, she should at least write down everything she knows about the topic. Even if she couldn’t remember a whole story or event, she tried her best to think of all the details that she did remember.
Machado’s attitude toward test-taking—writing down what she could remember in lieu of what escaped her—echoes in her approach as the author of this memoir, replaying some moments in great detail while leaving out others she can’t trust herself to fully recall.