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101. Dream House as Barn in Upstate New York
Themes
Key
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
Back in the Dream House timeline, Machado and the woman from the Dream House visit New York in the winter. The woman abandons Machado at a craft fair for walking too slowly. Machado, who doesn’t know her way around New York and has no money for a taxi, sits down and starts crying so hard that one of the craft vendors sits down next to her and gives her a box of incense and an incense holder—a gift for the new year. Machado takes this as a sign that the new year is approaching, full of hope.
The woman’s abandonment of Machado demonstrates that she tends to prioritize her own volatile emotions over Machado’s comfort and safety. By indulging in her instinctual rage, she leaves Machado alone and helpless. Meanwhile, Machado still manages to have a hopeful outlook, romanticizing this moment in a way that suggests she’s desperate for a sliver of hope.
Themes
