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124. Dream House as Memory
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
Machado calls Val. They apologize to each other tearily. Machado says she can’t believe Val agreed to be in an open relationship, which confuses Val. She didn’t know that the woman from the Dream House had told Machado that she and Val were in an open relationship when the woman and Machado first met.
Even after Machado leaves her relationship with the woman, the woman’s abuse and coercion continues to surprise her, as in this moment when she realizes the woman was lying to Val, seemingly in order to keep her romantic options open.
Themes
