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127. Dream House as Newton’s Apple
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
In June, Machado drives to San Diego for a writing workshop. There, she meets up with an ex-boyfriend. They go to dinner, after which Machado goes home with him. They have consensual sex, and the man tells Machado she’s going to be okay. He says he missed her; she says, silently, that she’s missed herself.
This seems to be the first time that someone has told Machado that she’s going to be okay. She doesn’t experience any panic after her sexual experience this time, which suggests that a sexual partner validating her emotions—something the woman from the Dream House often failed to do—contributes to her feeling safe.
Themes
