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128. Dream House as Sex and Death
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
Near the end of her time in San Diego, Machado starts to talk to Val every day. Val asks Machado to pick her up from LA on her way back to Iowa. The two drive to the Grand Canyon together, where Machado takes a photo of Val staring into a vast expanse. Later in the trip, they kiss, and then begin to sleep holding each other every night. They take the scenic route back to Iowa, talking about the woman from the Dream House but also about other parts of their lives. Eventually, Machado and Val will marry each other.
The image of Val staring into a vast expanse implies that there’s a vast, unknown stretch of potential ahead of the two of them. Machado and Val are able to process their experiences concerning the woman from the Dream House, but they’re also able to share with each other parts of their identities that are unrelated to her, which suggests that, while trauma can change one’s identity, it doesn’t completely subsume it.
Themes
