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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 plans to drive 12 hours to Savannah over spring break. She asks the woman from the Dream House to come with her. She agrees. Machado buys new underwear for the trip. On the way, the woman takes the driver’s seat. Machado falls asleep and wakes up to find they’re speeding. The car hits a pothole and blows a tire. After replacing the tire, the woman drives a few more miles before the new tire goes flat, too.
The trip begins dangerously, and the woman’s reckless driving gives the reader the sense that she might be reckless in other ways, too. Her presence puts Machado in danger, even though Machado trusts her, given that she’s fallen asleep while the woman is driving.
Themes
When Machado and the woman from the Dream House pull into a repair shop, Machado notices how out of place her car, with its liberal bumper stickers, looks next to all the semi trucks. Machado apologizes to the woman for her broken down car. She suspects the mechanic registers her and the woman’s queer relationship, and she’s grateful he doesn’t say anything. He tells them that the new tire is full of huge holes, so they drive on to find a replacement. When they finally get to the hotel, the woman kisses Machado once on each lip.
Machado is hyperaware of how other people perceive her, emphasizing the fact that it’s still uncomfortable and even unsafe for queer people to exist visibly in many parts of the United States. Meanwhile, Machado is attuned to the physical affection the woman shows her, and it seems as though she’s deeply enjoying the growing romantic dynamic between them.
Themes
Machado and the woman from the Dream House tour the mansion that was the birthplace of Juliette Gordon Low. After the tour, the woman from the Dream House tries to have sex with Machado in a graveyard, but an employee arrives and they leave quickly to go to lunch. Once in a while, the woman walks away to talk to her girlfriend, Val, on the phone, though she keeps waving back at Machado.
Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of the USA. Machado’s interest in her reminds the reader that she’s fixated on analyzing and subverting stories of girlhood, attempting to see how she fits into these stories. The woman’s frequent calls to her girlfriend increase the tension between her and Machado. It’s not certain how seriously the woman is taking either relationship, but it seems that both women might be equally important to her.
Themes
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On their last day in Savannah, a drunk man accosts Machado on the street. The woman from the Dream House fends him off with a martial arts move and tells Machado she should expect this sort of thing to happen—the woman herself has dated a lot of women and is used to it. On the drive back to Iowa, Machado thinks she’d be happy driving endlessly next to the woman.
The woman’s experience with dating other women seems to be one of violence and vigilance. Still, Machado feels safe with her and doesn’t seem to interpret her comments about danger as foreboding, though they seem ominous to the reader.
Themes
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