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24. Dream House as Erotica
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 and the woman from the Dream House take jobs as standardized test scorers. One time when Machado goes to the bathroom, she hears a woman crying in the next stall. She knocks on the stall door; the woman tells her she’s having a “traumatic episode.” They go for a walk outside while the woman tells her she was raped a long time ago.
Machado’s willingness to listen to and take a walk with the woman demonstrates that she prioritizes care and empathy. Meanwhile, the woman’s story is a reminder of how common the experience of sexual assault is for women in general.
Themes
Machado walks with the woman for a while, and when she finally looks at her phone, she realizes they’ve been outside for two hours. The woman from the Dream House has called and texted her several times to ask where she is. Machado gives the crying woman her number, then goes to meet the woman from the Dream House, who is furious. On the drive home, the woman slams her hands on the dashboard and tells Machado she’s “the most inconsiderate fucking person [she’s] ever met.” Machado tells the woman not to talk to her that way. The woman tells her she’s never allowed to write about what just happened.
Machado’s level of empathy for the woman is so great that it makes her lose track of time, but in stark contrast, the woman from the Dream House seems to lack empathy entirely. She seems to be upset because she didn’t know where Machado was, but instead of expressing this distress in the form of concern, she blames Machado and lashes out aggressively. She also attempts to control Machado’s self-expression, demonstrating that she assumes she has the right to decide Machado’s thoughts and actions—a clear sign of psychological abuse.
Themes
