Previous
68. Dream House as Cautionary Tale
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
As a child, Machado read books about the Rapture and became anxiously obsessed with the idea that, at any moment, God would come to collect his most faithful followers and leave the nonbelievers behind. Later, she learns that “rapture” can also mean “blissful happiness,” and she realizes that it’s important to live fearlessly.
Machado’s response to the concept of the Rapture shows how profoundly ideas of sin and shame affect her sense of self-worth. The threat of being judged impure or inadequate is a weight she casts off when she finds the alternative definition, which reminds the reader that language can give people power.
Themes
