Social Stratification on Terms of Gender and Class in Cloudstreet by Tim Winton

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Analysis of issues of gender and class in Cloudstreet

An essay hosted at LiteratureClassics.com

In life, people learn to define themselves by the categories in which society places them. Literature, as it delves into the lives of people, portrays this subsequent social stratification. Such issues of class and gender are often explored in an explicit manner, through the juxtapositioning of distinctly different groups. Yet, Tim Winton explores the same issues of gender and class in a more implicit manner in his novel Cloudstreet. The novel is almost entirely dedicated to the one social group, therefore making adequate comparisons between classes all but impossible, yet understanding is gained from the internal workings of the lower classes. Ideas of class and gender are developed as notions such as the need of employment, education, and stereotypical conformity are explored in the text. Tim Winton expounds upon a world of survival amidst the constraints of gender and class.

The notion of employment plays an essential role in Cloudstreet. The working class man is defined by his occupation. This is seen in the character Sam Pickles, particularly his disempowerment and lack of direction after losing his job due to injury. The narrator refers to Sam’s situation as a “…new status…” (p20), yet this really refers to the sense of pity employed men have towards Sam. He finds focus in his life as soon as he is employed at the mint. There his colleagues “…called him Sam and got all serious in his presence…”(p86). This new respect is purely a result of being an employed cripple, rather than unemployed. The same change in focus is seen as the Lambs create their own employment. Having a job is described as “…what you could do to fix your life up…” (p57). Men are shown to assert power by means of an occupation. That is how Sam is able to re-establish a position in his family, and how Quick establishes control in his own life, by running away and supporting himself with a job. Even male children are defined by their occupation, as Lon is apprenticed to a plumber, and is then seen in terms of that occupation. Male military service is also of particular importance, especially given the novel’s historical setting of World War Two. However, the prestige of military service has a lesser influence when blended with the working class value of modesty, hence the comment:
…It’s a disgrace…to wave your service to the King like it’s a flag… (p148)
Working class men are defined by their occupation and granted respect depending on their degree of military service. However, this representation of the male need for employment, a need that divides the male population into social categories, is slightly challenged within higher classes of society. Though the bourgeois Toby Raven says, “…I is probably what I does…” (p287) his job is barely mentioned. Middle class men are therefore defined, not purely by their occupation, but by their ideas and social connections.

The notion of employment within the text also builds the understandings of gender and class. Though there is a definite sense that a man must have a job, women in Cloudstreet are also portrayed as workers. Rose is expected to go to work after little education, in order to support her family. This is discussed as a foregone conclusion (p162) “…You know you’ll have to leave school…”. This stems from the working class value of family survival through participation. It is therefore appropriate for female children to support the family by means of an outside job, yet that support changes upon marriage, where the role is now one of domestic occupation. Though within the working class all family members, regardless of gender, are expected to work and support the family (all the Lamb siblings work in the family shop), there is still the notion of a male breadwinner and female homebuilder. This stereotype is brought into play during Rose and Quick’s relationship:
He took a girl crabbing for a week on her honeymoon
and on the way home expected her to quit work. (p327)
However, the lower class work ethic, demanding participation from all family members in supporting the family unit, is given precedence over the stereotyped gender function. Rose works until the point where she must raise a child. Child bearing is very much a female role within the working class who has neither the luxury nor the education to make radical developments in the family structure. Childrearing is shown as a female need, the first thought in mind after lovemaking (p291). Whereas men in the text are defined by their occupation, women are defined by their relationships with men and the children they bear. This is made evident with the character of Beryl, who fades due to “…Hunger for a man…” (p259). Cloudstreet explores the notion of employment as a nexus for power in the working classes, power which becomes gender specific in husband/wife relationships. By drawing on this notion throughout the text, Winton simultaneously develops understandings of gender and class.

Education is often the greatest class barrier in society. People of different classes cannot understand each other’s words have no hope of bridging the class divide. Cloudstreet is narrated from a distinguishably working class perspective. This is clear in the coarse language and Slang that is used to describe often shameful and dark actions. The use of education in the stratification of society is shown in the relationship between Rose and Toby Raven. Rose’s first comments on their relationship are “…We’re different…” (p287). This is evident in Toby’s vaster understanding of literature and the world, having attended university, whereas Rose simply says, “…I don’t know a thing…” (p287). The economic stratification of society has therefore propagated a social stratification due to differences in education. Rose was unable to attend further education as “…There’s no money…” (p162). Rose is subsequently marginalised in Toby’s bourgeois society, locked out of the discourse due to a lack of education: “…it was no use saying anything at all…” (p291). Literature and idealism are portrayed as the property of the upper classes. Although Rose has read many books, only Toby can list the names of authors and in so doing express a sense of ownership over their writings. Rose’s diary is quoted once in the text, whereas Toby's poems are the distinguishing mark of his character, and form a significant part in the novel. By building a notion of education in the text, Winton also explores the stratification of society.

Education also forms categories within the lower class. Amongst the working class characters, women are the only ones associated with learning. Rose is said to have “…read the whole Geraldton library end-to-end…” (p288) and Oriel Lamb quotes Mary Gilmore (p130) and reads the newspaper or Readers’ Digest. The limited education available to the working classes is a female attribute, as men can assert power through other physical avenues. It doesn’t matter that school gives “…Quick Lamb the pip…” (p138), as he still becomes the family breadwinner. It reaches a stage in the lower class that only female characters are seen to wish to be educated. Oriel regrets not being educated and Rose yearns to be a “…clever woman, to know poetry and mathematics…” (p162). This difference in attitude towards education between the genders is possibly due to different power needs. Men may assert physical power, yet women maintain their dignity through fast words and comments. This difference is clear in the relationship between Rose and Toby. When it is a purely spoken relationship on the telephone, Rose is in control, “…confident as all getout…” (p280). However, when the relationship takes on a physical presence, Toby is empowered, leaving Rose powerless and “…twice as nervous…” (p285). The notion of education in the text reveals gender roles within class groups.

Of all the working class attitudes and values that permeate the novel, the strength of the family unit is probably made most vivid. Winton’s constructed families do not conform to the traditional patriarchal model. Instead, his characters have weak male figures and strong female matriarchs. This is particularly clear within the Lamb family, where Oriel Lamb rules on high from her tent. This is most probably an anti-stereotypical representation of the working classes, yet Winton constructs the novel to focus on the anti-stereotype and only distinguish the stereotype by its omission from the narration’s focus. The clearly suffering Lamb and Pickles families are concentrated on, whereas the stereotypical happy match made between Hat and Geoffrey Birch is forgotten by the narrator. The strength of family ties stands above all. This is seen in Sam’s continuing love of Dolly, despite her alcoholism, declaring “…People are…who they are…”(p169). Throughout the novel, it is the family that survives above all. The clear working class value of family extends throughout the novel, cementing it within certain class boundaries.

Cloudstreet by Tim Winton comments on the workings of gender and class within society through the exploration of other notions such as employment and education. The definition of a male in terms of occupation is contrasted with the female definition in terms of children and family. The working class value of support of the family unit is blended with stereotypical ideas of a male breadwinner and female homebuilder, to produce a situation where female children work outside the home but then resort to domestic work upon adulthood. Education is shown as a clear class barrier, also holding specific gender understandings within the working class context. In this implicit fashion, Tim Winton reflects on societies forced categorisation of the population, constraining people to the privileges and functions awarded to classes and gender groups in society.