One common theme presented in Cloudstreet is the theme of fate and luck, 'the hairy hand of god' as some of the characters likes to put it. The spinning of the knife is such a symbol that represents fate. Often or not, decisions are made b

"... and remember sport, the knife never lies."

Another theme presented is a sense of spiritualism within the novel Cloudstreet. Fish is this link with the physical and spiritual world. He sees things that no other resident in Cloudstreet can see. He also can see the dead spirits that haunt him in the library room. One of the main symbols used in Cloudstreet is the river. Fish, especially, was linked to this as it was the river in which he both "partially" and "fully" died. It was easy for Winton to use the river as a symbol because it symbolized life and spirituality that is able to convey meaning in context with the story.

y the direction the knife points to after it has been spun. Fish is the character that most enjoys this spinning, constantly chanting out 'the knife never lies'. Even when no questions are put to the knife, he still continues spinning. This mere obsession as

Some common words found in the essay are:
Samson Lester, Tim Winton, Cloudstreet Fish, Harvey Oranges, , magic realism, theme fate, theme cloudstreet, tim winton, novel cloudstreet,
Approximate Word count = 599
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)