Dream Stuff Literary Elements

a collection of stories

Australia, 20th century

Narrator: most stories have an omniscient narrator;
Point of view: third person

Tone: neutral, understated
Mood: contemplative, anxious

Protagonist: each story has its own protagonist, the protagonist of the title story is a writer named Colin; Antagonist: antagonizing factor in "Dream Stuff" is the unrelenting society.

Major conflict in the first story "At Schindler's" is father going missing in war and his family has to cope with that.

In a climactic revelation of truth in the story "At Schindler's", where Jack realizes the nature of Milt's and his mother's relationship, he finally accepts that his father will never come back.

"They were nice for the most part, but she was wrong about the damage, and she was wrong about the demands as well."
-From the "Sally's Story", this sentence foreshadows the way giving services to soldiers will affect Sally and push her to pursue her own happiness.

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"Fran Williams would be laid across a stretcher with The Count of Monte Cristo open on the grass below."
-"At Schindler's"

Imagery of the Australian landscape is presented often in of these stories, especially in contrast to more urbanized areas, as shown in the story "Lone Pine" where the main protagonist is stunned with the lone roads and uninhabited land.

"Jack loved these broken continuities."
-from the story "At Schindler's"

"As the miles of empty fell away with nothing to catch the eye, no other vehicle or sign of habitation, your head lightened and cleared itself-of thoughts, of images, of every wish or need."
-"Lone Pine"

"Rainbow Serpent"-from the story "Great Day", one of our main characters Madge, the mother of the family dubs the friend from the past with this name. It was supposed to be an insult at first, but it fit the character of the person so well that it became a form of endearment.

"In a fig tree taller than a building and alive with voices not its own..."
-"Dream Stuff"