"Summer of the Aliens" by Louis Nowra - Lewis' interest in aliens and the Cuban missile crisis help to illuminate the themes of the play.

Lewis' interest in aliens and the Cuban missile crisis help to illuminate the themes of the play. In Summer of the Aliens, Louis Nowra, the author, uses a lot of symbolism and subtext. Independent themes and ideas, like the Cuban missile crisis and Lewis' alien fascination, are often interconnected with the main storyline. Because of this, there are many underlying themes that the reader may not notice on the first read through.

There are several themes behind the story, but they are all connected by the main theme, which is relationships.

The children growing up in the sixties were the first generation to challenge the idea of a normal life. People just expected that you would go to school, get a 'real' job, and then stick with that until you retired. Lewis and Dulcie both wanted more, especially Dulcie. She originally only wanted to be an acrobat. But when she realised this annoyed her parents, she saw doing this as a way to get back at them. Her new rebellious attitude led her to saying things like she wants to be a prostitute and become a Moslem.

She was forced to express her emotions this way because of the oppression of the time. Society did not allow her to speak badly of her father and mention he was sexually harassing her.

Lewis did not understand Dulcie, and therefore did not always know where she was coming from. This is why he did not realise she had feelings for him until it was too late. When looking back, he realised the subtle signals she was giving him, like when she pretended to be an angel.

Dulcie: . . . I speak like an angel. My speech sounds like this. [She presses her lips against his hands and says the one phrase over and over.] I am saying something secret to you in angel talk.

Lewis: What are you saying?

[She slaps him]

Dulcie: You should know!

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General perception is that she is saying something like 'I love you'. At the end of the novel the narrator summarises the character development of Lewis and mentions that he actually did want to have a relationship with her.

Most children wonder about UFOs and like the idea of funny little green men, but Lewis' interest in them is much deeper.

His family and the people in the community where Lewis lives all behave very strangely. His grandma is stuck in the past, Mr. Pisano is going crazy because of his divorce, and Eric cannot deal with family problems. By considering these people aliens it makes it easier for Lewis to live his life.

The most extreme of the characters is Mr. Pisano. In the beginning he only does slightly odd things, but his madness increases throughout the novel, to this:

Bev: Why are you running your round backwards, Mr Pisano?

Pisano: Why do I have to run forwards? There was this man who ran across America backwards. I'm in training, mate I'll run across Australia backwards. I'm doing me round counter clockwise in the afternoon, the normal way in the morning. That way I kind of meet up with myself.

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Pisano has no stability in his life anymore, now that his wife has left him.

Lewis must realise that all these actions and emotions are human. Dulcie helps him comprehend all this. She reveals herself to him (sometimes literally!), which lets him see that everyone has different problems and their own way of dealing with them. Once he understood that they were in fact human, he moved on from the idea of aliens. This allowed his relationships with them was able to grow.

The Cuban Missile Crisis is used to set the scene for the story.

It is constant reminder to the reader that the story is based in 1962, when people had different values and thoughts.

The radio is always on, and there is an occasional update on how the crisis is progressing. It shows the tension in the world and how people were very one-sided one the issue.

Radio: . . . President Kennedy said this morning that there will be no compromise with the Russians -

Stan: Absolutely not, blast them to smithereens

Radio: - and he has given a deadline to the Russians to remove the missiles or if they don't the United States government will regard the Russian's non-compliance as an act of war -

Stan: Blast Cuba out of the water.

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Stan and others are portrayed as very opinionated individuals, and what they said would probably now be considered racist. In the eyes of the general public, Russians were as strange and potentially evil as the aliens depicted in movies.

The Cuban Missile Crisis and Lewis' alien fascination both explain different topics; the setting and relationships. 'Summer of the Aliens' is a very symbolic piece, which is effective in displaying the themes of the play.