Question

The aboriginal man is not simply one man who is aggrieved by the presence of white settlers and rues his loss of power. Rather, he is an allegorical figure because he represents the larger destruction of the aboriginal people and culture. He was once a "King" and is the "last of his tribe;" similarly, all aborigines face the loss of their land, power, and culture. They are all forced to adapt to the Europeans in their presence and are subject to insult and stereotype, if not outright violence and political and economic marginalization. Lawson includes this man to suggest the deleterious effects of the European presence in Australia, and to encourage his readers to be more conscious of the way the aborigines were, and are, treated.