Cartridge (Symbol)
The cartridge is a conduit for the hopes and dreams of the miners. However it is a violent, (literally) explosive, means of attaining wealth. It destroys nature in an attempt to dominate it, and in this sense it also embodies a kind of bad karma. The cartridge thus is also the means by which nature gets its revenge.
Running (Motif)
The miners have always been on the run, whether from the law or from their dog. Australia was set up by the British Crown as a penal colony, a place where all the vagrants of society were taken. In the story, these white settlers decided to make the best of their experience and start anew. However, their destructive ways caught up with them (at least temporarily).
The Hotel (Symbol)
The hotel is a gathering place for all the men looking to strike it big. In a place where there was no society like their own and where they were sent because of their mishaps and criminality back home, the hotel is almost a place of serenity. It is an anchor that holds the men together and keeps them sane, a tiny reminder and taste of home in an incredibly hostile environment.
The Mongrel (Symbol)
The mongrel represents a lack of or limit on human control over nature. The men in the hotel cannot get it to leave, but the explosive - and the mongrel's curiosity about it - is able to achieve that.
The Creek (Symbol)
The sculpture - that actual part of nature - is what the miners are attempting to shape and dominate in their own vision.
