Heat
The narrator describes the "hot and dusty" day of the funeral as they walk along, following the hearse. The heat itself is personified: it "rushed" across the buildings of the town, in "fierce dazzling rays." This striking imagery of the heat of the day is the first description of the atmosphere and appearance of the town.
These details add scenery to a text that otherwise mainly describes human behavior. They also serve to situate the text in a distinctive Australian landscape. This description of the climate is one of the story's elements that make it a prime example of the "bush" narrative in 19th-century Australian literature.
The Publican and the Priest
Lawson describes a scene of the funeral in achingly slow detail, when a hefty publican holds a hat over the head of the priest in order to curry favor with the church. Lawson depicts the responses of each party to this action: the narrator views the publican as "ignorant and conceited," making a "farce" of the solemn event; the rest of the men "uneasily" stand in "disgust" at the publican's actions; the priest himself fails to notice entirely. The careful attention Lawson's narrator pays to this scene is testament to its importance in revealing the characters' egalitarian preferences.
The Grave-Digger
Another moment at the funeral that the narrator closely describes is when the grave-digger begins shoveling dirt into the grave. The narrator describes the "light and dusty" soil that the grave-digger starts off with, so as to deaden the sound of the "clods" that come next. Those clods "rebounded and knocked" against the grave, causing a heavy sound that prompts the narrator to reflect on whether or not it might be alarming anyone. These details situate the reader in that particular moment, bringing an otherwise uneventful funeral to life. They also provide detailed commentary on the sentimental potential of the funeral, only to remind readers of the lack of emotion present.
What is Missing from the Funeral
In typically sardonic tone, the narrator paints a picture of the images that are absent from the funeral. One of these is the wattle, an Australian native plant highly evocative of the bush. Another is the "heart-broken old mate" whose "grizzled head [and] great pearly drops" of tears are also, in fact, absent. So is Bill, who the narrator states would have been crying had he been there. Lastly, there is no emotionally charged Australian sunset since, the narrator points out, the funeral takes place at midday. All of these images have a dual purpose. They first serve to enhance the "local color" of the text, since they are all typically Australian images. They also, however, lend emotional resonance to the text, in juxtaposition with the lack of melancholy actually present at the funeral.
