Hat (Symbol)
Throughout the text, the bushman's hat is a dual symbol: of respect for the dead, and also of the outdated respect for social prestige. For example, as the funeral procession passes a few drunk shearers of the side of the dusty road, a great effort is made to clutch their hats to their chests out of respect for the departed, even though he is a stranger to them. In this interaction, the bushmen's hats emphasize the great respect they have for the dead. At the same time, the text depicts their effort to show that respect with dark humor, turning the hat into a jibe at their best intentions.
Similarly, at the funeral itself, the narrator and the rest of the funeral party all cast a disapproving eye at the publican who makes a great show of holding the priest's hat over his head in respect. In this case, too, the hat is a symbol of respect: but this time, it is misplaced respect, for the social hierarchies that require a wealthy pub owner to curry favor with religious institutions. The publican's hat then reminds readers of the class divisions that egalitarian bush life deems preferable to leave behind.
Horses (Motif)
Horses are first present in the initial scene of the text, when the narrator and his group meet a young man, a stranger, driving horses along the river bank. As the story develops, we learn that the stranger at the river bank died shortly after that encounter, in an attempt to drive the same horses across the river. Thus at the outset, horses accompany death, and are even perhaps the cause of it.
As the text continues, horses come to be associated with the class divides that provoke the bushmen's disdain throughout the story. As the funeral procession gets underway, some men ride along on horses, whereas others continue on foot. Thus the group of men, previously united in their respect for the deceased stranger, divide along class lines. This scene reveals the social divisions among the bushmen, even though they express a preference for egalitarianism.
Alcohol (Motif)
Alcohol is one of the most present motifs in this text, demonstrating its prevalence among bushmen and rural Australian life. With typically sardonic humor, the narrator declares: "Liquor, however, is stronger than Unionism," a justification for the funeral party's diminishment by drunkenness at the pub. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that there are, in fact, many pubs in the small town: as the funeral process continues along its way, numerous pubs shut their doors out of respect. Traffic does not cease, however, and bushmen continue to enter and exit the pubs from side and back doors only. Examples of drunkenness continue, as some of the bushmen the funeral party encounters are so intoxicated they cannot keep their hat off out of respect, despite good intentions. Thus, alcohol is depicted as an exaggeratedly typical aspect of bush life.
Union Card (Motif)
The union card that is found in the deceased man's belongings is the only means by which the police identify him. The fact that he was a union man then becomes a rallying point of solidarity for the bushmen in the town. Union solidarity is strong, the narrator suggests; so strong that a group of men will attend a man's funeral who was a stranger to them when alive. Yet the men also use this motif to poke fun at that same collective identity: one of the narrator's friends, for example, wonders with dark humor on the walk to the funeral whether the deceased man's union card will be accepted in the afterlife. Thus the card represents social cohesion, but also is a reminder of the absurdity so prevalent throughout the text.
Strangers (Motif)
Throughout the text, the narrator describes characters as "strangers" in several instances, a designation that emphasizes the isolation and social divisions so present in the bush town. The most obvious example is the deceased man himself: he is described as a stranger multiple times, first as "almost a stranger" in the town while he was alive, and second at his funeral, when the narrator describes his coffin as "a stranger's coffin." The entire funeral party is designated as "strangers" to the corpse. Even further, however, other bushmen are strangers too; for instance, the men who catch a ride in the funeral procession instead of walking on foot like the rest. In this instance, the designation of "stranger" reveals the significance of this division among the men.
