A Bushman's Approach to Hardship
An important theme in the story is the stereotypically Australian response to life's challenges. Several times throughout the text, the narrator repeats the sentiment that it "doesn't matter." His approach, therefore, seems to include a dismissal of any difficult emotion. Although the potential for such emotions are raised throughout the text, the narrator continues to dismiss them. The final twist of the story is the capstone to this approach to hardship. The narrator takes an unconcerned approach to the fact that the young man in the story dies alone and unidentified. Although in reality this situation is a tragedy, the narrator seems to suggest in the bush it is simply another day.
Another important aspect of Lawson's characters' approach to hardship is humor. Throughout the text, the narrator and his friends approach dark situations with sardonic banter, making even a funeral seem light-hearted.
Isolation of Bush Life
This theme indicates an aspect of Lawson's literature that is often overlooked. Although Lawson resides squarely in the cadre of writers from this period in Australia who emphasized a nationalist identity in their literature, this text also depicts the darker elements of that lifestyle. The residents of the town, for example, are portrayed as raging alcoholics, using substances to cope with the harshness of bush life. The main plot event, the death of the bushman, is also a reminder in itself of the isolation of that lifestyle. The man dies alone in the bush, unknown even to his family members, and the town cannot even remember his name.
Respect for the Dead
An important aspect of bush life, Lawson points out, is respect for the dead. As the funeral procession winds through the town, for example, several pubs close out of respect. A drunk shearer makes a great effort to take his hat off his head, again out of respect. And there seems to be no dispute among the men that the proper thing to do is attend the funeral, even of a man they did not know at all. In this way, Lawson depicts a sense of order and social cohesion in the town; they may all be rough bushmen, but they are still governed by a strong set of cultural norms.
Class Divisions
Lawson is known for his egalitarian, socialist politics represented through his literature, and this text is no different. Class differences among bushmen are depicted negatively. For example, some men can afford board at the pub, and ride to the funeral, whereas others only walk; immediately this difference renders the two groups "strangers" to each other. In another example, the entire funeral party unites against a publican's show of social pretension, deeming it a display of "vanity" that made the funeral into a "farce." Indeed, this revulsion brought up by the presence of class divisions demonstrates the emphasis Lawson, and other writers of his time, placed on a new egalitarian Australian national consciousness.
Religious Devotion
The theme of religious piety looms over the bushmen throughout the text, although they seem to have mixed feelings towards it. Early on, the narrator nods to the presence of religious allegiances in the town, implying that there might not be justification for a funeral for the dead man because he was Catholic. Clearly, though, the men in the town have mixed feelings when it comes to religious allegiance. When the priest scatters holy water on the coffin, several of the men, "heathens," stirred uncomfortably and "winced slightly." Nevertheless, the heavy presence of religious imagery throughout the text underscores the importance of the church to bush life and historically, in Australia.
Community vs. Strangers
Throughout the text, characters are repeatedly referred to as "strangers." The boundary between community and strangers is not always well-defined and in fact depends on the relative associations between characters. The deceased man, for example, is a stranger to the whole town. Yet within the town, some of the men, boarders at the pub, are more well-to-do than others, and thus become strangers. Then, a bushman from out of town appears, and is a stranger to even the strange community formed by the funeral procession. Thus, the concept of community in this text seems to be defined by who is outside of that collective. There are many opportunities to become a stranger in bush life, Lawson seems to be pointing out, and there is only a tenuous hold on community.
