HENRY LAWSON's PORTRAYAL of AUSTRALIANISM Mayumi
HENRY LAWSON'S PORTRAYAL OF AUSTRALIANISM
by Mayumi Miyamoto 宮本まゆみ
A Dissertation Presented to The Graduate School of Language, Communication, and Culture Kwansei Gakuin University
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy
March 2012 Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation
Henry Lawson's Portrayal of Australianism
by Mayumi Miyamoto
Members of Evaluation Committee
Major Advisor:
Associate Advisor:
Associate Advisor:
Associate Advisor:
1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the late Professor Emeritus Gen Ohinata for accepting me as his student and providing me with valuable advice even though my theme, Australian literature, was not very popular in Japan. I also thank Professor Kazuhiko Tamura for taking over the role of "major advisor", and Professors Naoto Sugiyama and Kazuhiko Sekitani, for their appropriate advice. I am very grateful to Associate Professor Jun Nagatomo for his kind help. I give my many thanks to Assistant Professor Shirley Leane of Tottori University for her help in checking my English and giving useful advice. I would like to convey special thanks to Doctor Peter Kirkpatrick of the University of Sydney for sharing his time with me in his office and the important advice he gave at that time. Many thanks to my family, including my mother, uncle, and sister-in -law for their kind cooperation. Thanks also to my friends who often encouraged me to continue my study, especially when I felt weak and tired. Finally, I would like to say "THANK YOU!" to my own family, my husband and two sons, for their patience and support during the almost ten years of my study about Henry Lawson.
11 ABSTRACT
Henry Lawson's Portrayal of Australianism
by Mayumi Miyamoto
Henry Lawson (1867-1922) is a well-known Australian writer. In his time, his poems and short stories describing the Australian bush and the people who lived there, were very popular. When he started his writing career in 1887, Australia was celebrating the centenary of its first European immigration, and the growing numbers of Australia-born citizens had already developed their own characteristics and mannerisms. Lawson illustrated "Australianism" or what it is that characterises people in Australia, through not a few bush characters who appear in his writings. For Lawson, the Australian bush, an embodiment of the Australian climate and environment, was the primary source of "Australianism". It was where he was born and lived in his younger days, and later, where he matured as a writer as well as a person. In his writings, Lawson defines the bush as the cause of three main woes: solitude, madness, and death. The characters in his poems and stories, on the whole, suffer from these woes as a result of the harsh environment, and they are usually unsuccessful in their lives. In Lawson's writings, the bush is an absolute entity that people never overcome, nor
111 escape from, no matter where they live. Lawson highlights "mateship", a unique form of friendship among men living in the bush, as a way of getting relief from their hardship. He also shows how to enjoy life, even in hard circumstances, in his humorous stories, and suggests a human relationship for people living in the bush, separate from "mateship", in his family stories. No Lawson character becomes a winner in the bush. These are all important factors which characterise the people living in Australia to be "Australian". The beginnings of the nation with convict transportation and Irish immigrants, as well as the Australian bush were also major factors which gave Australians their own characteristics. However, Lawson did not positively write about either the convicts or the Irish immigrants. His lack of characters representing these two important groups conveys far more about typical Australians of his time, than if he had actually written about them. Lawson insists in his poem, "The Men Who Made Australia", that the bush people are those who really made their country and should be praised for their exertions. People, in turn, would have become more aware of their characteristics as Australians by reading Lawson's poems and short stories. Henry Lawson appeared during a time of transition when Australia changed from a British settlement to a federated nation, and he contributed to the awareness of the people as new citizens independent of their native country. Today, Australia has greatly changed from Lawson's times and has become a multi ·cultural country, however, Lawson and his literature will live on and be remembered whenever the Australians have a need to know where they come from and what they should aim for in the future.
IV Contents
Members of Evaluation Committee ...... i Acknowledgement ...... ii Abstract ...... iii Introduction ...... 1
Chapter I ...... oo ...... oo • ... ••• ...... •• .. 10 Change of the Characters in Lawson's Writings Chapter II ...... 25 The Australian Bush and Lawson's Bush Characters Chapter III ...... 43 Deaths in "The Hero of Redclay" Chapter IV...... 56 Mateship Described in Lawson's Writings
Chapter V ...... oo ...... oo • oo .OO to •• oo oo •• to oo •• oo ...... 70 Humour in Lawson's Bush Stories Chapter VI ...... 91 Joe Wilson, a Family Bushman Chapter VII ...... 110 Convicts and the Irish for Lawson's Literature Conclusion ...... 127
Notes ...... t. t •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 131 Bibliography ...... 147
v Introduction
Henry Archibald Lawson (1867-1922) started his writing career almost a hundred years after the first landing of the British fleet in Australia. That was also the time when Australia started to have her own characteristics and foster the culture, apart from Britain.1 This thesis will explore the ethos of Australia or the "Australianism", expressed in Lawson's writing. In particular, some characters in his poems and stories, which seem to represent Australian characteristics with their words, deeds, and thoughts, will be examined. This thesis is not about Australian identity, but rather is about character. Identity is established, or created by the person concerned, whereas character is often more accurately assessed by an onlooker. Generally speaking, character is acquired unconsciously· and people are not always aware of the habits they have developed. Character traits are sometimes grasped more clearly when observed from a distance. Henry Lawson was an important literary figure in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Australia. He was born in 1867 to an Australian mother, Louisa, and a Norwegian father, Peter, in the small town of Grenfell in the state of New South Wales. He wrote his first poem in 1887, when Australia was still a colony of the British Empire, which began in 1788 when the first British fleet arrived in Sydney. Lawson wrote many works, in both verse and prose, including masterpieces and failures, during his thirty-five-year writing career. Lawson is generally thought to have been prosperous only for about the first fifteen years of his writing career. In particular, his successful years virtually coincided with the final vital years before Australian
1 Federation. 2 In the new, twentieth century, he continued to write poems and stories, but unfortunately, he could not produce as many masterpieces as in the early period. In his later years, he separated from his wife and children, was hit with several lawsuits, and was in and out of gaol and mental institutions. In the end, he became a penniless drunkard, and even with support from his friends, barely survived until his death from cerebral hemorrhage in 1922. During the time Lawson was in his prime as a writer, Australia was in the final period of colonisation. The demographic structure of the country at that time was completely different from today. The total population of Australia, excluding Aborigines, by the end of 1900 was approximately 3,765,000, and by 1901, almost 77.1% of the population was Australian -born. 3 Some of the ancestors of the Australian·born people had been immigrants, others were convicts, mostly from Britain and Ireland. There were also immigrants from other European and Asian countries, but the numbers were very small at that time.4 New South Wales, where Lawson was born and lived, had a population of over 1,350,000 in 1901.5 The percentage of the state's population who were Australian-born was similar to that of the whole country.6 In 1891, in New South Wales, 52.2% of the immigrant population were English born,
13% were Scottish, 26.3% Irish, 1.8% Wales. Other Europeans included
Germans (3.3%), and Scandinavians (1.6%). 7 The situation was almost the same in the other states. 8 These statistics show that the ethnic structure of the society to which Lawson belonged was strongly Anglo-Celtic. This racial structure did not change so much until a few years after World War II, and the percentage of Anglo-Celtic people in the total population of approximately 7.6 million was as high as 99.5 % in 1947.9 Lawson lived in this society, and from his careful observation and
2 colourful imagination, he created a variety of interesting characters. Lawson liked to write about people in socially weak positions. Most of all, his enthusiasm was focused on describing people who lived and worked in the severe conditions of the Australian bush. Lawson's poems and stories were widely read at that time because his sympathetic attitude to hard-working people touched the hearts of the general population both in the bush and in cities. For several decades after Federation in 1901, partly because of its small population, Australia's national security was sometimes threatened, especially by the Japanese during the Second World War. As a result, the government decided to accept non· British immigrants more positively than before. 10 Mter the Vietnam War, they also accepted boat people. Consequently, Australia has become a leading multi·cultural nation today. Present day Australians seem to regard Lawson, sometimes reluctantly, as a reminder of bygone days when their country was under the sovereignty of the British Empire, before it became federated and particular social values, including the White Australia policy, were introduced. Actually, Lawson became the subject of a talk in the country when the controversial One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson, called for a return to "White Australia" in the 1996 federal election. 11 Today, for many people in Australia's modern multicultural society, Henry Lawson is a largely forgotten writer from the past. However, it is notable that Lawson and his works can be seen, not frequently though, in some recently issued books. For example, City Bushman, which was issued in 2004, is a book about Henry Lawson and his reputation. Christopher Lee, the writer of the book, reviews the influence of Lawson's reputation on society from three perspectives: a) during his life, b) after his death, and c) on local society. Lee also devotes not a few pages to the
3 political use of Lawson's reputation by Australian society. Another recent book, Serious Frolic, a collection of essays on Australian humour, was issued in 2009, and the book mentions Henry Lawson and his works, including an essay about Lawson's famous short story, "The Loaded Dog" . It is remarkable that Henry Lawson and his works still remain in the minds of Australian people today even though he was not necessarily what is called a literary master. Lawson wrote several hundred poems and short stories, but he did not write a novel, and this may be one reason why he did not become known worldwide. However, he definitely became a national writer in Australia because he vividly described people and their surroundings during a period of rapid growth in Australia, often collecting ideas for his writing from his personal experiences. Christopher Lee, who is also a specialist in Henry Lawson and his literature, states: "The stature of Henry Lawson in the cultural history of Australia is due to the historical utility of his reputation for licensing various forms of social identity."12 Apart from Australia's identity, Lawson's popularity seems to be due to the
Australianism which he heartily implanted in his works, especially with his attractive characters. In 1901, Lawson composed a poem, "The Men Who Made Australia". As the subtitle. of the poem, "Written on the occasion of the Royal Visit to Australia, 1901", indicates, the poem describes one of the events concerning Federation when the Duke of Cornwall and York (the future King George V) came to Australia in May, 1901.13 Lawson did not witness the event because he was far from home in London at that time. Therefore, he wrote about it only using his imagination. Although the poem is not regarded as one of his best, nor has it been taken up by critics so often, it is worth reading to know Lawson's views on people he believed to be the true Australians. In the poem, Lawson fIrst
4 criticises snobby people who are proud to be attending the event and demonstrate their cheap flattery of the British Empire by the festive mood with which they welcome the royal visitors. At the same time, he points out that the people who should be present at the event, are not invited: There'll be royal times in Sydney for the Cuff and Collar Push, There'll be lots of dreary drivel and clap-trap From the men who own Australia, but who never knew the Bush, And who could not point their runs out on the map. o the daily Press will grovel as it never did before, There'll be many flags of welcome in the air, And the Civil Service poet, he shall write odes by the score - But the men who made the land will not be there. (1-8) He, then, emphasises that there used to be the pains and sacrifices of the people who were indispensable to the development of Australian colonies, and that their hard work enabled their employers to be rich and allowed the Australian economy to grow: Call across the blazing sand wastes of the Never-Never Land! There are some who will not answer yet awhile; Some whose bones rot in the mulga14 or lie bleaching on the sand Died of thirst to win the land another mile. Thrown from horses, ripped by cattle, lost on deserts; and the weak, Mad through loneliness or drink (no matter which), Drowned in floods or dead of fever by the sluggish slimy creek These are men who died to make the Wool-Kings rich.
Call across the scrubby ridges where they clear the barren soil, And the gaunt Bushwomen share the work of men -
5 Toil and loneliness for ever - hardship, loneliness and toil - Where the brave drought-ruined farmer starts again! Call across the boundless sheep-runs of a country cursed for sheep Call across the awful scrublands west of Bourke! But they have no time to listen - they have scarcely tilne to sleep For the men who conquer deserts have to work. (17-32 ) In the poem, Lawson suggests that they are drovers, farmers, women, and others who have been working hard in the bush, toiling for their country, sometimes at the cost of their own lives. Finally, the poet gives something like a prediction for the country's future: For the sons of all Australia, they were born to conquer fate - And, where charity and friendship are sincere, Where a sinner is a brother and a stranger is a mate, There the future of a nation's written clear. (53-56)
There are men amongst the Bushmen who were born to save the land! And they'll take their places sternly by-and-by. (63-64)
And wherever go the billy 15, water-bag and frying-pan, They are drafting future histories of state! (79-80) Lawson is definite that "the sons of Australia" or "men among the bushmen" will shoulder the future of the country. He also explains that they are "where charity and friendship are sincere," which means that those men believe in "mate ship" . "A sinner is a brother and a stranger is a Inate" means that many of them are probably sons of convicts or migrants, or both.
6 The poem, as a whole, seems to be aimed at raising awareness of independent Australians and to make readers think again about who the people are who made Australia, and who genuine Australians are. It is difficult, of course, to define "an Australian" individually because one hundred Australians could have one hundred different characters. However, it is logical to assume that people develop some characteristics in common as a result of living extended periods in the same social environment. Therefore, it is natural to think that by the time Lawson wrote this poem, there were already a considerable number of people who had potential characteristics which were to develop into Australian later on. These traits in Lawson's characters in his poems and stories, may give us some hints to help understand what Australianism really is. In Lawson's writings, especially his short stories, people who live or stay in the Australian bush for their livelihood are called bush people, or bushmen and bushwomen. Russel Ward explains the historical background of the origin of the Australian bushmen and their ethos: ... that the distinctively Australian ethos which developed before 1851, sprang primarily from convict, working-class, Irish and native-born sources, and that it was associated particularly with up·country life. In all these respects the first bushrangers were more 'Australian' than anybody else .... , if bushmen were the 'true Australians', runway convicts were the first of the genus. The very word 'bushrangers' had become a part of the language by 1806 .... By the 1820's the phrase 'to take to the bush' had become a cliche, but the word 'bushman' did not become common until twenty years later.I6 Mter setting up colonial centres, such as Sydney, it seemed natural that people would go to the outback. Especially, after the discovery of gold
7 in 1851, the number of fortune seekers who headed to the harsh interior of the country increased tremendously, but these people are not covered under the term, "bush people". Ward explains that "the bushmen" are "the outback employees, the semi-nomadic drovers, shepherds, shearers, bullock-drivers, stockmen, boundary-riders, station-hands and others of the pastoral industry".l7 Lawson's bush characters are people who were engaged in those occupations.
This thesis will examine the following two questions: 1) How Henry
Lawson describes people, who, he believed, had made Australia, in his works and 2) How Lawson expresses their characteristics as Australians in his works? Specifically, Chapter One reviews how Lawson's characters change from his early years to the later ones, with the change of Lawson himself as a person as well as a writer, living in the transitional times of Australia. Chapter '!\vo studies how Lawson describes the great influence of the Australian bush upon people in his writings. Chapter Three reads one of Lawson's short stories, "The Hero of Redclay" and considers the deaths of the bush characters in the story_ Chapter Four takes up "mateship", one of the characteristics which symbolise the Australian culture or "Australianism", and clarifies its peculiarity, especially comparing it with human relationships of the Japanese townspeople in the nineteenth century. Chapter Five discusses humour described in Lawson's bush stories, and also examines how it is characterised. Chapter Six focuses on Joe Wilson, one of Lawson's popular characters, and explores the importance of this character and its role in Lawson's stories. Finally, Chapter Seven deals with convicts and the Irish who both had a great influence on the early period of Australia and helped the country own its particularity, as the Australian bush did. This chapter also discusses how those people are related to Lawson's literature.
8 It is important to note that this thesis will not discuss the culture and literature of Aboriginal people, the original inhabitants of Australia, who had lived on the continent long before Europeans discovered it. This thesis
IS about "Australianism" of Henry Lawson who lived in an Anglo'Celt"oriented society although Aboriginal people have their own unique culture, and the people and their culture have certainly influenced European culture in Australia.
9 Chapter I Change of the Characters in Lawson's Writings
The style of Henry Lawson's description changed in the course of his writing career, especially in the description of people, or the characters appearing in his poems and stories. His description in the early years is so vague that his characters seem to be impersonal, or not to have their individualities. In the later years, however, it is more specific and his characters are lively, having their attractive personalities. This chapter will discuss why and how they changed, studying some specific characters in his works and also Lawson's personal experiences in the bush.
Lawson lived in Sydney mainly in his life after moving to the city with his mother and siblings when he was sixteen. There, he met political people who gathered around his mother, and as a result of their influence, he composed several works about social reform in the very early years of his writing career. As typically seen in his masterpiece poem, "Faces in the Street", Lawson does not tell of a particular individual in the poem, but of ordinary masses living under far from pleasant conditions in central Sydney. People are described as part of a picture in which the poet tried to "draw" the truth about the transitional period heading towards a new Australia. People Lawson described in those early days seem to be impersonal. This is one of the notable characteristics in his early works, in both verse and prose. Andy, the character in "Andy's Gone With Cattle" (1888), is a typical example. This poem is about a drover called Andy, but it gives almost no information about him apart from his name. The narrator, who sounds like a member of Andy's family, talks about their situation and complains about Andy's absence:
10 Our Andy's gone to battle now 'Gainst Drought, the red marauder: Our Andy's gone with cattle now Across the Queensland border.
He's left us in dejection now; Our hearts with him are roving. It's dull on this selection now,
Since Andy went a-droving. (1-8) Interestingly, the narrator uses the pronouns "our" and "us" instead of "my" and "me", which means that the feelings come not only from the narrator, but also from all the family members. The tone of the narrator's voice also suggests that Andy is the family leader who supports the rest of the family financially as well as mentally: Who now shall wear the cheerful face In times when things are slackest? And who shall whistle round the place
When Fortune frowns her blackest? (9-12) In the poem, the narrator keeps on telling us how much the family members are concerned about Andy and how much they hope his safe coming back home soon. However, the narrator does not give any details about Andy, not even his age, looks, or personality: Poor Aunty's looking thin and white; And Uncle's cross with worry; And poor old Blucher howls all night
Since Andy left Macquarie. (21-24)
In the sequel, "Andy's Return", which was written just one month after "Andy's Gone With Cattle", there is still very little information about Andy,
11 except for his appearance when he finally comes home: With pannikins all rusty, And billy burnt and black, And clothes all torn and dusty, That scarcely hide his back; With sun·cracked saddle-leather, And knotted greenhide rein, And face burnt brown with weather, Our Andy's home again!
His unkempt hair is faded With sleeping in the wet, He's looking old and jaded; But he is hearty yet. With eyes sunk in their sockets - But merry as of yore; With big cheques in his pockets, Our Andy's home once more! (1-16) Lawson wrote "Middleton's Rouseabout" in 1890 and this poem gives us a lot of physical information about a character called Andy. However, according to Colin Roderick, this Andy is a different person; he is Andy Page who later appears as a mate of Dave Regan in some of Lawson's short stories. 1 "Andy's Gone With Cattle" does not seem to tell us about the drover himself, but tells more about how his family misses him while he is away. And what is more, it tells about how hard the life of people living in the Australian bush generally was at that time. In other words, Andy, the character of the poem, only plays a role as a part of a picture which depicts
12 the harsh environment of the bush in Australia. As for the impersonality of the characters, "The Teams" is another good example. This poem was written in 1889 and along with "Andy's Gone With Cattle", is another of Lawson's masterpieces: A cloud of dust on the long white road, And the teams go creeping on Inch by inch with the weary load; And by the power of the green-hide goad The distant goal is won.
With eyes half shut to the blinding dust, And necks to the yokes bent low, The beasts are pulling as bullocks must; And the shining tires might almost rust While the spokes are turning slow.
With face half-hid 'neath a broad-brimmed hat That shades from the heat's white waves, And shouldered whip with its green-hide plait, The driver plods with a gait like that Of his weary, patient slaves. (1-15) The poem makes us imagine a beautiful painting in our minds which describes a scene of cattle pulling wagons and a drover organizing his stock. Like the previous poem, "Andy's Gone With Cattle", this poem has almost no information about the driver (drover). Even his name is unknown. Lawson's descriptions of what the driver says and does are so vivid that it is easy for us to visualize the driver's movement: He'll sometimes pauses as a thing of form
13 In front of a settler's door, And ask for a drink, and remark, "It's warm,"
Or say, "There's signs of a thunderstorm;" But he seldom utters more. (21-25)
However, the driver's words are not specific enough for us to be able to imagine his exact personality. What the driver looks like also remains vague. This lack of information about personal details is also found in
Lawson's prose. Lawson describes the female character of "The Drover's Wife" in the same manner. "The Drover's Wife" was written in 1892. It is a short story, only ten pages long, but is undoubtedly the most popular story that the author ever wrote. The dranlatis personae in the story are the wife, her four children, a dog, and a snake. The other characters including her husband, who is away from home, appear only in the wife's recollection.
The story is about an incident which happened to her and her children in a short period of about twelve hours. One day, a snake COlnes and hides somewhere in the house. The wife watches out for the reptile all night long to keep it away from her children. She reminisces about a lot of past hardships until she finally finds the snake and kills it. The wife has no name; she is always called "the drover's wife". Her age is also unknown, but judging from the age of her children, she is probably somewhere around thirty. In contrast to the two poems already mentioned, "The Drover's Wife" gives quite a lot of information about the woman. Her strength as a bushwoman can be learned through her actions to protect her children from danger, and at the same time her weaknesses, through the stories about her past failures. However, the wife still lacks reality. She is not described as a woman with specific personality, but described as one of many typical women who lived in the Australian bush at
14 that time. Just like Andy or the driver in "The Teams", the drover's wife is a model through which the author expresses the difficulties and bitterness suffered by people living in the bush. That Lawson had not had enough experience as a person himself was, probably, one of the reasons why he could not produce an image of a character with a strong personality. He was born and lived in the bush until he was sixteen. He, as the eldest child of the family, mainly helped his family, especially his father, doing farm work. He, then, observed people such as his parents, relatives, and their friends while he was doing his everyday work. He must have seen bushmen, drovers, and probably the drovers' wives, but he was too young to be a drover himself. Therefore, most of the bush characters Lawson described in his early works are probably no more than products of his imagination, given his limited experience. Brian Matthews explains the reason for obscurity in the descriptions of the wife in "The Drover's Wife": " ... Lawson, it seems, had simply not developed his craft to that point (though the whole concept of 'The Drover's Wife' shows it is coming within his scope)."2 The characters described in Lawson's works gradually changed into those with strong personalities like Mitchell, Dave Regan, and Joe Wilson. The changing description of his characters seems to have been influenced by two events which happened to the writer in 1892. One is a famous debate, about the Australian bush, with 'Banjo' Paterson (1864-1941) which was published in the Bulletin from July to October. The other event is Lawson's journey to the outback, near the state border between New South Wales and Queensland. In the debate, Lawson insisted on his viewpoint of the bush and Paterson replied with his own views expressed in the form ofverse.3 Their views of the bush were completely opposite, probably as a result of their
15 different backgrounds, especially in childhood. Lawson grew up in a poor family, hence his overall impression of the bush was negative. Paterson was also born in the bush, but went to school in the city and visited home only on holidays, which left him with many good childhood memories. It was probably difficult for Paterson, therefore, to understand the hardships which Lawson had experienced growing up in rural Australia. Paterson's poem, "Clancy of The Overflow" was written at about the same time as Lawson's "Andy's Gone With Cattle" and "The Teams". Paterson's poem clearly expresses his different attitudes to the bush: I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better Knowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago, He was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him, Just 'on spec', addressed as follows, 'Clancy, of The Overflow'.
And an answer came directed in a writing unexpected, (And I think the same was written with a thumb-nail dipped in tar) 'Twas his shearing mate who wrote it, and verbatim I will quote it: 'Clancy's gone to Queensland droving, and we don't know where he are.'
In my wild erratic fancy visions come to me of Clancy Gone a-droving 'down the Cooper' where the Western drovers go;
As the stock are slowly stringing, Clancy rides behind them singing,
16 For the drover's life has pleasures that the townsfolk never know.
And the bush hath friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars, And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, And at night the wond'rous glory of the everlasting stars. (1-16)
The setting where the narrator is thinking of someone is the same as that of "Andy's Gone With Cattle", and the descriptions of the drovers' journeys are similar to those of "The Teams". However, Paterson's poem gives a much more positive impression than Lawson's. For example, the narrator writes to Clancy, and receives an answer from Clancy's mate. However, in Lawson's poem, there is no connection between the narrator and Andy until Andy comes back home in "Andy's Return". The acoustic impression of Paterson's poem is also different from that of "The Teams". There are Clancy's singing, the kindly greetings of bush people, the sounds of breezes, and songs of a river: the sounds of joy. In Lawson's poem, the sounds are the drover's shouts, the cracking of whips, and the bellowing of cattle: the sounds of despair. Lawson started his journey to the outback in the middle of the debate with Paterson. During the journey, Lawson had time to think about what the bush and the bushmen meant to him. The journey was to ascertain whether his opinions in the debate were correct or not. He wrote about his experiences in the bush in letters to his aunt, Emma, during the journey. In a letter dated September the 21st, 1892, he mentioned his impression of the countryside he saw from the train window: "The bush between here and
17 Bathurst is horrible. I was right, and Banjo [Paterson] wrong."4 His remarks reveal that Lawson had been uncertain about his opinions during the debate, and wanted to confirm that he was right. He also told his aunt about his first impression of Bourke: "Country very dry and dull, but I am agreeably disappointed with Bourke. It is a much nicer town than I thought it would be."5 It is interesting that he admitted that his knowledge about the bush was not as accurate as he had thought. Lawson set off on the journey with a train ticket and five pounds in cash, heading toward Bourke, an outback town in north·western New South Wales. In the bush, Lawson tramped, worked, camped out, and was often hungry. He spent time alone, was sometimes with some companions, and was away for about nine months. The journey was very hard for him . because the bush conditions were more severe than he had ever experienced before. Mter staying in Bourke for two months, he had two long tramping trips along the Darling River, one before Christmas and the other after. Those trips were from the end of November to the beginning of February and the whole walk amounted to more than five hundred kilometres.6 He wrote to his aunt during those trips. One letter, dated January 16th, 1893, was sent from Hungerford, a town located over the border between New South Wales and Queensland, reporting Lawson's difficult days in the bush: You can have no idea of the horrors of the country out here. Men tramp and beg and live like dogs. It is two months since I slept in what you can call a bed. We walk as far as we can ... But it would take a year to tell you all about my wanderings in
the wilderness. 7 Lawson criticises bushmen in his early letter to his aunt, calling them "The biggest liars that ever the Lord created".8 In the final letter dated February 6th in the same year from Bourke, he made an interesting
18 comment about squatters: "A squatter who knew me gave me as much tucker as I could carry, when I was coming down, and a pound to help me along Squatters are not all bad."9 For Lawson, who came from a poor family with little property, squatters were wealthy people for whom he usually felt antipathy. During the trip, however, he realised that he had been biased against them. Unlike his mother, Louisa, who was aggressive and strong-hearted, Aunt Emma, an elder sister of Louisa, was one of Lawson's favourite relatives, and he was able to tell her his honest feelings about the bush in his letters. Lawson had negative feelings about the bush since his childhood, and his feelings likely became stronger during his outback journey. Denton Prout quotes A.G. Stephens, editor of the Bulletin, in order to explain how the bush experience influenced Lawson: "Lawson hates the bush; ... His six months' journey to the Queensland border in 1892 ... was like the journey of a damned soul swagging it through purgatory; and Lawson persists in looking at Australia through the memories of those six months." 10 In addition, Colin Roderick points out that Lawson came to have two opposing feelings about the bush after his experience: "And Lawson was to remain all his life in a confusing relationship of mingled love and hate towards it [the bush]." 11 Apart from those hard experiences in the bush, what greatly influenced Lawson and his literature was his personal contact with people in Bourke. Soon after he arrived in the town, Lawson met with some men involved in local politics and composed some poems for them. He also made the acquaintance of local members of the Union.12 Lawson's contact with the Union members certainly inspired him to create many masterpieces, including "The Union Buries Its Dead" and "That There Dog 0' Mine", both written in 1893, and "Send Round the Hat" and "That Pretty
19 Girl in the ArlllY" which were written in 1901. Lawson had tramping trips along the Darling River with two men. One of them was eighteen-year-old James William Gordon, who was looking for a job in Bourke. The other was Ernest de Guinney, a Russian aristocrat who is thought to be the model of "Dr Lebinski", a character in "The Hero of Redclay" (1899). The companionship with those men as well as the Union members in the outback journey trained Lawson as a writer. He turned his attention to humanity by meeting, observing, and understanding local people and learning more about human nature. It was after his outback journey to Bourke that Lawson's popular characters, with precise personalities started to appear in his prose. At the same time, he started to describe his characters in much more details than before. This transformation is obvious both in his verse and prose. A poem, "Dan the Wreck" which was written in 1895 is a good example. The poem describes a man called Dan: Tall, and stout, and solid -looking, Yet a wreck; None would think Death's finger's hooking Him from deck. Cause of half the fun that's started "Hard"case" Dan- Isn't like a broken"hearted, Ruined man. (1- 8)
The poem continues to describe Dan in detail until the fourth stanza, so it is easy for us to imagine what Dan looked like. This is different from the impersonality seen in the characters from "Andy's Gone With Cattle" and "The Teams", The first line of the stanza gives us specific information about Dan's appearances and the other lines suggest Dan's real
20 circumstances. The rest of the poem tells many positive aspects of Dan. Finally, it explains that his miserable appearance and miserable life are a result of heavy drinking, but he is a charming drunkard. A short story titled "Mr Smellingscheck" written between 1895 and 1896 is a prose version of "Dan the Wreck". This is a short story with extremely detailed descriptions of a man named Smellingscheck. The description of the man begins in the middle of the third paragraph: "He was
a fat man, slow and placid." 13 Soon it becomes more concrete with information about the way Mr Smellingscheck dresses: He wore a suit of cheap slops of some kind of shoddy "tweed". The coat was too small and the trousers too short, and they were drawn up to meet the waistcoat - which they did with painful difficulty, now and then showing, by way of protest, two pairs of brass buttons and the ends of the brace-straps; and they seemed to blame the irresponsive waistcoat or the wearer for it all. Yet he never gave way to assist them. A pair of burst elastic· sides were in full evidence, and a rim of cloudy sock, with a hole in it,
showed at every step. 14 This passage is followed by a variety of descriptions of his behavior, from how· to discuss politics, to how to have meals, and the manner of his every action. These descriptions are very elaborate. "Mr Smellingscheck" is not like a story, but more like a human documentary based on the author's close observation. The story has a clear image of the existence of a particular individual named Mr Smellingscheck, unlike "The Drover's Wife", which only has a general image of a hard-working woman in the bush. In addition to those specific descriptions of characters, there is another important characteristic of Lawson's literature which became obvious after his journey to Bourke. Some of his characters came to have two different
21 characteristics, or a duality in their personalities. In "Dan the Wreck",
Dan is emphasised as a person having two opposing characters. A similar description is also found in "Mr Smellingscheck". In this story, Lawson insists that Mr Slnellingscheck is a real gentleman despite his shabby appearance. This probably proves that during his outback journey, Lawson learned how to observe people from many angles in order to make his characters rich with humanity. It was in about 1893 that characters with strong personalities, fIrst appeared in Lawson's works, especially in his short stories. Some characters appearing in Lawson's short stories like Steelman, Mitchell, and
Dave Regan, are typical. Those characters make their appearances n1ainly in the short stories written from 1893 to 1900. These characters seem to have been created when Lawson was at the peak in his writing career, and they each appear as the protagonist in more than one story. For example,
Steelman appears in six stories, Dave Regan, in nine, and alnazingly, Mitchell, in as many as thirty stories. Each story is short so that it can illustrate only one small episode of what happens to a character, and there is almost no connection between stories as far as the plots are concerned.
The characters more or less changed their personalities each time they were in a new story. According to Colin Roderick, Steelman is a parasite in the fIrst story, a talkative humorist in the second, a fIxed character in the third, takes over a vicious character from Mitchell in the fourth, and fInally is a cynical messenger of Lawson in the fIfth and sixth stories. 15 Roderick also explains that Steelman had to change to take over some aspects of
Mitchell as Mitchell's character developed.l6 Mitchell is described as a "colloquial swagman" in the first three stories, and from the fourth story onwards he becomes an "educated traveler". L7 Generally, Mitchell's second character, who is a philosopher as well as a good bush story-teller, is the
22 n10st popular. Dave Regan is the main chal"acter in nine different short stories. He is alone in four of the stories, and with his mates, Jack Bentley and Andy Page in the others. While Dave Regan is a rather plain character without his mates, he becomes a strong leader and causes numerous funny incidents when he is with then1. Those three Inen are Lawson's model characters who have vivid and distinctive personalities. They are also characters who have one strong definite personality, rather than a duality of characters. Others of Lawson's characters came to display a particular duality in their personalities. That is a duality of virtuousness and secularity.
Giraffe in "Send Round the Hat" (1901) and Hannah in "That Pretty Girl in the Army" (1901) are examples of this. Giraffe is described as a man of justice and benevolence. He is always fair and never discriminates against anyone because of who they are. In the story, he sends round his hat for people involved in prostitution even though his mates say he should not do it. As the story goes on, Giraffe is described as if he was someone heavenly. At the end of the story, however, it is revealed that he has left his girlfriend, who still loves him, in Sydney, and his fellow bushmen send round the hat for him and persuade him to go back to her. Giraffe decides to return to Sydney and becomes an ordinary working man. Hannah in "That Pretty Girl in the Army" IS a female verSIon of Giraffe. Lawson emphasises the contrast between her angelic features and her human aspects. In the story, the girl always draws attention from the bushmen and gradually becomes an idol for them. She also becomes to be regarded as something heavenly. However, at the end of the story, her real nature is exhibited in front of the bushmen when she starts a speech for ChristInas Day. During her speech, Hannah notices her missing boyfriend in the audience, which makes her upset, she forgets her position, and
23 becomes just another ordinary earthly person. Lawson gradually changed his style as he grew as a writer as well as a person, and his characters also changed themselves according to his changing state of mind. In his works, his original impersonal characters gradually gained identities, then personalities, and finally some became divine. It is also possible that Lawson tried to seek a mental haven in his fictionally idealised characters like Giraffe and Hannah. However, these spotless characters are obviously not the main goal of Lawson's literature because he gives them back their human nature at the end of each story. He does not conclude his stories with conventional ethical sermons. This means that Lawson wanted to express real human nature, including his own weaknesses, and to appreciate it as it is. When Henry Lawson started his career as a young writer, his style was rather journalistic and people described by him were either anonymous or impersonal. However, his style gradually changed, and the characters in his poems and stories had vivid personalities. That was partly because his personal experiences, including the hard hours in the bush, trained him not only as a writer, but also as a person. Some of Lawson's characters, like Giraffe and Hannah, are described as superhuman or even divine, but they regain their essential humanity at the end of their stories. Lawson's popular protagonists, such as Dave Regan, Mitchell, and Joe Wilson, were also created in this transition, and eventually became the characters representing the men, Lawson insists in his poem, made Australia.
24 Chapter II The Australian Bush and Lawson's Bush Characters
When Lawson was in his prime as a writer, he produced quite a few masterpieces, especially in his prose, which describe the Australian bush and bush people, the people who lived and worked there. As the writer himself emphasises how those people in the bush made an enOrlTIOUS contribution to the development of Australia, in his poem, "The Men Who Made Australia", the bush and bush people are the major factors to appreciate Henry Lawson's literature and also to search out what Australianism is in his work. This chapter will study the Australian bush, and the relationship between the bush and bush people described in Lawson's writings. Basically, the majority of Australians have always lived in the coastal areas of the continent. When the Gold Rush started in 1851, a great many people temporarily moved inland hoping to make their fortune. Pastoralists had a golden time about the same time and made Australia the world's largest wool producer. These incidents, which happened particularly in the middle of 19th century, drew people away from the coastal areas towards the interior, and this Australian nature has nurtured the character of Australia and influenced its people during that tinle. The Australian bush was different from English woods, the home of mysterious fairies and spirits, and also different from the Wild West, a symbol of America's exploitation and development. It was distant and forbidding, so that it was not thought to be easily conquerable. In fact, Australia has even now only developed the edge of its continent leaving a huge empty area in the centre, unlike the United States which has cities
25 dispersed aln10st equally throughout the country. Therefore, the concept of the bush for Australians was completely different from that of Americans who believed they could aggressively exploit the land. Even though most Australians have not experienced the bush directly, they seem to have always had a strong image of it as a tremendous huge void. In 1901, the whole population of Australia was still less than 3,800,000,1 therefore, even city people probably had a vague feeling of insecurity caused by their isolated surroundings. China, whose area is about 1.25 times as large as that of Australia, for example, also has a huge
desert, "the Gobi", in its centre. As its population in about 1900 was
roughly 500 million, at least 130 tin1es larger than Australia's, 2 the Chinese people probably did not have such feelings towards their void as Australians did. Besides, people must have felt like they would never be able to emerge again once they went deep into the bush because they did not have any developed transport systems such as we have today. Thus, the Australian bush was special for Australian people particularly during the pioneering period. Geographically speaking, it is almost impossible to say exactly how much of the Australian continent is covered by the bush because the concept of what "the bush" is seems to vary between people. However, slightly n10re than fifty percent of the whole continent has an annual rainfall of less than four hundred millimeters, which is the rninimum rainfall required for agriculture to be feasible. 3 Only a narrow coastal part of the continent has enough rain, eight hundred millimeters or more, which is needed for people to have a comfortable life. 4 The capital cities of all six states and the two territories are located within this coastal strip which is very small in cornparison to the area of the whole continent. The climate cycle of Australian continent IS unIque. It does not change on a 12-month cycle like on other continents; it changes irregularly in a multi-year cycle, due to the influence of and ENSO, El Nifio-Southern Oscillation. 5 This unusual climatic pattern often brings unpredictable droughts and floods. 6 Especially in the bush, the meteorological conditions are nothing but cruel. It is said that Aborigines, the original inhabitants of Australia, never numbered more than a few hundred thousand in population. 7 Because they had to live by hunting and collecting, their family size was small compared to agricultural peoples who settled down and increased their families. 8 The deadly climate and the unproductive soil did not allow them to enjoy population growth. The Aborigines survived in the severe environment for tens of thousands of years by constantly moving from place to place. They never settled in one location. Due to its idiosyncratic environment, it is no wonder that the Australian bush was seen as a tremendous menace by European people, and it must have been a symbol of "the unknown", especially for the newcomers in the early times. It may have been even more threatening for people who actually lived there for long periods of time. The bush gives off a strong image of desolation, even for people who have never been there. The bush, for the average Australian, feels like an alien place. In the 1890s, on the contrary, the Australian bush was positively used as a symbol of "one nation" in the propaganda leading up to the federation of Australia. Thus, the Australian people have long been concerned with the bush, no matter where they live in the country. That the bush was often taken as a theme by Australian poets and writers before Federation, in 1901, was attributed both to the climate of the time as well as to the policy of the Bulletin. 9 There was a growing enthusiasm for nationalism among people in Australia at the time when Lawson started his writing career. The Bulletin encouraged and supported
27 anyone who wrote about the bush, hoping to raise people's enthusiasm for a federated Australia. The bush became an important theme for the writers at that time, and quite a few of Lawson's contemporaries also vvrote about the bush. As already mentioned, however, Lawson wrote more about city subjects for the first few years of his writing career. It was not until the outback trip in 1892 that he turned to the bush for the theme of his works. Mter the trip, he devoted the bulk of his literature to describing the bush although Lawson himself lived in urban areas for two-thirds of his life. The bush is the main stage also for the characters appearing In Lawson's stories. In his humorous stories, the bush is an ideal setting for them, helping keep them alive and active. In other stories, however, the bush is a huge, invisible enemy which always disrupts people trying to survive there. Many of Lawson's popular characters suffer from various difficulties caused by the bush. Its severe conditions undermine their hopes, weaken their relationships, and finally drive them to despair. In Lawson's bush stories, there are three major woes that his characters often suffer from in the bush; they are loneliness, Inadness, and death. In some cases, one character has all three misfortunes in succession. This means that long-time loneliness in the bush undermines the characters' humanity, and then, finally drives them to death. Firstly, underlining the seclusion of the characters was a typical way of Lawson to express the solitude of the bush. According to statistics from 1990, the population density in the western part of New South Wales was zero point one per square kilometre. If the location of his stories is assumed to be the area where Lawson travelled in 1892, the density is probably even less than that. Even in areas closer to the east coast, there were still only two people per square kilometre. 10 Bush people in Lawson's days were forced to be in such isolation.
28 A representative description of this is the second paragraph of his most famous story, "The Drover's Wife", which explains the circumstances under which the wife and her children live: Bush all round - bush with no horizon, for the country is flat. No ranges in the distance. The bush consists of stunted, rotten native apple trees. No undergrowth. Nothing to relieve the eye save the darker green of a few she·oaks which are sighing above the narrow, almost waterless creek. Nineteen miles to
the nearest sign of civilization - a shanty on the main road. 11 This simple and curt description quite eloquently conveys Lawson's general notions of the bush. The sameness, monotony, and solitude of the bush are occasionally emphasised in his other works, and above all, he uses she-oak trees as an effective means of expressing melancholy. She-oaks12, which are also called casuarinas, look like oaks, but are inferior to oaks as timber. The tree has about ten varieties and is distributed in all states of Australia. On average they grow to about ten metres, and some varieties grow over twenty metres high. Their leaves are very narrow like those of willows, so they rustle in the breeze. Lawson often personifies the rustling saying "She-oaks sigh", which helps emphasise the loneliness of a person living in the bush. "A Case for the Oracle" written in 1896, is a short story in which the character's loneliness is described in an unusual way. Lawson wrote two short stories whose titles include "the Oracle", the nickname of a particular bushman. "A Case for the Oracle" is not actually about the Oracle, but about one of his labourers, called Alfred O'Briar or "Al£' . Alf is always stays alone in his tent, so his colleagues consider him to be a little sly. One night, some men including Mitchell happen to hear Alf
29 talking with another man in his tent. Surprisingly, they hear a woman's voice another night. They secretly peep into the tent, but they only see Alf lying "on his back in his bunk with his arms under his head, ... " 18 They conclude that the woman must have left the tent when she heard them comIng. However, when they later hear four people, Mr. and Mrs. O'Connor, their daughter, Mary, and Alf, talking in the tent, the men are totally confused and try to make the thing clear. They visit Alf again. '''Come in,' said Alf. Alf was lying on his bunk as before, with his arms under his head. His face wore a cheerful, not to say happy, expression.
There was no one else in the tent." 14 Later, Mitchell says to Joe (the narrator of the story), who is still puzzled: "'Can't you see it? ALF THINKS ALOUD.' 'WHAT?' 'Talks to himself. He was thinking about going back to his sweetheart. Don't you know he's a bit of a ventriloquist?'" 15 What the men heard is Alf's imitating the voices of various people, including women, in order to relieve him from loneliness. The story, as a whole, has a comic element right up until the explanation of the mysterious voices in Alf's tent is revealed. The surprising ending makes the story seem even more pathetic. Alf's pose, in particular, with his back lying to Mitchell whenever he peeps in the tent, represents the loneliness that any bushman would feel during his time in the bush. Although Alf is described as a normal person in the story, his peculiar behavior ominously implies that he is approaching to the verge of a breakdown. Secondly, some of Lawson's works describe the madness of bush characters. In "Rats" (1893), an old man has a fight with his swag, or bag in which he carries his everyday belongings, and then, starts fishing in the middle of a cotton-bush plain. In this story, Lawson expresses the strange behaviour of the bushman in a hunlorous way.
Another bushman's queer behaviour in "No Place for a Won1an" (1899)
30 IS described rather sadly. The story is about an old man called "Ratty Howlett", who lives alone in an old hut in the bush, and his acquaintance with "I", the narrator of the story. The man's solitude is elnphasised by the description of the area where he lives, in the opening of the story: "He had a selection on a long box·scrub siding of the ridges, about half a mile back and up from the coach road. There were no neighbours that I ever heard of,
and the nearest 'town' was thirty miles away." 16 In "No Place for a Woman", Ratty Howlett has lived in the bush alone for more than fifteen years. He is well-known among bushmen for his strange behaviour. He chases and talks to strangers whenever they happen to travel in his vicinity. "I", the narrator, has a conversation with Howlett after he is accosted by the strange Ulan in the bush. During their conversation, "I" feels somewhat embarrassed by the old man's words because he only talks and asks about old things, some of which are from the years before "I", the narrator, was born. Above all, "I" feels most uneasy when Howlett asks him an odd question: " ... and then, after a pause, he shifted uneasily, it seemed to me, and asked rather abruptly, and in an altered tone, if I was married. A queer question to ask a traveller; more especially in my case, as I was little more than a boy then." 17 Mter a while, Howlett asks "I" to come to his place for dinner which, he says, his wife would prepare for them. When they arrive, his house is clean and tidy, the dinner is ready, but the house gives no sign of a wife, nor even any sign of a woman. Five years later, "I" conles the same way again and finds Howlett seriously ill. "I" takes care of him and hears the true story of his wife who died in the first year of their marriage as a result of complications with her pregnancy. She could not get adequate treatment in such an isolated environment. Her death had driven her husband to complete solitude, and
31 then, to mental disorder: "And he 'hatted' and 'brooded' over it till he went
ratty." 18 Soon Howlett's condition becomes very serious and finally dies when "1" brings the doctor for him. At his house "1" finds the table set and breakfast ready like five years ago. Howlett makes out as if his wife is still living, or maybe he even really believes it. Perhaps he tries to ease his loneliness by pretending to be a married man, like AIf disguises himself as being with his family in his tent. Alfis still sane because he still has a hope that he will see his family again, although he feels strong loneliness in the bush. On the other hand, Howlett has lost his mind after the shocking incident of his wife's early death and his long solitude in the bush since then. In "No Place for a Woman", Lawson expresses the fragility of human beings, especially those who have been in remote environments for a long tinle, through the character, "How lett" . Henry Lawson seems to have believed that the bush is no place for women to stay or live. Quite a few of his female characters in the bush are doomed to die. As a result, Lawson has been criticised for being sexist because of his tactless treatment of women, combined with one of his important themes, mate ship , which represents only the men's world and excludes women, and also of his defamatory descriptions of women which are often found in his later works. Basically, Lawson did not have good relationships with women in his life. He often clashed with his mother during his boyhood even though she supported his talent as a poet. He married Bertha Bredt in 1896, but they had a bitter divorce seven years later. Not only did his marriage end in failure, but his Inistress died during his stay in London, between 1900 and 1902. He gradually developed ill feelings against his wife, and then, it seems, against women in general. But he was taken care of, mentally as
32 well as financially, by an elderly WOll1an in the later years of his life. Therefore, his slanderous descriptions of women are only the expression of his personal feelings, rather than a general criticism of women in society. His negative descriptions about WOIllen do not necessarily mean a definite denial of them. The best example of this is "The Drover's Wife". In the story, "the wife", the main character, tries to protect her children from a snake. She plays the role of "father" in place of her husband, a drover, who is far from home for months at a time. At the end of the story, she kills her enemy, the snake. The wife does not die, rather, her spirit is transferred to her son in the light of the morning sun, which symbolises "hope" for the future. Some of Lawson's female characters toil in the bush, the same as male characters, and eventually lose their minds, as Howlett did. For example,
Mrs. Spicer, in "Past Carin'" from "Water Them Geraniums" (1901), is an interesting character who has survived even though she has mental problems apparently caused by her hard life in the bush. Mrs. Spicer seems to be a more developed version of the wife from "The Drover's Wife". Brian Matthews compares these two female characters in his book about Lawson's prose and says: "Mrs Spicer is the drover's wife writ large; ... "19 This seems to mean that the drover's wife, even though she initially overcame her enemy in the bush, could become like Mrs Spicer in the future if she continues the same life vvithout any support from her husband or other people. However, Lawson concludes the story just after the wife kills the snake, without any specific inforlllation about her future. And, as we have already discussed in chapter one, the writer mentions little about the specific characteristics of the wife, making it impossible to clarify her personality. Therefore, there see IllS to be no confirmation about the likeness between "the drover's wife" and Mrs Spicer. Besides, Lawson gives different circumstances to them at the end of each story. The wife, in "The Drover's Wife", survives even though the bush environment is harsh to her. As the story's ending suggests, there will be a positive future waiting for her and her family. On the contrary, Mrs. Spicer in "Water Them Geraniums" dies in the end. She is virtually killed by the harsh circumstances of the bush. And there appears to be no bright light illuminating her future, except for her last words to her
daughter, "Water them geraniums" .20 These words may suggest the continuity of life for the plant, as well as expressing a slight hope for the future of the bereaved family. To express Mrs Spicer's madness, Lawson explains some peculiar characteristics of the woman in detail in the story. After explaining Mrs Spicer's physical characteristics, the narrator continues: She had an expression like - well, like a woman who had been very curious and suspicious at one time, and wanted to know everybody's business and hear everything, and had lost all her curiosity, without losing the expression or the quick suspicious movements of the head.21 This description is hard to make out. It could be interpreted that her actions are not always consistent with her feelings or perhaps she has a touch of mental illness. Here is a scene which specifically describes Mrs Spicer's strange behaviour: .. , when she [Mrs Spicer] had a child with her, she'd start taking notice of the baby while Mary was talking, which used to exasperate Mary. But poor Mrs Spicer couldn't help it, and she seemed to hear all the same.22 The description probably means that Mrs Spicer does listen to other people in spite of looking disinterested in what they are saying. She is not
34 comfortable showing her regard for Mary, but she does actually take notice of her. To other people, Mrs Spicer may look as if she has lost her mind. In addition, the narrator mentions Mrs Spicer's habit of l11aking excuses immediately after she has said something embarrassing. She always says, "Oh, I don't know what I'm talkin' about. You mustn't take any notice of 1ne."2:3 When interacting with other people, Mrs Spicer sometimes lacks consideration for thenl, however, her excuses help maintain her tenuous connection with other people and also helps her to remain sane. The descriptions of Mrs Spicer's peculiar behaviour emphasise her unstable mental condition. There is also an interesting description about Mrs. Spicer's voice: Her voice sounded, more than anything else, like a voice coming out of a phonograph... But sometimes when she got outside her everyday life on this selection she spoke in a sort of in a sort of lost groping-in-the-dark kind of voice. 24 "A voice coming out of a phonograph" probably sounds like someone talking through something like a filter. Undoubtedly, a phonograph in Lawson's days did not have clear sound like a stereo system today. The meaning of speaking "in a sort of lost groping-in-the-dark kind of voice" is more difficult to understand. Brian Matthews puts the following interpretation on Mrs Spicer's "groping-in-the-dark" voice: "But it is her 'groping voice' that reveals Mrs Spicer to herself, shows the extent to which she has been brutalised and hurt, turned away from a gentleness and gentility to which she has the last shreds of a genuine response."2.5 This interpretation does not directly explain what a "groping voice" actually sounds like. Matthews seems to mean that her "groping-in-the-dark" voice shows the various difficulties Mrs Spicer has been through in her bush life. Another possibility is that this particular sound may have been heard only by Lawson, who was handicapped with hearing. He describes a rooster's crow in a similar way in a short story, "Bill, The Ventriloquial
Rooster" (1893):
We watched Bill, and sure enough he was a ventriloquist. The 'ka-cocka' would come all right, but the 'co-ka-koo-oi-oo' seemed to come from a distance. And sometimes the vvhole crow would go wrong, and come back like an echo that had been lost for a
year. 26
The metaphorical description is also interesting, but again, it is very hard to imagine what Bill, the rooster, sounds like. The nature of the sounds that Lawson is trying to describe in those two exanlples seems to be almost the same, regardless of whether the sound is coming from a person or a fowL Lawson first had a problem with his ears when he was nine years old, and became deaf five years later in spite of being examined by an ear specialist in Melbourne. He could hear a little during the five years his
hearing was deteriorating. 27 He may have heard sounds differently from other people due to his poor hearing at that time. The descriptions of Mrs Spicer surely indicate her unstable mental state. At the same time, however, they also tell us that Mrs Spicer is not completely insane, rather, she is on the border line between sanity and insanity. In this respect, Mrs Spicer has a similar state of Inind to AIf, but she is not in total isolation physically like Alf. She has her children and married brother and sister living in the same district, who provide company for her. However, her mental state is probably worse than Alf's because she is always moving back and forth across the border line. She feels it herself and says, "I do believe I'm gittin' a bit ratty at times."28 In her case, there is a kind of dissociation of personality, but she see Ins to feel vague about it. In the story, Mrs Spicer herself, explains, "1 somehow seem to have got past carin'."29 "Past Carin'" are key words because they are also the title of the second part of "Water Them Geraniums". The cause of Mrs Spicer's being past carin' is not just the physical hardships the bush directly brings to her. Mrs Spicer explains how she used to feel when her husband went away: "I uster, once. ... - the first tilne Spicer had to go away from home I nearly fretted my eyes out. And he was only goin' sharin' for a month. ... He's been away ch"ovin' in Queenslan' as long as eighteen months at a time since then. . . . Besides - besides, Spicer was a very different man then to vvhat he is now. He's got moody and gloomy at hOlne, he hardly ever speaks."30 Her husband also has some kind of mental problem after his repeated long and lonely journeys in the bush. The taciturn husband has probably driven his wife into further alienation. This is an indirect influence of the bush on Mrs Spicer. Mrs Spicer has no experience of achievement in her life, compared to the drover's wife who succeeds in killing a snake, the enemy of her family, Because of her husband's droving, Mrs Spicer was left alone in the bush soon after her marriage and had to fight alone against many difficulties in everyday life, without the support of her husband. For instance, she had to treat the cattle when they were affected with "pleura-pneumonia", which is a lung disease of cattle and sheep. The story says, " ... she bled and physicked them herself, "31 When a bush fire broke out, she vainly attempted to put out the burning grass by beating the flames with a tree branch. Luckily her neighbours came to rescue her and together they were able to put out the fire, otherwise, she might have been killed. Mrs Spicer has many children who must provide pleasure in her life, but they have to leave home as soon as they are old enough to work. Her
37 older daughter seems to be involved in prostitution in Sydney and her older boys are missing up country for a long time. She only has the small ones at home, and cannot give them a proper education. All these things have always troubled her about being in the harsh environment of the Australian bush. Nothing comes easily. The huge stress has gradually undermines her healthy mind, and finally, she has loses her self-esteem and is past
. ) carln. At the end of the story, Mrs Spicer is petrified to hear that one of her sons is wanted by the police. She almost loses her senses and dies soon after this incident. The ending is shocking because Mrs Spicer's death comes too suddenly and easily. Her sudden death lnay represent the insignificance of human beings in the "lnighty" bush, and also may represent the cruel reality that life can be so suddenly ended in the bush. A brief description about her death in the story makes the existence of Mrs Spicer all the frailer.
Mrs Spicer's madness IS complex and thus impressive. She is a model character who tries to tackle all the hardships in the bush, but is crushed down in the end. Commonsensically speaking, it is hard to think that madness is the cause of Mrs Spicer's death. In the story, she seems to have been under enormous stress for a long time. Stress itself cannot be a direct cause of death. However, long-term stress can lead to psychosomatic disease, which can then become an indirect cause of death. 32 Some factors of stress are biological, such as hunger, overwork, and lack of sleep, and others are social, such as strain, fear, anxiety, and excitement. Especially, extreme fear combined with other factors can cause a fatal heart attack. 33 Those factors are exactly what Mrs Spicer suffered from. This means that a stress·stricken woman feels a tremendous fear when she hears her son is in trouble with the police, and as a result, dies of shock. In other words,
:38 Mrs Spicer is a victim who experiences a chain of woes brought about by the Australian bush. Finally, Lawson treats "death" in different ways in his works. In his bush stories especially, death is an invisible threat which haunts people like an ominous shadow. Not only men and women, but also children can be victims. Some of them lose their lives because of their own carelessness.
A union man who drowns in the river in "The Union Buries Its Dead" (1893) and the small lost children who are found dead in the bush in "The Babies in the Bush" (1900) are such examples. Some of his bush characters take their own lives after long periods of suffering. In "Water Them Geraniums", Mrs Spicer tells Mary and Joe Wilson about a weird man who once asked her for some coffee, behaved strangely, and later hanged himself in the bush. Dr Lebinski in "The Hero of Redclay" (1899) shot himself after his friend was wrongly convicted in a theft case. The death of Mary in "The Selector's Daughter" (1893) is, above all, a typical example of "bush suicide". At the end of the story, Mary, who is the only normal member of the family, breaks down and takes her life by jumping into a waterhole. She does this because her father brings a new woman home instantly after his wife's (Mary's mother's) death, and the woman abuses Mary. Her final cry is bitterly pathetic: "I want to go away from the bush! ... Oh! for God's sake take me away from the bush! ... Anything! anything! - you know! - only take me away from the bush!"34 A character's suicide is not restricted to Lawson's writing. Banjo Paterson, who was a poet and had different views on the bush from Lawson, describes the "suicide" of a swagman in his famous poem "Waltzing Matilda" . Compared to Lawson's sentimentalism in Mary's suicide, Paterson's description of suicide in the poem seems to be so carefree: Down came ajumbuck to drink at the water-hole,
39 Up jumped the swagman and grabbed hinl in glee; And he sang as he stowed him away in his tucker-bag, "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!"
Down came the Squatter a -riding his thoroughbred; Down came Policemen - one, two, and three. "Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker-bag? You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."
But the swagman, he up and he jumped in the water-hole, Drowning himself by the Coolabah tree; And his ghost may be heard as it sings in the Billabong "Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me?" (9-20) This poem was made into a song, "Waltzing Matilda" which is loved and sung by Australian people as their second national anthem. It is said that the swagman's decision to take his life before being shamefully caught by the police, accords with Australian anti-authoritarianism.:35 It is interesting that suicide seems to be accepted by Australian people as long as it is related to the bush, even though taking one's own life is generally regarded as "sinful" in western societies. With regard to "Waltzing Matilda", this may be because of the catchy nlelody of the song and also of Paterson's witty and humorous poenl. Banjo Paterson is always considered a rival of Lawson because his descriptions of the bush are almost opposite to Lawson's. No matter w hat their experience of the bush, however, the thinking that the bush correlated with death was probably a common idea among Australian people at that time. Lawson's comedy, "The Loaded Dog" (1900) is an interesting story in which there is a glimpse of "death" behind the humorous setting. The
40 story is about three bushmen who plan to catch fish by using dynamite, but
their excited dog tries to play with them while he has the fizzing cartridge
in his mouth. The descriptions of the three bushmen and other people in the camp panicking and running away from the dog are really funny,
Ludicrousness, coming from the different perception between the men, who know of perils and the dog, which is just playing, also produces many laughs.
At the saIne time, however, there is uneasiness about the imminent possibility of an accident, which might kill the dog. The story concludes
safely when the dog finally manages to escape from his crisis.
The setting of a loaded dog with a lit stick of dynamite and panicked people seems to be fictionaL However, Lawson got the idea of the story setting from actual incidents in the bush, according to Colin Roderick: "It
['The Loaded Dog'] is built on one of the most common causes of mutilation of the arm in the bush in former times - dynamiting fish" 36 "The Loaded
Dog" begins with a sentence, "Dave Regan, Jim Bently, and Andy Page were sinking a shaft.. .in search of a rich gold quartz reef... "37 During the gold rush in Australia, people first tried to get the alluvial gold which lay on the surface. Then, their interest shifted to deep-mining.88 Quartz mining was also popular, but it required more equipment and labour to remove the gold from the quartz. In the late 1870's, new machinery and lnethods, including the use of dynamite, were introduced into Australia.8~) Although dynamite may have made gold-mining easier for Australian diggers, it also increased the number of serious accidents. "The Loaded Dog", which is seemingly a "slapstick" kind of comedy, actually indicates that "death" used to be close at hand not only for people in the bush, but also for Australians who were engaged in gold-Inining.
The bush is an indispensable environment in the world of Lawson's literature. Lawson's bush characters live their lives being suffered from
41 hardships the bush brings to them. Some of them writhe in loneliness, some hover between sanity and insanity, and some result in death. Under those severe circumstances, his bush characters develop their Australian characteristics and greatly contributed to set up Australianism in Lawson's literature.
42 Chapter III Deaths in "The Hero of Redclay"
This chapter examines how Henry Lawson describes "deaths" specifically in his short story, "The Hero of Redclay" and also discusses what the writer tried to convey us through those deaths. Lawson describes three deaths directly and indirectly in "The Hero of Redclay" . '!\vo are the deaths of main characters and are directly described as part of the plot. One is the sudden death of a female character; Lawson liked to doom bush women in his works. The other is the mysterious suicide of a male character. It is interesting to examine the significance of these two deaths in the story penned by Lawson, as well as in bush society at the time when the story was written. The third death, however, is not described in "The Hero of Redclay", but it does influence one of the major characters of this story. "The Hero of Redclay" is a short story which was written in 1899, in the later period of Lawson's writing career. Compared to his early works, many of which are often called "sketches", this story is quite longer than most of his other short stories and is well-organized with a definite plot. Like many of Lawson's stories, it deals with people in the bush and an incident which happened to them. However, it atypically and uniquely develops like a suspense story, and ends with a riddle and a peculiar feeling of pathos. The story begins with a scene where Joe, the narrator, who has finished his work early, waits for and meets his mate, Mitchell. To Joe's surprise, Mitchell appears with a strange man called "the Lachlan" who has somewhat of a mysterious atmosphere about him. He seems to have
43 known Mitchell for a long time. Their strong friendship makes Joe feel uneasy, and perhaps Joe feels a kind of jealousy because his friend, Mitchell, who is generally believed to be an even-handed man, seems to be showing special attention to his old mate. After the Lachlan has left, Joe tries to lead Mitchell to talk about the mysterious man. He says, "You seem mighty thick with the Lachlan."] Mitchell brushes it off and implies that the Lachlan is not as special for him as Joe assumes. However, Mitchell's cool reaction makes his mate all the more suspicious. Lawson's description of Mitchell's awkward pondering over Joe's leading question is interesting: Mitchell got up, re-lit his pipe at the fire, and mooned round for a while, with his hands behind him, kicking sticks out of the road, looking out over the plain, down along the Billabong, and up through the mulga branches at the stars; then he comforted the pup a bit, shoved the fIre together with his toe, stood the tea -billy on the coals, and came and squatted on the sand by my
head.2 Mitchell's behaviour obviously shows that he is wondering whether he should tell Joe the real story about "the Lachlan" or not. After a while, Mitchell fInally says, "Joe! I'll tell you a yarn."3 Joe expects to hear a story about the Lachlan, but instead Mitchell tells a story about the Lachlan's friend.
Mitchell's story is about a man named Jack Drew who is the editor of the local newspaper in a town called Redclay. Mitchell comes to know Jack while he is temporarily staying in the town, working as a house-painter. Early one morning, before dawn, Jack is returning home from a secret rendezvous with Ruth Wilson in her room when he is seen by Browne, the n1anager of the only bank in town and also Ruth's uncle by marriage. The next day, Jack is unexpectedly arrested on a charge of bank theft. Mitchell
44 witnessed the secret meeting of the couple, so he knows that Jack is not guilty and can vouch for his alibi. Another character, Dr Lebinski, also believes in Jack's innocence. The doctor and Mitchell try to clear up the false charge, but things just do not go right for Jack Drew. To make matters worse, Jack himself seems to want to be guilty. As per his wish, Jack Drew is finally proven guilty and the issue is all over. This brief outline of Mitchell's story gives the impression that the story has nothing to do with the Lachlan. The riddles of who Jack Drew really is and how he is related to the Lachlan remain in Joe's mind until he finally realises that Jack Drew must be the Lachlan himself. "I'd been puzzling for the last half-hour to think where I'd met or heard of Jack Drew; now it flashed on me that I'd been told that Jack Drew was the Lachlan's real name."4 As a matter of fact, before Mitchell starts his story, he gives a hint about the identity of Jack Drew. When Joe asks if his yarn has got something to do with the Lachlan, Mitchell says, "No. It's got nothing to do with the Lachlan now; but it's about a chap he knew."5 Mitchell's answer is perplexing because a story about a friend whom only the Lachlan knows would not make any sense to Joe or to Mitchell. Mitchell also reveals, while yarning, that he knows the friend quite well because he talks about him in a lot of detail. The identity of the person (Jack Drew) is almost clear at this point. What makes Joe feel irritated is not just the Lachlan's existence, but probably, Mitchell's sneaky manner of disguising the Lachlan's dubious background. Obviously, Mitchell's manner toward the Lachlan is too protective. His manner suggests that there is another reason, apart from the Lachlan's criminal background, why he should behave that way. This other reason turns out to be related to the fact that two people, who were close to Jack
45 Drew, died mysteriously. Mitchell then tells Joe the details of the death of Ruth Wilson, Jack Drew's girlfriend, and the suicide of Dr Lebinski. Ruth Wilson is undoubtedly connected to Jack Drew's false arrest and the consequent criminal charges against him. Lawson provides the following information about her and her circumstances: His [of the bank manager named Browne] niece or, rather, his wife's niece a girl named Ruth Wilson, did the housekeeping. She was an orphan, adopted by her aunt, and was general slavey and scapegoat to the family - especially to the brats, as is often the case. She was rather pretty, and lady-like, and kept to herself. The women and girls called her Miss Wilson, and didn't like her. Most of the single men - and some of the married ones, perhaps - were gone to her, but hadn't the brains or the pluck to bear up and try their luck. 6 Ruth Wilson's difficult position is caused by her pretty looks, good graces, and also perhaps her pl.lrity, which is not particularly described in the story. These features make the local women feel jealousy because she looks sophisticated but they, typical bushwomen, do not. Ruth Wilson falls in love with Jack Drew in the story. Just after their secret meeting, Jack is seen walking in the passageway by the bank manager. In the middle of an argument between Jack and the bank manager, a pistol the manager is holding, goes off and the bullet lodges in Jack's arm. Ruth falls on the floor in a faint when she hears the sound of gunfIre. Mter this incident she goes insane, becomes bed -ridden, and dies, all before Jack's trial starts. Ruth's death is quite quick and unexpected. Actually, the cause of her death is not directly mentioned in the story, but judging fronl the circumstances around her, it seenlS that Ruth loses her senses as a result of the tremendous shock, then loses her will to live.
46 Ruth Wilson's death is so abrupt. It is not really strange that Ruth goes crazy after she hears the gunfire and also learns of Jack Drew's arrest. It is very strange, however, that she dies so soon. There is no description which suggests that she had suffered from a certain fatal disease. It is more natural to think that she loses her will to live, refuses to eat, and finally dies of emaciation. Lawson never mentions anything about the cause of her death. That is probably because her sudden death itself is more important than the reason why and how she dies in the story. In fact, her death distorts and obscures all the facts on the incident. Dr Lebinski proves this when he says, "If she - the girl - had lived, we might have tried to fix it up quietly."7 As already mentioned, Mitchell witnesses what is happening in the bank manager's house, therefore, he can testify for Jack Drew, without Ruth's presence. However, Jack does not want Mitchell's help, nor does he want anyone to reveal the truth of his relationship with
Ruth. Rather, he takes all the responsibility on himself. As a result, Ruth's death has two repercussions on Jack. One is that her death conceals the true fact of the case from the public, and the other is that it makes Jack's sufferings much worse. Dr Lebinski's death is more mysterious than Ruth's because he takes his own life. Even after Jack Drew is sent to prison, the doctor tries to vindicate the young man. However, his assertion is not accepted by the authorities. Mitchell explains the details of the doctor's suicide: "The Doctor went to headquarters, but either a drunken doctor from a geebang town wasn't of much account, or they weren't taking any romance just then at headquarters. So the Doctor came back, drank heavily, and one frosty morning they found him on his back on the bank of the creek, with his face like note-paper where the blood hadn't dried on it, and an old pistol in
47 his hand - that he'd used, they said, to shoot Cossacks from horseback when he was a young dude fighting in the bush in Poland." 8 As far as the plot of the story is concerned, Dr Lebinski does not have to die, and he does not really have any motive to kill himself. He is certainly one of Jack Drew's few friends in the town, but he is not in the position of a father or a brother where he has to feel responsible for what Jack has done. It is understandable that he works hard to save his friend out offriendship, but it is incomprehensible that he is driven to suicide as a result of not being able to prove Jack's innocence. There seems to be another motive for Dr Lebinski to kill himself. Mitchell explains about the doctor's personal background: "They said he was a Polish exile. He was :fifty or sixty, a tall man, ... "9 Mitchell continues: "The Doctor was too gloomy and impatient over little things to be popular.... He was clever, and drink had brought him down to Redclay."lo In 1902 Lawson wrote a poem, "Ruth", which is a verse version of "The Hero of Redclay". There is more information about the doctor in the poem: There was Doctor Lebinski, my friend - and the friend, too, of all who were down - Clever, gloomy, and generous drunkard - the pride and disgrace of the town. He had been through the glory and shame -of a wild life by city and sea, And the tales of the land whence he came had a strong
fascination for me. (65-68)
"A man may be false to his country - a man may be false to his friend:
48 Be a vagabond, drunkard, a spieler - yet his soul may come right in the end; But there is no prayer, no atonement, no drink that can banish the shade From your side, if you've one spark of manhood, of a dead girl that you have betrayed." (77-80)
The poem tells that Dr Lebinski has a secret in his past, and that he had to leave his home, Poland, and come to Australia because of it. In the new land, he has been still haunted by the past and tried to erase it out of his mind by drinking. He drifted from place to place, and finally ended up in Redclay, where he is treated coldly by the local people. His "unpopularity" in the village seems to result from the negative atmosphere which surrounds him as a consequence of those past experiences. According to a survey conducted in 1891, eight years before "The Hero of Redclay" was written, 93.3 percent of the population of New South Wales was Anglo" Celtic. This obviously shows that the Anglo·Celtic people were in an absolute majority in the colony, Other Europeans, except German and Scandinavians, which included immigrants from Poland, made up only 1.8 percent of the population.l1 Dr Lebinski was thus from a minority group. Lawson's model for the doctor is thought to be one of his acquaintances. When Lawson was travelling outback in 1892, one of his walking companions was a man named Ernest de Guinney. Colin Roderick gives some information about this man: "Guinney was a well"educated Russian of good family and a self"confessed nihilist:" 12 Manning Clark also mentions that Lawson's companion in the bush was Russian exile," although Clark never gives any infornlation about the Russian's nalne. l3 Combining the statelnents of these two critics, it is very likely that Ernest de Guinney
49 the model for Dr Le binski. If Lawson created a character, "Dr Lebinski", based on his actual bush companion, it is possible that he also adopted some actual incidents, which happened at that time in Europe, as the background of the character. In "The Hero of Redclay", Mitchell explains that Dr Lebinski Il1ust be in his flfties. Supposing that this story is narrated by Joe in the year when the story was actually written by Lawson, in 1899, the events in Mitchell's story would have happened at least five years earlier, roughly in 1894, because Jack Drew had been sentenced to five"years hard labour. Calculating backwards, the years when the doctor is supposed to have fought in Poland would have been the 1860s, if the doctor is assumed to have been a young man in his twenties when the fighting took place. Historically, the land which is now called the "Republic of Poland" was divided and occupied by neighbouring nations throughout the 19th century. IT nder these circumstances, uprisings, calling for their independence, were a common occurrence. The last uprising took place between 1861 and 1863, and when things finally settled down, many Polish people were exiled. 14 The doctor was probably involved in this final stage of the national movement. There surely would have been Cossacks among the soldiers that he encountered because a number of powers, including Russia used them to settle conflictS.I5 It is a fair assumption that the doctor used his pistol to take the lives of many Cossacks at that time. In "The Hero of Redclay", Dr Lebinski is a symbol of non-Anglo· Celtic migrants. In addition, he may also be regarded as a synlbol of many migrants, including convicts, who were forcibly sent to Australia. Those migrants were called "new chums" and were usually disdained by
"currencies", that is, Australian-born white people. IE} It is easy to imagine that the doctor, who is a new chum and also from a minority, has had a hard
50 time surviving in Australian society, especially in the bush. Jack Drew and Ruth Wilson would have been among his few friends in Australia. Dr Lebinski says in the story, "I knew her [Ruth's] father and mother, ... "17 This implies that he has probably known Ruth since she was a little girl or even a baby, and may have been asked by her parents to look after her. However, the doctor cannot keep his promise to her parents. She dies as soon as Jack's trial starts, and the doctor cannot defend Jack Drew from the false accusation, either. Inevitably, Dr Lebinski feels depressed to realise that he has not built firm human relationships in the new land, nor has he found a place to settle down. The third death in the story of "The Hero of Redclay" is hidden in Jack Drew's past. In a short story which Lawson wrote before "The Hero of Redclay", Jack Drew (the Lachlan) took responsibility for his brother's death. Mitchell touches on the death of Jack's brother, Tom, in his yarn, but does not tell about the story, in which the death happens to the Drew brothers, itself. Lawson wrote a short sketch titled "When the Sun Went Down" in 1893. The story is about a reckless young man and his elder brother who work together in a gold mine. The young man is Jack Drew. The story develops mainly around the mental conflict of his brother, Tom. Tom and Jack have a quarrel just before Jack goes down to the bottom of the shaft. On going down, Jack says to Tom, "You ain't going to let the sun go down, are you, Tom?"18 The words hang around Tom because he thinks of an old saying from the Bible: "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath."19 Just when Tom decides that he should make it up with his brother, he hears an accident in the shaft. Jack was buried under the clay because he did not support the sides of the shaft with timber. Tom and his mates dig desperately to get Jack out, and finally they rescue the young man alive.
51 However, just before Jack is rescued from the shaft, Tom collapses from a heart attack. Tom dies as the sun goes down. The story ends here and does not say anything about the afterlnath of the accident. Undoubtedly,
~J ack Drew blames hilnself, and regrets his carelessness, even though he did not directly kill his brother. Lawson sets the character, Jack Drew, in "The Hero of Redclay", as a man who has already had the sad experience of his brother's death. Jack Drew's difficult past, which includes the deaths of three people close to hin1, as well as five-years hard-labour, explains the mysterious atmosphere Joe feels when he first meets the Lachlan (Jack Drew). Mitchell's intense protection of the Lachlan is also understandable. Although Mitchell is not a leading character in "The Hero of Redclay", his presence in the story is important. His caring attitude toward his "broken" friend illustrates mateship, which is indispensable among n1en in the bush. More importantly, the last sentence of the story describing Mitchell in his sleep represents an essential attitude the bush men must have in order to survive in the Australian bush: "But Mitchell was sleeping peacefully, in spite of a path of moonlight across his face - ... "20 An addition like this, which usually has a different mood, is one of Lawson's typical ways of closing a story. Many of Lawson's stories with endings like this could have been easily ended without them. However, this technique effectively works to make a pathetic story more pathetic, and the ending sometimes contains a hidden message froln the writer. "The Hero of Redclay" is no exception.
The short story, "Some Day", written in 1893, six years earlier than "The Hero of Redclay", gives a hint to help us understand Lawson's message in "The Hero of Redclay": They rolled out their swags on the sand, lay down, and wrapped themselves in their blankets. Mitchell covered his head with a piece of calico, because the moonlight and wind kept
hiln awake.21 Mitchell in his earlier days could not sleep comfortably with light on his eyes. Six years later, he is able to sleep soundly in the moonlight, even after talking about his mate's sad experience. This suggests that Mitchell has changed after his arduous experiences in the bush. If "The Hero of Redclay" stopped immediately after Mitchell finished his story about Jack Drew, it would be a pathetic story about an unfortunate nlan who always feels responsible for the deaths of his three important people. With the addition of the final sentence, however, the story becomes Inore than a simple pathetic story. Seemingly, the description of Mitchell sleeping soundly gives the ilnpression that he does not care about the difficult circumstances of his mate at all. However, this casual behavior does not mean that he is indifferent to his mate, but means that he has to be tough in order to survive in the bush. He has to sleep in the open air, even if there is nloonlight on his face because a good sleep is essential to get enough energy for the next day. Mitchell has to remember that the Lachlan's case is just one of the incidents that could happen to anyone if they stay long in the bush. Even so, the Lachlan must continue to walk in the bush, shouldering a heavy load, until he reaches his o"vn death sometinle in the future. Mitchell, who used to share the hardships with the Lachlan, can see his old mate be COIning a tiny shadow in the vast bush after they part. Mitchell's indifference to his mate's tragedy in the ending of the story should be interpreted paradoxically. Six years ago, he probably could not have renlained composed in the same situation. He would have been sleepless like in "Some Day". However, lVlitchell in "The Hero of Redclay" has more experience as a bush Ulan and seems to be able to, almost unconsciously, control his feelings. That is because he has to be always conscious of "death" close at hand in the bush, and also this is his way of surviving in the Australian bush. Apart from the main story, the epilogue also has the writer's message about death. The three deaths in "The Hero of Redclay" are iUlportant factors in making the story more pathetic. Although the death of Jack Drew's brother has nothing to do with this story itself, it potentially lays the foundations of Jack's checkered life. Ruth's death undoubtedly affects her lover, and as a result produces "the Lachlan", a different Jack Drew, with a broken heart. Actually, a death such as Ruth's does not seem to have been COUlmon at the time when the story was written. The writer of Families in Colonial Aust1:alia explains the common causes of death in the 19th century: The principal cause of death, however, among 15- 44-year-olds of both sexes was phthisis or tuberculosis, with the rate of death being a little higher for women than men in the 15 - 24 age range and a little lower in the age 25 - 44. Typhoid
was also a major cause of death for people of these ages.22 Another book indicates that there were three major causes of "the low average life expectancy" in late 19th century Australian society: "the high rate of infant mortality, the high accident rate of males, and the high incidence of tuberculosis and other lung and respiratory diseases". 28 In the former book, the writer in the chapter, "Death and the family in nineteenth-century Western Australia" also points out that women frequently died during or soon after childbirth.24 Ruth's death appears to have been quite different to contemporary women of her time. Therefore, it is logical to surmise that Lawson intended to use her death as a way to express the hardships of the Australian bush nlore pathetically.
54 On the contrary, Dr Le binski' s death seems to reflect the social circumstances of those days in Australia. As there was the model of Dr Lebinski among Lawson's acquaintances, it is highly possible that Lawson used the personal background of his friend when he made the image of Dr Lebinski. Dr Lebinski's demise is symbolic of the death of a migrant who came to Australia with a stain on his past, and was not welcomed by the new society. In other words, Dr Lebiski's death is ascribed to loneliness, one of the three woes the Australian bush brings to people, although unlike some other Lawson characters, he does not lose his sanity. There are three deaths, two of which are described directly and the other, indirectly, in "The Hero of Redclay". Those three deaths all take place in the peculiar environment of the Australian bush. The first death of Ruth Wilson is a typical case with which Lawson expresses the bush as "no place for a woman" by driving women easily into insanity and death. The second death of Dr Lebinski is the suicide of an immigrant who was not accepted by his new society in the bush. The third death, which does not occur in "The Hero of Redclay", is an example of unfortunate deaths which seems to have happened to bushmen at various working places, including a gold mine. Each of those three deaths conveys Lawson's perspective of the strong correlation between the Australian bush and death.
55 Chapter IV Mateship Described in Lawson's Writings
Henry Lawson describes various hardships, which his characters suffer from the Australian bush, in his vvritings, and at the saIne time, he provides remedies which enable them to survive in the severe environment. One of the remedies is mateship, a unique type of companionship, especially exhibited by his male characters working in the bush. As long as the bush is a basic and essential environlnent for "Australianism" of Lawson's literature, as has been already discussed in Chapter II, mateship is also an important factor as a kind of by·product of the bush. This chapter will examine mateship and its social background, particularly by comparison with the social background of Edo, the old capital of Japan. It will also analyse mateship described in some of Lawson's stories. Some Australian academics have a variety of definitions of mateship. T. Inglis Moore gives his interpretation of it in the summary of a chapter titled, "The Creed of Mateship", and explains that mateship is "the loyalty of man to man in a special relationship, ... for bushmen living in a vast, lonely, and often dangerous environment, ... ; strongest amongst bushmen, workers in hazardous occupations, and the men of the fighting services in wartime; ... " 1 Manning Clark says: "Ignorant of the consolations of religion, untouched by the traditions and conventions of European society, they [the bush workers] looked for a comforter to offset the loneliness of their lives and to protect them against its dangers. They found it in mateship."2
It is said that the concept of mateship is partly ascribed to the fact that the number of men and women was disproportionate in the early period of
56 Australian society. This ilnbalance existed frOlll the beginning of colonization. Russel Ward explains that the proportion of men to women in the First Fleet was three to one, and that the population imbalance became worse and worse during the period of transportation.:3 Moreover, Ward provides the actual numbers of transported convicts and their gender ratio, quoting A.G.L. Shaw: "When the last 'exile' landed in Western Australia in 1868, about 162,000 had been transported, of whom about 25,000, or one in every six or seven, were women."4 From 1865 to 1900 the ratio slowly improved. In 1865, two years before Lawson was born, there were 125.38 men for every 100 women. In 1895, about the time when he wrote many bush poems and stories, there were 113.41 men for every 100 women. But even in 1900 the ratio was still 110.23 men for 100 women!'>, and this was the highest in the world, with the exception of New Zealand.6 These statistics clearly show that Australia used to be a male-dominated society, particularly during the colonial period. The correlation between mateship and the population imbalance in early Australia society can be more clarified in cOlllparison with a similar case of imbalanced number of men and women which took place in the 19th century Japan. Edo, which used to be the centre of the Tokugawa shogunate and was the original name for Tokyo, the present capital of Japan, had a gender imbalance. As Edo was newly built for the shogunate government, it was, at first, an extrenlely lllale-dominated city, mainly consisting of samurai who came from other domains to serve under the Shogun, and also labourers whose job was to build the city. Gradually, women joined them, but men generally outnumbered them. According to the demographics of Edo in 1841, a few decades before the Meiji Restoration, out of the total population of 563,6897, the nUlllber of men was about
300,000 and, WOlnen, about 250,000.8 Especially, the male apprentices for big shops and nlen living at "Nagaya" units behind ll1ain streets seem to have been ll10Stly single. The shortage of women in the working class brought them favourable treatment by men. As a result, it is said that wives became stronger than their husbands, and the term "Kakaadenka", meaning "petticoat government" has been popular among the Japanese people ever since. In Australia, similarly, ll1en outnumbered women everywhere in the country throughout the colonial period, and this tendency was much worse in the outback than in cities, Russel Ward explains about the shortage of wonlen: "The famine of females in the interior was remarked even more widely, and deplored more deeply, than that of clergYll1en," and continues, "." even at the end of the decade [1840's], four out of every seven men must still have been doolned to bachelorhood, ." the proportion of single men among the nOlnad tribe of pastoral labourers was very much higher than this,"9 At that time, the Australian economy largely depended on the pastoral industry which usually forced people to be nomadic, and this did not suit femininity, It is quite interesting that both Australia and Japan experienced a shortage of women while constructing their new society. However, the causes of the population imbalance are different for each country. In the case of Edo, the government did not, rather deliberately, bring women to the city because they were not needed for the infrastructure work. On the other hand, in the Australian outback, not only the imbalanced population, but also the severe environment forced men to be separated from women. This is an important difference between the two societies. The extreme lack of women caused physiological inconvenience to men both societies at that time. As is often the case, prostitution developed, and in Edo, there was a government-authorized amusement area, which included brothels, called "Yoshiwara". Australia did not have any public facilities of the same kind, but did have private ones in the slums of big cities such as Sydney. According to A. J. C. JVlayne, the writer of Fever,
Squa]ol; and VIce, there were a considerable number of organized brothels in the slums providing for not only men in the working class but also the lniddle class. 10 In the outback, the shortage of WOlnen must have been also a serious problem for bushmen. However, they were basically forced to be alone, without even families or partners, to work in the bush, before the problem of women's shortage. Edo, which was the world's biggest city in the 19th century, was often threatened by fIres mostly because the houses were constructed of wood and paper. Commoners suffered the most because their houses were built so closely together. During the Edo period (1603-1867), there were ten big fIres which destroyed the large areas of the city, and people living in the crowded residential areas would have experienced many more snlaller fIres. ll In 1657, Edo experienced the worst fIre ever. Many buildings, including the Edo castle, temples and shrines, warehouses, bridges, and commoners' houses were burnt down, and more than a hundred thousand people died. 12 Mter the disaster, the government organized a systenl to prevent and fight fires. In the early years of the 18th century, the original form of the present fIre fIghting system was introduced to the commoners and a group of men in each neighbourhood worked together against fIres. 18 It is said that the frequent fIres in Edo also provoked people to think that they should spend all their money on the day they earned it, because of the likelihood of losing everything when a fire broke out. Interestingly, people did not suffer great despair about the disasters because workmen, for instance, were able to earn extra money in the aftermath.]·~ This type of attitude among the people in Edo n1eans that they never created any particular idea of partnership which was so desired by Australian bush men. More generally, there was an implicit agreement of helping each other among working class people in Edo. As has been mentioned, Edo needed labourers for construction, many of whom came from other parts of the country. As they were all newcomers to the city, they developed a spirit of cooperation among themselves.15 Furthermore, people in the working class were crammed into a small living area. They were allowed only fourteen percent of the whole area of the city to live in, in comparison to samurais who occupied about seventy percent of the city. This means, in other words, that more than 60,000 people were densely packed into an area of only one square kilometre.16 Therefore, working-class people came to have strong ties in which they were all like a big family, and they helped one another in their everyday lives. In this way, the Edo people had their own cooperative system, but it developed into a different form from mateship in Australia. Comparisons between these two societies shows that Australian mateship was not formed simply because of the shortage of women, or because of the various dangers inflicted on people working in the bush. Actually, at that time (and still now), there were no absolute dangers to take a man's life in the Australian outback. There were no precipitous mountains as well as no dangerously deep canyons. There were no fierce wild animals. People did not die from physical dangers such as falling off a precipice or being attacked by a beast of prey, but rather they died in circumstances where they could not easily get help. Therefore, bushmen in nomadic jobs, who regularly had to move from one place to another, naturally wanted to walk and work with another person, a mate, in order to protect themselves physically as well as mentally. They desperately
60 needed the ties of mateship to survive in the bush. Usage of the term, "mateship" did not originate with Lawson, but "was expounded by him as a national faith.. ,"17 as some of Lawson's early works have "mate" in their titles, such as "His Father's Mate", "Macquarie's Mate", and "Meeting Old Mates". In his later works, however, mateship is not talked about so specifically in a story, but always lies in the background of the story. Mateship is described in various ways in Lawson's writing. "The Union Buries Its Dead" (1893) and "Telling Mrs Baker" (1901) have been often taken by Lawson's critics as typical examples of the writer's mateship stories. Both stories show specific practices of mateship that Australian bushmen used to have, and also indicate the uncertainty of their principle through descriptions of the characters' behavior. In "The Union Buries Its Dead", Lawson describes both the merits and demerits of mateship. The basic theme of the story is a young bushman's death, but both his life and death are treated quite casually by the writer. The bushman is alive only in the first short paragraph. The story mostly consists of descriptions of other bushmen's behavior during the funeral of the young man who is thought to have been a Union member. It seems that the man's death is a requisite for making a situation where bushmen can freely demonstrate their character. The story has a sluggish atmosphere from the beginning. The drowned man was a stranger to the other bushmen, but they have a funeral for him because he seems to have been a member of Union. No one is really sure about the man's background. The little they know came from his belongings in his swag. The narrative explains: "The departed was a 'Roman', and the majority of the town were otherwise - but unionism is stronger than creed."18 This sounds like an ideal form of mate ship.
61 However, the narrative continues: "Drink, however, is stronger than unionism; and, when the hearse presently arrived, more than two·thirds of the funeral were unable to follow. They were too drunk."19 Even a funeral is an opportunity to drink for them, and the identity of the deceased does not matter to them. It is said that Australian trade unions developed greatly in the 1850s. During the Gold Rush, many Australian workers as well as migrants scrambled to the interior. As a result, the number of city workers decreased, their circumstances became vulnerable to management, and finally, the city workers, skilled ones in particular, organized a union. This wave of unionism also spread to unskilled rural workers, especially pastoral
workers. 20 In 1886, a fall in the wool price was used as an excuse for pastoralists to cut shearing wages. This decision encouraged bush employees to establish the Amalgamated Shearers' Union, the predecessor
of the Australian Workers' Union, early the following ye ar. 21 The Amalgamated Shearers' Union originally consisted of three bush towns'
organizations, Ballarat, Wagga Wagga, and Bourke. As has been already mentioned, Lawson visited Bourke, one of these towns, in 1892. When he had contact with Union members there, five years had passed since the establishment of its union. It is also said that unlike other nations such as Britain and the United States, Australian bush workers were a fundamental force in the rapid development of unionism. Unionism for the bush workers seems to have been an ideal form of strong comradeship emphasising their mateship. Thus, mateship conducted by Union members is well-known in Australia. However, anyone who deserted the union was treated harshly. They were held in low regard by union members and other people in the town, and were called "scabs" .22 Some of Lawson's critics make reference to William
62 G·uthrie Spence, a chairnlan of the shearers' union, when writing about the relationship between unionisn1 and mateship as well as its contradictions: Unionism came to the Australian bushman as a religion. It came bringing salvation from years of tyranny. It had in it that feeling of mateship which he understood already, and which always characterised the action of one "white man" to another. Unionism extended the idea, so a man's character was gauged by whether he stood true to Union rules or "scabbed" it on his fellows .... The man who fell once may be forgiven, but he is not fully trusted. The lowest term of reproach is to call a man a "scab".23
The bushlnen's attitudes toward the funeral described in "The tJnion Buries Its Dead" represent characteristics of Australian unionism at that tilne. It is worth noting that the mateship described in the story might not have necessarily resulted from a bushman's own principles as a Inember of the Union, but may have been from a fear of being ostracized if he did not follow the union rules. In the description of the funeral, which covers most of the story, uncertainty of relations among the bushmen is emphasised by Lawson's use of the word "stranger[s]". Not only is the drowned man a stranger to the rest of the bushmen, but also they are almost all strangers to each other. It seelns that the bushmen are in the town by chance, because of their work contracts and the only reason for their solidarity is that they belong to the Union. In contrast to normal situations when a group of people do not kno\v each other, the bushmen's behavior toward the funeral in the story seems very considerate. However, they may be simply observing customs that are required of theln as union Inenlbers. It see Ins as if their sense of solidarity itself is more important than what they could actually do for their mate. This inconsistency between their minds and their actions gives the story its sluggish atmosphere. The writer himself expresses it: "Just here lnan's ignorance and vanity made a farce of the funeraL"24 On the whole, Lawson displays cynicism of bush conventions in "The Union Buries Its Dead". He criticises a grave-digger, for example, for his polite way of throwing soil on the coffin, saying that there is no difference between his way and other ways. This criticism also sounds like a general warning from Lawson towards all ceremonial customs in society. His tone of voice is quite sharp. That is probably because he wrote the story at the age of twenty· six, when he was not quite old enough to realise that life goes on regardless of whether or not one is serious about it. Also, he wrote the story just after the journey to Bourke where he learned many things, lnerits and demerits, about the bush, as he told his aunt in a letter dated 21st September, 1892: " .. , but I am agreeably disappointed with Bourke. It is a much nicer town than I thought it would be. I got a lot of very good points for copy on the way up .... Most of them [bushmen] hate the bush. ... I have already found out that Bushmen are the biggest liars that ever the Lord created."25 At the end of the story, Lawson touches upon the name of the buried bushman. The other bushmen, who attend the funeral, do not know the man's name until they finally see it on the coffin. They cannot find any way to get his personal information, apart from some union papers. As a postscript, the narrator, obviously one of the bushmen, explains: It turned out, afterwards, that J. T. [James Tyson] wasn't his real name only "the name he went by".
Anyhow he was buried by it, and most of the "Great Australian Dailies" have lnentioned in their brevity columns that a young man named James John Tyson was drowned in a billabong of the Darling last Sunday. We did hear, later on, what his real name was; but if we ever chance to read it in the "Missing Friends Column", we shall not be able to give any information to heart-broken Mother or Sister or Wife, nor to anyone who could let him hear something to his
advantage - for we have already forgotten the name. 26 This passage shows a sharp irony about how to prove one's existence in the bush. In other words, the Union membership of the deceased man, the only evidence with which to identify him, makes the other bushmen gather for his funeral. This means that mateship saved the dignity of the bushman. "The Union Buries Its Dead" implies that Australian bush unionism was mainly based on mateship in its formative period. Because Australian trade unionism was in its early stages, it probably seemed to Lawson that the formality of rules was more important than substance. It seems to be certain, however, that the mateship found in union membership was a kind of safety net for bushmen who were tormented by loneliness in the bush. And, what is more, mateship developed rapidly and also contributed to the establishment of the nationwide Australian Labor Party later on.27 Lawson's other typical story of mateship is "Telling Mrs Baker" and this story also has a basic theme of a bushman's death. Compared to "The Union Buries Its Dead", human relations among the bushmen described in this story are solid, and the significance of mateship seems to be strongly understood by them. Yet, there is a misunderstanding among ,those bushmen about how to perform their mateship. And, Lawson's cynicism still remains. The story can be roughly divided into three parts. The first part
65 explains about how Bob Baker, "the Boss", dies, the second part describes how Andy and Jack ("1", the narrator) make up a story about Bob Baker's death to tell Mrs Baker, and the final part depicts how they actually meet and tell her their story. As a whole, the story interestingly expresses how a bushman suffers from three woes of the Australian bush, which have already been discussed, and also how mateship can save him. In other words, this short story seems to include all of Henry Lawson's views about the bush and its people. The way Bob Baker was defeated by the bush is clearly described in the first part of the story. Bob is a squatter28, who makes money and then loses it repeatedly. Mter a bad drought, he loses his sheep and eventually his station. Bob, who was originally a drunken drover, becomes an alcoholic. Finally, he loses his senses and dies miserably during a terrible tremor which is a typical symptom of alcoholism. The cause of his heavy drinking is not mentioned in the story; the narrator merely explains that Bob became a drunkard during his long droving days. Loneliness is the likely cause because he was far away from his wife and children for many years. As a terminal symptom of alcoholism, he behaves abnormally and tries to hang himself. He finally becomes completely deranged and dies in madness. Thus, Bob Baker is described as a typical victim of the harshness of the Australian bush through the three stages of loneliness, madness, and death. In the second part of the story, Andy and Jack display their mateship for Bob Baker. They care about their drunken boss while he is alive. And even after his death, they discuss how to inform his wife nicely of what happened to her husband. They make up a false story in order to save the Boss's face to his wife, for the time being. In the third part, their story succeeds in pleasing Mrs Baker. Mter they step out of the entrance of her
66 house, however, they finally tell the truth to her sister. Mrs Baker will learn the truth from her sister sometime in the future, but this is the way the two bushmen express their friendship as well as their respect towards their mate. In the first part of the story, there is a small paragraph which explains what mateship ideally should be: "We could have started on the back track at once, but, drunk or sober, mad or sane, good or bad, it isn't Bush religion to desert a mate in a hole; and the Boss [Bob Baker] was a mate of ours; so we stuck to him."29 This paragraph means that bushmen should take care of their mate in any circumstances, even when the rest of the world Inight turn their back on him, and it also indicates that there is a kind of devotion like a religion in bushmen's mateship. However, Lawson does not describe the Inateship of Andy and Jack as perfect in "Telling Mrs Baker". He expresses the uncertainty of it in the conversation between Jack and Andy: "Why not let her know the truth?" I asked. "She's sure to hear of it sooner or later; and if she knew he was only a selfish, drunken blackguard she might get over it all the sooner." "You don't know women, Jack," said Andy quietly. "And, anyway, even if she is a sensible woman, we've got a dead mate to consider as well as a living woman." "But she's sure to hear the truth sooner or later," I said, "the Boss was so well known,"3o Probably, Jack's question is everybody's question because it is alnl0st impossible for them to keep the truth away from Mrs Baker forever. Jack sounds rather indifferent about their implementation of nlateship. However, Andy adheres to it and continues to explain the advantages of his plan: "And that's just the reason why the truth might be kept fronl her," said Andy.... - if he wasn't so well known the truth might leak unawares. She won't know if I can help it, or at least not
yet a while." :31
Andy's persistence shows his deep consideration for the poor wife, as Colin Roderick points out: "the person they [Andy and Jack] are sticking to is not Bob Baker, but his wife.":32 For Andy, however, telling Mrs Baker an untruth does not necessarily seem to mean considering her feelings, but rather means saving Bob's face as a bushman even though he was an infamous drunkard. In addition, Andy also seems to want their mateship to be ideally achieved without any obstruction, such as a fuss which the widow might raise if she knows the truth. In other words, he unwittingly reveals that mateship is fragile enough to be spoilt by a women's interference even though it is generally believed to be sacrosanct. Andy and Jack seem to speak for Lawson and his own VIew of mate ship. Andy represents the writer's uncertain belief in the Australian comradeship, and Jack represents his objective view of it. Colin Roderick mentions Lawson's uncertainty about mateship: "Telling Mrs Baker" brings his [Lawson's] ideas on the destructive isolation of the implacably hostile outback and the saving power of neighbourliness to a focus. ... Yet he still has his doubts of its efficacy. He has to go further before he can dispel the irony with which he has so far treated the idea of mateship.:3:3
Mateship was undoubtedly an inevitable consequence for bushmen who used to share their hardships with each other in order to survive in the bush. In later years, Australian trade unions, which were originally connected with bushmen's mateship developed greatly from the end of the 19th century through to the 20th century. By the end of the 19th century, there were about two hundred groups across the country, and membership had risen to approximately 100,000, about nine percent of the total labour force of Australia. 34 In this respect, mateship has certainly had a strong impact on the Australian workforce and helped the country develop. In Lawson's writings, mateship seems to be a kind of remedy for his characters supplied by the writer who also gives them hardships of the bush. His bush characters are saved by various conducts based on this principle from their mates. However, Lawson does not simply praise this bushmen's dogma; he rather expresses his concern about the uncertainty of their fellowship. Mateship is necessary not for describing an ideal form of human relationships, but for building Lawson's "Australianism". Lawson's characters are just illaudable beings without m ate ship, but, with it, they seem to be attractive and become competent enough to represent Australian features.
69 Chapter V Humour in Lawson's Bush Stories
Henry Lawson wrote some of his bush stories rather humorously although many of them are basically about hardships his characters undergo. His humour has a characteristic; It does not work for its own sake, but also involves pathos, and vice versa. In other words, Lawson uses humour not only as another remedy for his bush characters in their harsh environment like m ateship , but also as an effect to make a pathetic story more pathetic. This chapter will examine how Lawson's humour is described in his stories and how it functions in its own way. In order to make its characteristic clearer, the chapter will also study Japanese humour which is displayed in "Koten Rakugo", a traditional story-telling in Japan, and make a comparison between those two patterns of humour. "A Vision of Sandy Blight" (1899), one of Lawson's bush stories, well expresses his complicated style of humour. This story is clearly divided into two parts. In the first part, a man, who is the narrator of the story, suffers from sandy blight or inflammation of the eyes, and Mitchell, the man's mate, gives him a bottle of eyewash for his damaged eyes. In the second part, Mitchell, a well-known character in Lawson's short stories, tells his companion about an incident in which his family was attacked by a swarm of bees when he was a boy. The second part is a comedy. It depicts how each member of his family reacts to the sudden attack of the bees. Mitchell's mother, who believes that her ideas are always right and possibly even the best in the wor ld, wants the rest of the family follow her instructions. But, MitchelYs father instructs his children in a completely different way. At the exact moment when mother is insisting her idea is
70 much better than her husband's, she is stung by a bee. She suddenly becomes silent. While father is trying to get rid of the bees, his shoulders are shaking and he is uttering strange sounds as if he were crying: But father wasn't weeping, and bees weren't stinging him; it was the bee that stung mother that was tickling father. . .. ,and he bathed mother's eyes and rubbed mud on, but every now and then he'd catch inside, jerk and shudder, and grunt and cough. Mother got wild, but presently the humour of it stuck her, and she had to laugh, ... Then she got hysterical, and started to cry, and father put his arm around her shoulder and ordered us out of
the house. l It is ironic that mother, who is self· confident about controlling bees, is the only family member to be stung. Hence father cannot help laughing at her misfortune, although he really does feel sorry for her. This is one of the funniest scenes in the story. At the same time, however, this scene makes us feel some kind of satisfaction because it illustrates the strong bonds between husband and wife and also allows us to imagine the days when the couple were fighting over various difficulties together in the bush. Therefore, the second part of "A Vision of Sandy Blight" is not tragic, nor is it simply comic. The whole story has a particular feeling of pathos that is a blend of tears and laughter. Lawson's humorous stories became more popular when he began writing about Dave Regan and his mates. Colin Roderick provides an explanation:
Dave Regan and his mates are vehicles for Lawson's portraits of the humorous aspect of bush life. They give the lie to suggestions that Lawson never saw its funny side. In the body of his work they do not bulk large; but they are there. Millions
71 of people have chuckled over "The Loaded Dog", and millions more will enjoy it. Like the rest of these stories, it depicts an incident that must have occurred somewhere or other in the Australian bush.2 As Roderick points out, Dave Regan and his mates are representative characters of Lawson's humorous bush stories, and above all, "The Loaded Dog" is the most famous and dramatic with hilarious scenes of the characters and their dog. "The Loaded Dog" is said to have been written in 1900.3 It is only seven-and-a-half-pages long in paperback size, but is undoubtedly one of Lawson's most widely read short stories. The story describes people panicking and running away from a dog which has a live stick of dynamite in its mouth. Lawson depicts the course of the turmoil in a lively and comical manner. The hectic, but not too messy development of the story draws us in and makes us laugh. The story is surely a comedy, even though it is not full of funny scenes from beginning to end. Its humour is actually concentrated in the second half. The first half consists of explanations about the story's background and the characters. This style is typical of Lawson's short stories. He often starts a story with at least one whole paragraph of general descriptions of the setting and/or characters before embarking on the actual story line. In the case of "The Loaded Dog" , the general descriptions take up about half the story. This is definitely its most noticeable characteristic. The story begins by introducing Dave Regan, Jim Bently, and Andy Page. Dave Regan, like Mitchell, is one of Lawson's most popular characters. The other two men also appear in other Dave Regan stories. The introduction explains that these men are goldminers who like fishing, and the story starts with a scene in which they are trying to catch fish by
72 blasting the river with explosives. Today, this method of catching fish, called "blast fishing', is prohibited in almost all countries, including Australia, for ecological reasons. The three characters work in a gold mine, so they are presumed to be accustomed to dealing with explosives. The gold rush in Australia started in 1851. People first tried to get the alluvial gold which lay on the surface, then, their attention shifted to deep-mining. 4 Quartz mining was as popular as alluvial mining on Australian goldfields, but it required more equipment and labour to remove the gold from the quartz.5 In the late 1870's, new machines and methods, including the use of dynamite, were introduced. 6 Lawson's story is set in this period. It is also the time when Lawson himself experienced the gold rush in Gulgong and other neighbouring areas in New South Wales. Life on the goldfields was basically dominated by men. Day after day, the diggers struggled, under extreme conditions, to find gold. Once in a while, they needed amusement to entertain themselves, especially when they were off work; they relaxed themselves by drinking, and playing music and sports. 7 Those goldminers tried to think of creative ways to entertain themselves and they even invented the basic form of some games which are still popular in Australia today, such as Australian Rules football. 8 Fishing was also a popular pastime. In the story, Dave Regan and Andy Page are introduced as fishing enthusiasts. Edgar Waters explains in The Pattern ofAustralian Culture: "Fishing in streams has always been an important form of relaxation for many men, especially for men in lower income groups, and it has the added motive of providing cheap food or ... "9 During the gold rush, fishing was probably a common activity. It would have been a relatively easy way for them to get food, not only from the fish, but also by exchanging their catch for butcher's meat. In "The Loaded Dog', the narrative explains: "The butcher was always willing to give meat
73 in exchange for fish when they caught more than they could eat."l0 Swimming was also a popular recreation on the goldfields. Waters mentions: "Recreational swimming appears to have been popular in
Australia, at least among men, almost from the beginning of settlement." II "The Loaded Dog" has a description of Dave, Jim, and Andy enjoy swimming with their dog. The most interesting part, before the actual comedy begins is an explanation of how to make an ideal dynamite cartridge which will explode in the river. The explanation is elaborate and professional. It sounds like genuine instructions. Generally, such a detailed explanation is not a very wise idea because it can distract the reader's attention before the main story really starts. Whether such a detailed explanation is really necessary for the story or not is questionable. It may not be necessary because it would be sufficient to say something like "Andy made a powerful cartridge." In this story, however, Lawson's technique works effectively for the following three reasons. First, the detailed technical explanation about the cartridge helps change the unreality of the story into "reality" or at least, into "probability". Secondly, the lack of action in the first part makes a good contrast to the dynamic second part. It works to settle down the chaos which occurs in the second part. In other words, there is a balance between the two parts of the story, and this balance helps the whole story become a sophisticated comedy. Finally, as a long wait can elevate a person's anticipation of what happens next, the long introduction encourages us to imagine what might happen to the men, their dog, and the cartridge. And what is more, such a lengthy and technical explanation helps make the farce, which comes in the latter part of the story, more effective. Literally, it is like a long "fuse" which can lead us to an "explosive" laugh.
74 Following the explanation of the cartridge, comes the description of the dog, the main character in the story. Here again, Lawson gives a detailed explanation, describing the dog's physical characteristics as well as its nature. In this case, however, the particulars are necessary because it is these characteristics which become the cause of the farce. The dog, Tommy, is silly but friendly, and has a habit of retrieving anything and everything. Lawson gives a humorous description of what the dog looks like: "Most of his head was usually a red, idiotic, slobbering grin of appreciation of his own silliness." 12 This description is interesting because it not only depicts the ugly appearance of the dog, but also conveys a kind of affection which the author might feel toward his canine character. Instead of the clever description, the author could simply say, "The dog looks ugly," because the dog's ugliness has nothing directly to do with the cause of the incident in the story. The blunt description of the dog's ugliness also causes us to pity the poor dog. This is Lawson's paradoxical sense of humour. As has already been mentioned, the humour of "The Loaded Dog" is concentrated in the second half of the story. It begins when the dog appears before the men with the cartridge in its mouth, and to make matters worse, the cartridge is already lit. The men and the dog react differently. The men immediately run for their lives because they are afraid of the impending explosion, whereas the dog runs because it wants to play with them. Terror and amusement are happening simultaneously in the same scene. This imbalance between the two opposite feelings makes us feel somewhat uncomfortable, but soon makes us laugh. The reactions of each of the men are also amusing. Often in an emergency, different people have different reactions. Some immediately run away without thinking, but others panic and are unable to move. In
75 the case of Dave and his mates, each one of them runs, but they unwittingly follow each other, making a line like a train. And, adding to the farce, the dog follows at the rear of the line. The men shout at each other to spread out, but they actually do the opposite. This behaviour fits our common understanding of people under pressure; they often do silly things that they would never do if they were thinking rationally. This makes us smile with discomfort, realising that we too could be just as stupid in such a frenzied situation. Many dogs would not fetch an unknown object, especially, if it is inedible, and a smart dog would sniff the object first and leave it alone if it smelt gunpowder. However, the unlikely setting in this story makes sense to us because of the information that the dog is a foolish retriever. Given the information, we can understand that the dog is happy even with a hissing cartridge in its mouth. In addition, without it, the scene, which illustrates the fuss between the dog and each of the men, would be too stereotyped and melodramatic. The description of the dog's stupidity allows all the ridiculous incidents in the story to seem quite probable. Specifically, an explosion of the dynamite in the dog's mouth at the end of the story becomes more of a real possibility. Besides the vivid description of the characters' actions, Lawson uses sound effects or onomatopoeia in order to make the story more realistic. "Hissing," "spitting," and "spluttering" are effectively used to depict the live fuse burning steadily toward the cartridge. The onomatopoetic effect of those words works like a metronome and its regularity stands out against the irregular movement of the men. Onomatopoeia also helps make the scene more realistic because it stimulates our sensory organs to 'feel' the story, whereas words can only arouse people's imagination by using their meamng.
76 The story finally comes to its climax: the explosion. The cartridge in the dog's mouth may explode at any moment, but at the same time, it is not really expected. A finale that keeps the dog alive is definitely expected. It is quite interesting that this scene requires us to have two different or even opposing feelings at the same time. One feeling is of enjoying the humour of the story, and the other feeling is of having apprehensions about the destiny of the dog. In other words, the story is not a comedy which simply draws a laugh, but is disturbing because of the mixed feelings it causes. If the story allowed the cartridge to explode in Tommy's mouth, it could not end as a comedy, instead it would become a tragedy. To avoid this, Lawson provides a scapegoat. The scapegoat is a villain dog which is under the floor of the kitchen Tommy runs into. The other dog snatches the cartridge from Tommy. Although Lawson gives many reasons for the vicious dog to become a sacrifice, the setting is once again quite contrived, but it gives us a sense of relief and a good laugh. When the explosion finally comes, no one is disappointed. The explosion leaves the villain dog as an only victim of the accident. Lawson describes the aftermath humorously, and the story does not become a tragedy at all. The description of Tommy romping around his masters as usual illustrates the men's relief and satisfaction that their dog is still alive. It also exposes a kind of fear that even though their normal routine has returned, death is always close at hand. "The Loaded Dog," has complex humour interwoven with potential tragedy. In a journal-like sketch, "In a Dry Season" (1892), the narrator
(Lawson) mentions: "Death is about the only cheerful thing in the bush." 13 There are two ways of interpreting this enigmatic comment. One interpretation is that in the bush, a place of extreme sameness, even someone's death can seem dynamic with its ceremonial procedure such as a
77 procession, hymns, and flowers offered for the deceased, as already seen in "The Union Buries Its Dead". The other interpretation is that everything in the bush, even cheerful things, may possibly be, more or less, associated with death. In "The Loaded Dog", the hilarious actions of the characters ominously reflect "death" which may be inflicted at any moment by an explosion of the stick of dynamite held by the dog. There is a subtle tension dividing the comical and tragic elements of the story. And each time the comedy surpasses the tragedy, tension is released, evoking a laugh from the reader. The humour of "The Loaded Dog" does not exist without the overhanging shadow of death or the implication that death is a constant companion of bush dwellers. Lawson's short story, "The Iron-bark Chip" (1899) is a good example of his ironical humour. "The Iron-bark Chip" was written a few years earlier than "The Loaded Dog". It is also part of the "Dave Regan Series" which has Dave Regan, Jack (or Jim) Bentley, and Andy Page as the main characters. In the story, they work at a railway construction site. Railway construction in New South Wales gradually developed towards the end of the 19th century. The first railway in the colony was built between Sydney and Parramatta in 1855. 14 As for the background of the story, Colin Roderick states that "The Iron-bark Chip" is based on Lawson's personal experience in his teens. Roderick also explains that good timber like iron-bark was not easily obtained at the time and occasionally, substitute timber was used. In Roderick's opinion, Lawson used this fact as the basis of his comedy.15 "The Iron-bark Chip" is not the type of comedy which draws laughter from events, or the comical behaviour of the characters as in "The Loaded Dog". Actually, there are few scenes in which the characters move around busily. Humour in this story rather seems to be found in
78 Lawson's description of the characters' psychology. The story mainly develops within one setting, a railway construction site. Lawson briefly explains the background of the story in its opening. In particular, his descriptions of the government inspector for construction, including his personality, are interesting: But the Government inspector was a reserved man who poked round on his independent own and appeared in lonely spots at unexpected times - with apparently no definite object in life - like a grey kangaroo bothered by a new wire fence, but
unsuspicious of the presence of humans. 16 The metaphor in the second half of the passage literally means that a kangaroo would be troubled by a newly-built fence that blocks its way, but it would not realise its problems are caused by humans. In other words, the kangaroo would see no connection between the fence and humans. As for the inspector, it suggests that even though he may notice a problem immediately in front of him, he is unable to relate the problem to its source. In other words, he is a man who is interested only in his duty as a stereotypical government officer. This is sharp irony and will make sense at the end of the story. In the scene where the inspector appears unexpectedly before Dave and his mates who have sneakily used substitute timber, Lawson describes the casualness of how the inspector turns up, by comparing him with an ordinary bushman: " ... the Government inspector drifting down upon them obliquely, with something of the atmosphere of a casual Bill or Jim who had dropped out of his easy-going track to see how they were getting on, and borrow a match." 17 This is another irony because Lawson explains that the inspector, a typical officer, appears just the wayan ordinary bushman would. Furthermore, he develops his description of the inspector into a general
79 criticism of government officials. He mentions that they never take action when people ask them, but they try to come nearer when people wish to ignore them. Lawson uses another interesting expression to describe the inspector's countenance. When he comes to the site and looks at the spurious timber, his eyes take on sad expression. They look" as if there had been a very sad and painful occurrence in his family, way back in the past, and that piece of timber in some way reminded him of it and brought the old sorrow home to him."18 This expression is incompatible in the scene because it should be
Dave or someone else in his party who becomes sad in this desperate situation, not the inspector. The expression can be interpreted in three possible ways. First, the inspector's sad look could be typical for a government officer in any situation. Secondly, perhaps the inspector feels sad because he has already recognised their sham work. Finally, his sad look may have nothing to do with the situation at all. In any case, his baffling expression confuses the three dishonest men. When the inspector aptly asks them about the material of "the timber", they become so confounded that they answer and talk more than the inspector might expect them to. Their struggles are all the funnier because the inspector's behaviour is ambiguous and off-the"point. This scene, which is the beginning of the climax in the story, is mainly composed of dialogue between the inspector and the three bushmen. Remarkably, the pattern of the development of their conversations is similar to that of Japanese traditional story-telling, "Koten -rakugo." It is interesting to compare some dialogue patterns in "The Iron-bark Chip" with those in Rakugo stories and to investigate similarities between these two types of humour, which are thought to be different both historically and culturally,
80 The first dialogue is fronl a scene where the inspector asks Dave and his mates some questions about the material used. As mentioned before, his questions confuse the men who have disguised the wood. Although the questions are simple, their answers are excessive, as they desperately try to hide the truth. At first, their explanation sounds plausible, but actually, does not Inake any sense in spite of the many words they use. Humour here is in the mental gap between the calm officer and the nervous men, and also in the situation where the more excuses they make, the less true they sound: "Is that iron-bark?" Jack Bently, the fluent liar of the party, caught his breath with a jerk and coughed, to cover the gasp and gain time. "I iron-bark? Of course it is! I thought you would know iron-bark, mister." (Mister was silentJ "What else d'yer think it is?" ... "L look here, mister!" ... "B - but don't the plans and specifications say iron-bark? Ours does, anyway. I - I'll git the papers from the tent and shovv yer, if yer like." ... He (the inspector) stooped, and with an absent air picked up a chip .... "Did this chip come off that girder?" Blank silence. The inspector blinked six times, divided in threes, rapidly, mounted his horse, said "Day", and rode off.19
There is a similar dialogue in one scene of a Rakugo story titled, "Nibansenji", or "The Second Brew". It is a comical story about a night-time fire patrol in winter. One night, shopkeepers from the neighbourhood meet and make patrols in two groups. While the first group of men wait for the second group to return after their first duty, they start a drinking party in order to warnl thelnselves. Just as they are in the middle of the feast, a samurai officer comes to check on their patrols. soon as they hear the samurai commg, they try to hide everything. However, the samurai glimpses a teapot which contains Japanese sake and asks them about it. The men answer that it is a pot of brewed medicine which works for a common cold. Then, the samurai asks for some of it because he himself has a cold. Of course, they turn it down saying that the medicine works only on commoners, not on samurai officers. Finally, the samurai takes the medicine (sake), almost empties the pot, and leaves them saying "Prepare the second one while I have another patrol."20 The development of the two scenes is quite similar because in both, their excuses make the situation worse as the men struggle to cover up their deception. The common source of humour in the two stories obviously lies in the comical behaviours of the flustered characters. They are funny because the adults make excuses like small children when their mischief is discovered. And each story ends with a disappointing result, even after their agonising efforts at cover-up. In "The Iron-bark Chip", Dave works very hard to retrieve a chip of the false timber from the inspector, but in the end, the officer goes back to his office leaving the chip on the fence. Dave's efforts do not payoff. He is extremely frustrated and can do nothing but curse. In "Nibansenji", the men's drinking is overlooked by the samurai who wants to have a share of it himself, but they are eventually deprived of their portions and even asked to brew another batch. The story ends with the samurai's request and has no description of the shopkeepers' reaction to it. However, it is easy to guess that they might complain to each other about their misfortune. The second dialogue in "The Iron-bark Chip" is a comical conversation between Dave and his mates after the inspector abruptly picks up a chip from the substitute timber and takes it away. Andy Page does not understand their difficult situation because he does not realise that the
82 inspector will examine the chip and discover their dishonesty. The dialogue excluding the narration goes as follows: "Wha - what did he do that for?" asked Andy Page. "Do what for, you fool?" enquired Dave. "Ta - take that chip for?" "He's taking it to the office!" snarled Jack Bentley. "What - what for? What does he want to do that for?" "To get it blanky well analysed! You ass! Now are you satisfied?" "Gimmiamatch!" "We - well! What are we to do now?" enquiredAndy.
"Grain and varnish the bloomin' culvert!" snapped Bentley. 21 Andy's poor understanding of the matter irritates the other two. Humour coming from the gap between a foolish character and others as seen in the dialogue above is also a typical pattern in Rakugo stories. There is a similar dialogue in a story titled "Tsukuda Matsuri", or "Tsukuda Festival" . The main character named "Jirobei" goes to Tsukuda Island to enjoy the Festival. The last boat going back to his town is overloaded and sinks due to too many passengers. Fortunately, Jirobei does not get on the boat. However, the rumour of his death circulates among his neighbours. In this scene, there are two conversations which have a similar pattern to that of "The Iron-bark Chip". One conversation is between two neighbours in Jirobei's area. The other is between Yotarou, who is a typical foolish character often used in Rakugo, and those two neighbours. The English interpretation of the dialogue is as follows: Neighbour A: Have you already heard of Jirobei's death? Neighbour B: Yes, I have ... Is that true? But, it's strange because I saw him at the public bath last night.
83 Neighbour A: Someone may die even though you see him there. It doesn't matter if you see him at a public bath or not. Someone may survive even if you don't see him. Neighbour B: You are right.
Neighbour: Hey, are you home, Yota? Yotarou: Yes, what? Neighbour: Well, Jirobei has gone. Yotarou: Has he? Where? Neighbour: Don't be silly! He died! Yotarou: Oh, was he serious about it? Neighbour: Of course, he was. Nobody is dead for a joke. Yotarou: Well, he shouldn't have been so. Neighbour: Oh, you fool! Nobody should have been so. The boat he was on overturned yesterday. Yotarou: He could have swum if a boat had overturned. Neighbour: But, Jirobei couldn't swim. Yotarou: Why didn't he learn to swim? Neighbour: That's useless now! 22 This pattern of conversation between Yotarou and another person is a typical way of drawing laughter from the audience in Rakugo. Rakugo stories based on this pattern are called "Yotarou· banashi", or "Yotarou stories". Yamamoto Susumu, the editor of the Rakugo Handbook, explains: "In Rakugo stories, Yotarou is a person who is slow and weak in social matters, but is also a good craftsman."23 In "The Iron-bark Chip," Lawson describes Andy Page as "the hardest grafter, but altogether helpless,
84 hopeless, and useless in a crisis like this."24 It is interesting that the descriptions of these two characters are very similar, even to the extent of including information about the character's merits. A foolish character saying or doing something stupid in a serious situation is probably a universal pattern of humour. The idea of the characters trying to disguise what they have done is also similar in both stories. The reason for their matching reaction is that both groups are powerless citizens under the supervision of authorities. They know very well that they are supposed to obey the social rules;
otherwise they will be punished severely. The authorities are the British Empire in "The Iron-bark Chip", and the shogunate government in "Nibansennji". Dave and his mates try to conceal their dishonesty because they would fail to get their wages for the railway construction or even lose their future occupation if the truth of their poor workmanship was disclosed. The shopkeepers in "Nibansenji" also tell a lie because they may be banned from doing business in their area or at least, lose their customers if their behaviour becomes known. From the viewpoint of social background, both stories are about periods which had a definite class structure consisting of a powerful authority and powerless people. However, it is interesting to note that the characters in both stories are humorous characters, not tragic ones, although they both live in such regulated societies. "The Iron-bark Chip" was written in 1899, just before Australia achieved Federation in 1901, ending the British Empire's direct reign over the colonies. The rate of native-born population to total white population reached about seventy-five percent in 1891.25 The atmosphere of nationalism among people was at its peak around the same period. 26 Therefore, it is probable that tensions between the government officials and the common people had already been loosened and their loyalty to authority
85 was just superficial. The characters were created and described under such circumstances by the author. The social background described in "Koten-rakugo" is similar to that in "The Iron-bark Chip". The characters of "Nibansenji" and "Tsukuda Matsuri" are people living in the Edo Period (1603-1868). Japan was isolated from nearly all of the world during most of the Edo Period because of the policy of "national isolation" by the shogunate government. As a result of this isolation, Japan had no wars against other countries. Even domestically, there were no civil wars except for a revolt by the Japanese Christians in Shimabara, Nagasaki Prefecture, between 1637 and 1638, which was actually the main cause of the political isolation. Japan internally experienced the lively and prosperous time during these
relatively peaceful times. 27 Especially, mass culture made a remarkable development among the people in Edo, and many kinds of entertainment
became popular then. 28 It is interesting that both the Australian and Japanese characters in these stories live under powerful administrations, but at the same time, they also live in the middle of transitional times just before the change of an era. However, there is a definite difference in the process of change in the two countries. In Japan, the hierarchical system was established early in the Edo period, having the samurai as the ruling class. Society was basically divided into four classes; samurai, farmers, craftsmen, and tradesmen. Ironically, however, various duties imposed by the shogunate government on the feudal lords in order to keep their power, exhausted the samurai society particularly in regard to their finances. As a result, they had to ask the tradesmen for financial support and this eventually resulted in an erosion of the whole system. In Australia, there seems to have been a sense of "egalitarianism"
86 among people even in the relatively early times. Since Australia originally started with two kinds of people, convicts and the government officers who managed them, there was an explicit polarisation in society from the beginning. Russel Ward explains: " ... early Australian society was, in some important respects, perhaps even more class· conscious than British society of the period."29 Ward also gives his interpretation of the position of each class: The wealthy and articulate minority for a long time continued to think of themselves as Britons in temporary exile ... Thus the great majority of the population, derived from a British working· class background, came to look upon Australia as their home much earlier than did the small group of middle·class colonial employers and transient officials. 30 However, such a clear polarisation in social class, at the same time, suggested a possibility of social breakdown. Babette Smith explains the reason for the early prevalence of egalitarianism in Australia: The first, which occurred soon after the Europeans' arrival when they were facing starvation, was Governor Arthur Phillip's decision that all people regardless of rank should share equally in the remaining supplies. .., Phillip overturned every expectation of the class·ridden society from which the colonists had come, making it clear that the humanity of the most lowly convict was as important as his own. From that moment, sharing on an egalitarian basis became entrenched in the ethos of the convict community and, .. , was common practice among its residents by the 1830s.31 Beverley Kingston mentions that visitors to the colonies in the late 19th century often made comments on Australia's "egalitarian tone of society."32
87 Kingston also explains that the sense of egalitarianism was attributed not only on the absence of an upper class in the colonial society, but also on "the weakness of traditional institution, or even the absence of tradition itself... "33 This background of early Australian society surely lies behind the humour of "The Iron-bark Chip". The gap between the inspector and the workers also reflects the relationship between the two classes in Australian society at the time. In contrast to the dialogue, there are few humorous actions by the characters in "The Iron-bark Chip". Dave trying to exchange the false chip for a real iron-bark chip is perhaps the only dynamic scene in the whole story. The overall impression of this scene is that everything, except Dave, is motionless, and only Dave moves, restlessly sneaking from place to place trying to hide himself from the inspector's view. For the climax of the story, Lawson uses some rhetorical devices in his description. It is interesting that he describes characters' movements by comparing them with animals such as a kangaroo, a kangaroo dog, a snake, and a go anna, which is an Australian lizard. In one simile, he describes Dave approaching the inspector's horse "on all fours."34 However, Lawson uses the same pattern of simile several times, which seems to be a little redundant. The first "kangaroo" simile used at the beginning of the story is witty, but the second one does not sound as good. In fact, it seems to spoil the first one. He may have used those metaphors of Australian animals for a different purpose, other than making the story more amusing. He seems to use the similes to advertise Australia outside the country, in particular, in Britain. In fact, about the time when Lawson wrote "The Iron-bark Chip", he complained about the poor literary environment in Australia. He also insisted that the talented needed to go
88 to London to be appropriately appreciated. He wrote a long letter to the Bulletin in January, 1899, and concluded it with: My advice to any young Australian writer whose talents have been recognized would be to go steerage, stowaway, swim, and seek London, Yankeeland, or Timbuctoo - rather than stay in Australia till his genius turned to gall, or beer. Or, failing this - and still in the interests of human nature and literature - to study elementary anatomy, especially as applies to the cranium,
and then shoot himself carefully with the aid of a looking-glass. 35 He also sent a letter to Earl Beauchamp, Governor of New South Wales, to ask for financial support. In April, 1900, he and his family actually left for London. Under such circumstances, it is possible that Lawson intentionally highlights Australian animals in his similes, demonstrating Australian humour. In the end, Dave reaches the false chip and the other characters start to try to distract the inspector from Dave's movements. Dave finally succeeds in swapping the chips, but the inspector hurriedly leaves them because a storm is coming. The man is gone and the chip is left behind. Dave does nothing but curses in the pouring rain. The ending of "The Iron-bark Chip" is thus really ironic. The end result of the tremendous efforts made by Dave and his mates coming to nothing is undoubtedly funny. Dave dares to take a risk because he knows that the chip has to be real in order to secure their future employment. He also believes that the inspector wants to check the chip to find out what type of wood they were using. Unfortunately, however, a coming storm is more important to the inspector than ascertaining whether the chip is real or not. And even though the inspector is caught in the storm, he is only made wet by the rain. On the contrary, a storm could be a
89 big problem for Dave and his mates because they work as contractors. Finally, it turns out that the ambiguous attitude and the sorrowful looks of the inspector are almost meaningless. Dave, Jim, and Andy run and rush for nothing as a result of their feelings of guilt and their overactive imaginations. The fact that Dave's exertion does not payoff is ethically right. However, this ending is not really expected because it would be more exciting if Dave succeeded in deceiving the government officer. That is why this ironical ending draws laughter. In addition, this ending can be taken as a caution by the author. The caution is aimed at the inspector and the authorities. It criticises their inattention to the people and their labour. Humour in "The Iron-bark Chip" comes from, for one thing, the excellent descriptions of the characters and incidents by Henry Lawson, using fme similes and comparisons. It also comes from the conventional patterns of humorous dialogue between the characters which are also seen in the Japanese Koten Rakugo. The humour is also reinforced by the particular social background of Australia at the time when the story was written. And finally, Lawson's ironic conclusion completes the humour of the story. Humour described in "The Loaded Dog" and "The Iron-bark Chip" does not necessarily draw a lot of laughter. Rather, it results in a suppressed laugh, more like a chuckle because the humour comes from seemingly dire situations such as the verge of a tragedy and deceit which is about to be exposed. This humour may have developed from the unique environment of the Australian bush and also from people who were battling to overcome their hard lives as cheerfully as possible.
90 Chapter VI Joe Wilson, a Family Bushman
Joe Wilson is the central character in a sequence of the several short stories which were written by Lawson between 1898 and 1901 and is called the "Joe Wilson sequence" or the "Joe Wilson quartet". Joe Wilson is also one of the important characters in Lawson's bush stories because he is quite different from other bush characters. He has a family in the bush although other popular characters, such as Steelman, Dave Regan and his mates, and Mitchell, are all single. This chapter will feature Joe Wilson, the only family man of Lawson's popular protagonists and explore the reason why this unique character fails to maintain his family life in the bush and what his failure means to Lawson's literature. Lawson basically believed that the Australian bush is no place for women, so the bushmen in his stories are unmarried. Lawson also felt that "mateship", a remedy for loneliness, was only available for men. Consequently, most of Lawson's bush characters live solitary lives and only occasionally have companions. In most cases, their struggles in the bush do not end in success. A typical pattern of Lawson's bush characters, when faced with the severe environment, is for some to go mad, and others to die. Some characters wish to have their own families, for example, Giraffe in "Send Round the Hat" decides to go back to his girlfriend in Sydney, and Alf in "A Case for the Oracle" disguises himself as a family man. Joe Wilson is an unusual character for Lawson because he tries to raise his family in the bush. Rather than being a nomad like many other characters, he gives us an image of being with his family in the stories. The stories in the Joe Wilson sequence were mostly written in London
91 where Lawson and his family stayed between 1900 and 1902, and were published there in a book titled "Joe Wilson and His Mates" (1901). The stories are supposed to be based on Lawson's own experiences of marriage. Even before they left Australia, he did not already get along well with his wife, Bertha, and their relationship became even worse in London. Lawson seems to .use Joe Wilson as a way to express his opinions of the husband-wife relationship and also to make excuses for himself as an unreliable, often drunk husband. In addition, the Joe Wilson sequence of stories seems to be a kind of experiment Lawson attempted to find out whether or not a family or home can be maintained in the bush, and if it can also become a haven for people trying to survive there. Joe Wilson demonstrates how difficult it is to cope with the hard bush life and a family. In the end, he loses his wife, Mary, forever, and his family life breaks up. The Joe Wilson sequence is said to be Lawson's last highly appreciated work, 1 so it has significance as more than just an experiment about survival in the bush, or as a means for the author to make excuses about his own life. The sequence consists of four short stories, "Joe Wilson's Courtship" (1901), "Brighten's Sister-in-Law" (1898-1900), "Water Them Geraniums" (1899-1901), and "A Double Buggy at Laheys Creek" (1900). "Joe Wilson's Courtship" describes Joe's first meeting with, and engagement to, Mary. Two years after their marriage, their first child, Jim, is born. Unfortunately, he is a sickly child who often has convulsions. "Brighten's Sister-in-Law", the second story in the sequence, is about a woman who helps Joe when Jim has a fit while they are camping in the bush. "Water Them Geraniums" is a story about Joe and Mary after they have been married for about five years. Finally, "A Double Buggy at Laheys Creek" is about the couple's difficult relationship and its fleeting
92 improvement after a surprising gift £rom Joe to Mary. Out of the four stories, "Water Them Geraniums" will be the main one examined in this chapter. Especially, the relationship of the main characters, the cause of death of two women, and the meaning of Joe Wilson as "a family bushman", or an unusual character in the bush, will be discussed, with particular reference to the historical background of Australia. The structure of the Joe Wilson sequence of stories is quite complicated. This is partly because the chronology of the stories does not match with the order in which they were written. For instance, "Joe Wilson's Courtship", the story about Joe's first meeting with his wife, Mary, was actually written last, in 1901. "Past Carin"', the second part of "Water Them Geraniums", was written one year earlier than "A Lonely Track", the first part of the story. Another reason for the structural complexity of the sequence comes £rom Joe's sudden premonition of Mary's death in "A Lonely Track", the first part of "Water Them Geraniums": What women some men are! But the time came, and not many years after, when I stood by the bed where Mary lay, white and still; and, amongst other things, I kept saying, "I'll give in, Mary - I'll give in," and then I'd laugh. They thought that I was raving mad, and took me £rom the room. But that time was to
come.2 This suggests that Joe is narrating the story, recalling the past, and at this point his married life was already over. This confusing setting can be interpreted in two ways. One interpretation is that all stories in the Joe Wilson sequence are premised on the assumption that Mary will die in the end. Possibly, Mary's death was added later by the writer because "A
93 Lonely Track" was written in the second to last in the sequence. Another interpretation is that Joe's attempt to overcome the bush will end in failure with the death of his wife. This means, in other words, that Lawson's experiment also proves unsuccessful. The reason Joe Wilson fails to master the bush seems to be deeply connected to the reason why Mary dies. However, there are almost no descriptions of the cause of her death in the stories. In "Water Them Geraniums", Joe foresees his wife's doom when he sees his neighbour, Mrs Spicer. Even with this foresight, however, in the end, he cannot prevent his wife's death. Examining the story closely may give us some hints about the true story of the Wilson family's misfortune. "Water Them Geraniums" is the third story in the sequence. The story describes the delicate relationship between Joe and Mary and involvement with their neighbour, Mrs Spicer. The story consists of two parts: the first, "A Lonely Track" and the second, "Past Carin"'. The first part is about their trip to the new place where they will live, what Joe thinks about on the way, and their quarrel after arriving. The first part also contains Joe's foreboding of Mary's death, as has been already described. This shocking revelation makes all the incidents described in the four stories, including all their conversations and even all their feelings, happy or unhappy, meaningless. The story is not a simple family story; it is always overshadowed by Mary's death. "A Lonely Track" was apparently written hastily by Lawson to connect the gap between the time when Joe and Mary were in their first home in Gulgong, and the time when they move to Lahey's Creek and meet Mrs. Spicer. The first part, therefore, is not as highly regarded as the second part. Colin Roderick emphasises this, referring to the opening of the first part:
94 ... and the fact that the periodical printing began with the curt reference to its being "the first morning at our selection on Lahey's Creek" indicates that "A Lonely Track" had to be hastily thrown together to bridge the gap. The opening sentence of "A Lonely Track" is bald and perfunctory. 3 However, the first part is important because it illustrates Joe and Mary's precarious relationship which will develop into a permanent separation in the future. Moreover, the restrained tone of voice in this part helps the second part appear more impressive and dramatic. The first part mostly illustrates the delicate relationship between Joe and Mary. There is virtually no conversation between husband and wife as they make their way to their new house in Lahey's Creek. Mary misses the little son they left with her sister and weeps as she thinks about him, while Joe sensing his wife's sullenness, begins brooding. Joe says in his narration that they could not have heard each other anyway because of the constant rattle from both his wagon and the cart Mary drove. However, this is just an excuse. As soon as they arrive at their new place, they start blaming each other. Mary complains, "I can't stand this life here; it will kill me!"4 Her words scarily foretell her future. Joe answers, "You run me on to this!"5 This argument displays a fundamental gap of viewpoints between husband and wife. Joe thinks he is doing what is best for his family, but unfortunately, it is not what his wife wants. It is surprising that the author is able to analyse a woman's thinking so clearly. It must be because of his keen insight. After their bitter quarrel, Joe walks aimlessly in the bush, thinking about various things. He knows how he should have dealt with their argument. About four miles from home, he sees the property where Mrs. Spicer and her children live. Mr Spicer is away droving. Seeing and
95 listening to the haggard woman, Joe has a suspicion that Mary will become like her in the future: "I felt - and the thought came like a whip-stroke on my heart - that this was what Mary would come to if I left her here."6 On the way back home, Joe decides that he and his family will leave the bush the next morning and go to Sydney. However, when he comes home and sees Mary looking normal as if nothing had happened between them, he changes his mind. Joe gently suggests, "Somehow I didn't feel satisfied with the way things had gone."7 Ifhe had found his wife depressed like she was before he went for his walk, he would have taken her out of the place, and then, at least, Mary might not have died. Joe's indecision might have been the first of his mistakes which eventually lead to the end of their married life. Joe tends to think about things seriously, but also to give up before carrying out his plan, even though he knows what he should do. For instance, whenever he thinks of their future, he always adds a special condition to his thoughts: " ... when things brightened up". 8 This is a good excuse for him to postpone making a decision. T. Inglis Moore mentions: "In... Joe, the chief characteristic is the determination 'never to submit or yield', but to battle on whatever the odds."9 However, Moore's opinion is definitely denied by Joe's wife. Mary blames her husband in their argument: " ... why weren't you more decided?"l0 Although Joe can foresee his wife's doom, he is too irresolute to take actions to prevent the outcome. The second part of the story, "Past Carin'" is mainly about Mrs. Spicer, a key person in the story. She is described also as the embodiment of misfortune, and also as an ominous being who could bring Joe and his family unwelcome news. Mrs Spicer's unusual characteristics and some possible causes of her madness and death have been already discussed in the second chapter. Although some of Lawson's female characters suffer
96 miserable lives like Mrs Spicer, the writer does not generally explain enough about the process of their deaths. This lack can be partly explained by the social background at Lawson's time. In "Past Carin''', Mr Spicer, the breadwinner of the Spicer family, is a "dummy", not a selector. A selector or a free selector is defined as a farmer who selected and settled land by lease or license from the government.l1 Joe, the narrator, explains about the difference between a selector and a dummy as follows: I had an idea that he [Mr Spiced wasn't a selector at all, only a 'dummy' for the squatter of the Cobborah run. You see, selectors were allowed to take up land on runs, or pastoral lease. The squatters kept them off as much as possible, by all manner of dodges and paltry persecution. The squatter would get as much freehold as he could afford, 'select' as much land as the law allowed one man to take up, and then employ dummies (dummy selectors) to take up bits of land that he fancied about his run, and hold them for him. 12 The passage explains that Mr Spicer is just one of the employees the local squatter holds. According to Marilyn Lake, one of the writers of Families in Colonial Australia, selectors at the time were divided into two groups, successes and failures. The failed ones were usually poverty-stricken, and their family members, wives and older sons in particular, had to work to help the head of their family because they could not afford to hire labour or buy machines. 13 In the Spicers' case, they "kept a few cows and steers, and had thirty or forty sheep."14 The small number of livestock shows that the Spicer family is very poor. Mr Spicer is usually away from home, "shearin' or fencin', or workin' on somebody's station."15 Therefore, care of the domestic animals
97 is left to Mrs Spicer and the children. Mr and Mrs Spicer seem to have at least six children, perhaps one or two more. However, the three oldest seem to have already left home in order to help with domestic finances or to reduce the number of mouths to feed. Without any help from her older children, Mrs Spicer mainly takes care of the livestock by herself. With small children to look after and a lot of work to do on the farm, she must have felt tremendous physical and mental stress for a long time. However, this is not the only reason for Mrs Spicer's severe circumstances. In the past, many Australian women living in rural (bush) areas were forced to carry excessive work loads. In the late 19th century, the idea of "separate spheres"16 for married couples was generally accepted in Australia. This means that husbands and wives had separate spheres of work. The general idea was that the wife's duty was inside the house, doing housework and child-raising, and she was not allowed to interfere in her spouse's sphere. In reality, however, wives also had to be ready to be relief workers and help their husbands when necessary. This extra workload was a big problem. Especially in poor families, quite often the wife had to do part of her husband's work on the farm, as well as keep up with the strenuous domestic duties. In particular, wives were usually required to milk the cows because men felt that it was a monotonous and unattractive job. 17 At that time, in early Australia, it was believed as a matter of course that women should work as part of labour force in the men's sphere, even though they were extremely busy with work in their own sphere. The overworked women often became ill, and for some of them this resulted in separation from their husbands, and for others the end result was even more severe; they died from exhaustion. Lake gives some examples of women and their families who were sacrificed to the ideology of "separate
98 spheres" .18 These examples prove that Mrs Spicer is an accurate model of a real bushwoman, who lived during the hard times in Australian history. It is obviously unwise for Mr and Mrs Spicer to have so many children because the large family is also a cause of the heavy burden on Mrs Spicer's shoulders. Although the older children have left home, there are still several small children bustling around her. Birth. control was generally accepted in Australia, especially in urban areas, in the 20th century because "the costs of raising a family had become too great; children were of no great economic value to their parents." 19 However, children were still "an asset in rural areas". 20 Therefore, in the late 19th century, women in the bush, like Mrs Spicer, had little knowledge and information about how contraception could make their lives easier. Lots of children were also considered to be a labour resource. Thus, Mrs Spicer can be regarded as a victim of the particular Australian society in which she lived. Joe imagines that his wife will become like Mrs Spicer in the future in "A Lonely Track", probably because he can already see some similarities between the two women. That is still strange, however, because there are so few features in common between them, except perhaps being a wife, a mother, and living in the bush. Compared to Mrs Spicer, Mary seems to have a sophisticated style of speech. She is supposed to be from a good German family, according to Joe in his narration: "I thought at times that there was something very German about her expression; also something aristocratic about the turn of her nose, which nipped in at the nostrils when she spoke. ... Mary was German in figure and walk."21 Joe's initial meeting with Mary occurs in the first story of the sequence, "Joe Wilson's Courtship." This story explains that Mary has a German
99 background, and her mother was the daughter of German immigrants. 22 In the middle of the 19th century, Germans were the second largest population group in Australia, after the British, and they were, in general,
successful. 23 Joe's description gives the impression that Mary is from a prosperous German immigrant background. Mary only has two children, so it is improbable that she will be overloaded with child-rearing in the future like Mrs Spicer. But she is, of course, concerned about her son's chronic convulsions. This is detailed in "Brighten's Sister-in-Law", the second story of the Joe Wilson's sequence. In this story, their son, Jim, almost dies from a convulsion, but is saved by Mr Brighten's sister-in-law. This incident happens about a month after their move to Lahey's Creek, in other words, somewhere in the earlier time of "Past Carin"'. This experience gives them knowledge about how to cope the next time Jim has a convulsion. Considering this information about Mary, it is quite unlikely that she could suffer the same fate as Mrs Spicer. Many words and deeds prove that she is sensible enough to understand the situation she is in and to know how to manage it. Mary and Mrs Spicer seem to be two different types of women even though both live in the same environment in the Australian bush, as well as in the same period of Australian history. The comparison between Mary and Mrs Spicer rather suggests another possibility about the cause of Mary's death. There are actually some indications in the sequence stories of the possibility that Joe Wilson, her husband, might have some responsibility for her death. For one thing, Joe is a heavy drinker, a typical trait of Lawson's bush characters. His drinking makes Mary uneasy, and disappointed in her husband. She is anxious about Joe's drinking and believes that her husband can keep away from drinking only when he is working hard in the
100 bush. She says to Joe, during a bitter argument just after their arrival at Lahey's Creek: "As long as you take a glass there is danger."24 An episode in the short story, "Drifting Apart" (1901-1902), proves her statement to be true. In the story, the family go to Sydney for a short holiday. Unfortunately, they often have arguments which usually start with Mary's concern about Joe's drinking. In this story, the family have lived in Lahey's Creek for several years, and Mary still has the same worry. Lawson also wrote three short stories in which Joe Wilson appears as an unmarried young man. Those stories are "Shall We Gather at the River?" (1901), "His Brother's Keeper" (1901), and "The Story of 'Gentleman-Once'" (1901). They were included in a book, "Children of the Bush" which was published after "Joe Wilson and Mates", in 1902. Joe's heavy drinking is described in an episode of the story, "His Brother's Keeper". The story is about Joe's mate, Jack Barnes and his wife, Clara. Joe used to long for Clara, but she eventually married Jack. One day, before going on a trip in the bush, Clara asks Joe to promise not to drink during the journey. However, Joe breaks the promise and buys some whisky after being tempted by a shameless shanty keeper who encourages his customers to drink heavily for his own gain. Jack also drank heavily after Joe, contrary to Carla's wishes. Joe's indecisiveness has been already mentioned in this chapter. When Mary reproaches his weakness in "A Lonely Track", he gets furious not because he knows she is right, but because he misunderstands the root of their problem: ... The trouble was that I never liked to "give in" or go half-way to make it up - not half-way - it was all the way or nothing with our natures. "If I don't make a stand now," I'd say, "I'll never be master. I
101 gave up the reins when I got married, and I'll have to get them
back again. 25 Then, Joe makes a decision: I turned and started to walk home, fast. I'd made up my mind. I'd take Mary straight back to Gulgong in the morning - I forgot about the load I had to take to the sheep station. I'd say, "Look here, Girlie" (that's what I used to call her), "we'll leave this wretched life; we'll leave the Bush for ever! We'll go to Sydney, and I'll be a man! and work my way up." And I'd sell
wagon, horses, and all, and go. 26 However, Joe does not take any action, proving he is nothing but an irresolute man. Mary may well be disappointed with her husband. Marilyn Lake indicates in her research of rural Australians in the early 20th century that overworked wives gradually realised that their husbands were not men enough to feed their families, and the men themselves also became aware of their shortcomings as breadwinners. 27 Joe and Mary must have had a similar recognition about their husband-wife relationship. Marilyn Lake also mentions a term for over-worked women which used to be popular among Australian settlers in the late 19th century. At that time, wives of poor settlers were forced to work, as already explained, doing such chores as milking the cows, as well as managing the household work and having total responsibility for child-rearing. These wives were called "helpmates", a term which originated from "helpmeet", a word used in the Bible. 28 The term was used conveniently by men as a way to make their wives work outside of their sphere. The term was used in Australia until the 1920s.29 Lake's explanation indicates that Mrs Spicer is a typical example of a "helpmate". Lake also explains that there was a particular dependence between
102 husband and wife in isolated areas: In rural districts, women's usefulness as unpaid farm workers in addition to their customary services as sexual partners, nursemaids, cooks and cleaners, often led to a situation in which settlers developed a debilitating dependence on their wives. 30 Lake provides some examples of Australian settlers who were overly dependent on their wives. Lake has one example of a settler who went crazy after his wife died, then he also died leaving his eight children orphaned. Another settler lost his sanity and took his own life when his wife deserted him. These incidents took place in the 1920s, and it is worth noting that men actually became insane and lor died as a result of their hardships in the bush.
Joe Wilson could be, as in Lake's examples, more dependent on his wife than he realises. Or it is possible that Joe himself goes mad like the settlers mentioned above, and imagines that Mary is dead. Joe's confession of Mary's death in "A Lonely Track" supports this supposition: "They thought that I was raving mad, and took me from the room."31 Joe's misunderstanding about what a family, including the husband·wife relationship, should be is one cause of Mary's misfortune. Joe tries to deal with the affairs of his family on his own, without any help from people close to him. Joe has no relatives of his own in the district where he lives. According to Ellen McEwen, one of the writers of Families in Colonial Australia, in Britain, there was already a custom for young couples to live independently from their parents, hundreds of years before the industrial revolution, and in 19th century Australia, nuclear families were common due to legislation which discouraged large families. 32 In "Water Them Geraniums", Mary's younger brother, James, lives with Joe's family in Lahey's Creek and Mary's sister lives in Gulgong, a
103 town about thirty kilometres away from where they live. Joe and Mary used to live in Gulgong, but when they move to Lahey's Creek, even their nearest neighbours live about four miles [about six and half kilometres] away. Away from Gulgong, Mary may feel frustrated about not seeing her sister regularly. When Joe was single and nomadic, his mother was his only family member and lived alone in Sydney, but whether or not she is still alive is unknown in this story. Joe, therefore, may not be able to understand his wife's feelings and there could be a difference of views on the importance of family between them. This gap may have affected their relationship, too. Historically, in the late 19th century, people in some areas of Australia tended to live close to their relatives. Although each family lived separately, they lived close and helped each other in their everyday lives because they originally immigrated together. 33 They did not live together in the same house as an extended family, nor did they live completely alone as a nuclear family. This historical information suggests that Joe's independent style of living is not so common, and is not wise for survival in the Australian bush. There is another interesting study about the correlation between family structure and prosperity of farmers in the late 19th century in the state of Victoria. According to the study, successful farmers made good use of their family relationships: The first significant factor was the sheer difficulty of making good on a selection when it was confined to the original small grant: selectors who prospered almost always did so by acquiring adjacent selections from less successful neighbours. Contiguous
family selections offered a ready chance of achieving this end. 34 It also explains that, "Family relationships were crucial in the acquisition of
104 larger farms, because contiguous selection by kin enabled families to consolidate holdings" .35 The same study indicates that unsuccessful farmers, to the contrary, are usually those who have "many young children but no neighbouring adult kin to rely on."36 This statement interestingly fits the situation of the Spicer family, And it partly fits that of the Wilson family as well. It is ironic that these unpromising families never cooperate for success, and the husbands negatively influence their wives. In addition, the family relationships study gives a hint about the failure of Joe Wilson: "The existence of kin also offset some of the loneliness of the frontier, and provided emotional and psychic support that enabled many to withstand other privation."37 If Joe had family in his neighbourhood, he would feel more relaxed and comfortable, and as a result, his relationship with Mary might be improved. And, their future would be very different. Joe Wilson is a unique bush character. He is basically a family man, rather than a bushman, although most of Lawson's bush characters struggle alone, occasionally with a little help from their mates, in the harsh Australian bush. It is important to discuss why Lawson made or needed to make a special character like Joe Wilson, who is different to all his other bush characters.
According to John Barnes, the writer of Henry Law80ns Short Storie~ all the sequence stories were written while Lawson was in Britain. 38 Barnes adds that Lawson wrote those four stories in a relatively short period of time in spite of his "personal ordeal" in which not only his wife but also Lawson himself suffered from mental illness. 39 Lawson reveals in his letter to a dramatist in 1916 that the models for Mr and Mrs Joe Wilson were in fact, Mr and Mrs Henry Lawson, writing: "Mrs Joe Wilson was, in face and figure, a portrait of Mrs Henry Lawson (as I idealized her then) .... My father and myself (with intervals of many years) were also Joe Wilson's
105 of strenuous moments."40 Therefore, it is possible to regard the Joe Wilson sequence simply as a reflection of the difficult married life of the author and his wife in their new environment. And it is also possible that the reason why Lawson gave Mary such a pathetic destiny was because of his experience with his wife's breakdown while he was writing the stories. Lawson was living in England when he wrote these stories, and it seems likely that he was keeping the British readers in mind then. Barnes agrees with this, saying: "There is an obvious awareness of a foreign audience in Joe Wilson's explanations ... "41 Lawson seems to have tried to advertise Australia in his writing. To make his name, and to have his stories accepted by British readers, it may have seemed more acceptable to write about a promising bushman with a family, rather than a nomadic wanderer who is constantly travelling, and looking for work, in a harsh environment. It is true that if Lawson had written successful stories about Joe Wilson, the character might have been welcomed by British people as a kind of Australian hero from the bush. Joe would have become the first heroic character in Lawson's literature, however, Lawson did not give Joe that prestige. Surely this treatment of Joe cannot be solely due to Lawson's poor relationship with his wife in his own personal life. Rather, Joe's character may be deeply linked to the unique Australian view of a hero. The image of an Australian hero seems to be different from that which is generally expected in other countries. This can be highlighted by the Australian public's special feelings for bushrangers like Ned Kelly.42 Russel Ward provides an explanation in his book, The Australian Legend, although he also says that the matter was not quite that simple: No doubt bushrangers came to occupy such a prominent place
106 in Australian legend partly because, in the last century [the 19th century], Australia took part in no great wars, and thus there were no colourful military figures to serve, as they tend to do in
other countries, as symbol of nationalist sentiment. 43 Ward also points out that Australian popular taste did not change much between the 1840's and 1958, the year he first published this book. 44 Ward does not necessarily mean that the Australian public applauded the wrongdoings of the bushrangers. The Australian people, at that time, just had sympathies for the men's daring challenges to authority, whether they were successful or unsuccessful. Susan K. Martin writes about two men in her essay, "Dead White Male Heroes". Ned Kelly (1855-1880) is one of them. Ned Kelly, son of Irish migrants, was wanted as a bandit and was eventually caught and hanged. However, people in the working class supported him because many of them dreamed of being able to stand up, as he did, to the corrupt authorities. Ned Kelly attracted the public's attention because he freely rode about the bush demonstrating his resistance to those in power who oppressed the working class people, including his family. The other hero Martin writes about is Ludwig Leichhardt (1813-1848). Leichhardt, a Prussian, succeeded in walking between Brisbane and Port Essington, near Darwin, in 1845, and disappeared in 1848 with his whole party, on the way from Roma in Queensland to Perth in Western Australia. Leichhardt was a foreigner and just one of many explorers who tried to traverse the Australian continent at the time. His sudden disappearance in the bush may have helped to romanticize him. Those Australian heroes are basically different from other world-renowned figures like Viscount Nelson in Britain, and George Washington in the United States of America, who made great achievements
107 for their nations. They are both highly respected for their accomplishments. The Australian heroes, to the contrary, did not change history. Conceivably, they are regarded as heroes because of the processes of their ventures, not the results. The Australian people's distinctive view of a "hero" may be influenced, for one thing, by the country's history. Australia did not experience any landmark battles or revolutions, as Ward points out, thus there was no chance for a hero to appear. For bushmen, the difficult environment in the Australian bush obliged them to cooperate with each other in order to survive, and did not allow anyone to stand out individually. In other words, the particular circumstances yielded "mateship", but did not bring an idea like "the American dream" into Australia. In Lawson's literature, there are not any special characters that can be called "heroes" in a general sense. Ohama Eri mentions the "American Adam" as a literary motive in the United States in her paper, '''Shiturakuen' kara Amerikan Adamu to shite no Hakkuruberii Fin e: Uchinaru Jiyuu 0 Shirube to shite" [From Paradise Lost To Huckleberry Finn as the American Adam: In accordance with inner enthusiasm for freedoml. Ohama explains that the "American Adam" is a new Adam who shares some character traits with the original Adam from the Bible. The "American Adam" left corrupt and frustrated Europe and then, in America, developed his own characteristics. 45 Ohama gives three major requirements for a man to be called an "American Adam": 1) He should be a person heading toward the future, not receding to the past. 2) He should have inherited the puritanical image of being in "the wilderness" as a hero in the myth of frontier development. 3) He is a symbol of American democracy, supported by individualism, freedom, and equality as a truly independent free person, and she adds that "self-reliance" is, in particular, an indispensable factor for
108 the "American Adam".46 Finally, Ohama quotes R. W. B. Lewis to explain what the"American Adam" is like: a radically new personality, the hero of the new adventure: an individual emancipated from history, happily bereft of ancestry, untouched and undefiled by the usual inheritances of family and race; an individual standing alone, self-reliant and self-propelling, ready to confront whatever awaited him with the
aid of his own unique and inherent resources. 47 Lewis' description of the "American Adam" suggests that there was almost no possibility of such a person arising in Australia. People in Australia were always conscious of the country's background as a penal colony and their convict history, and of family and race which were essential elements for migrants. And above all, the idea of "self-reliance", which was necessary for the "American Adam" was totally foreign to the Australian concept of mateship. Joe Wilson is the only character in Lawson's literature who could have possibly become an "Australian Adam". He lives with his family, so that he is free from loneliness, madness, and death, which other bush characters often suffer from. In other words, he is given a privilege, as a Lawson's character, to master the bush, and then, become the first successful bushman. However, Joe fails to be such a heroic character because he loses his wife in the typical circumstances of the bush Lawson regularly gives to his female bush characters; Joe fails to maintain his family life in the bush. In Lawson's literature, bush characters have to always have hard times and never excel others to become a hero. Such men of perspiration are the members who, Lawson believed, would contribute to the establishment of their nation and should be praised as the men who made Australia.
109 Chapter VII Convicts and the Irish for Lawson's Literature
This chapter will discuss two factors which seem to have helped Australian people have their own characteristics, in addition to the influence of the bush already discussed in the previous chapters. One factor is an influence of the country's convict origins and the other factor is that of immigrants from Ireland. The chapter will also examine how those factors influenced Lawson to produce "Australianism" in his writings. The origin of Australia as a penal colony of Britain was undoubtedly part of the base of its particularity or "Australianism". It had a negative effect on the people, and they tried to ignore the fact for a long time. 1 It seems as if this historical background of the country has been a kind of mental stigma for general Australians, regardless of whether they are descended from a convict family or not. As for historical information about the issue, Babette Smith, the writer of Australia's Birthstam, explains how the nuisance was treated in the 19th century: Shame about the convict origins of the Australian colonies and shame about convict ancestry increasingly coalesced during the nineteenth century to a point where convict topics were avoided in public discourse as well as private conversation. This reaction was well established by the 1870s when novelist Anthony Trollope, who visited all the colonies, noticed the colonists' sensitivity about the subject, their reluctance to discuss
it, ... , a tendency to downplay the convicts' crimes. 2 Smith also explains how people's reaction changed as years went by:
110 What began as an unspoken agreement to avoid an uncomfortable subject, over time turned into ignorance. The penal colony that had been the most talked about experiment in the world in its first 100 years subsequently became the object of distortion, cover-up and, finally, silence in the second. 3 People's attitude toward the issue like this is understandable because it was a shameful start for the new country, unlike the United States which was a free country from the beginning; besides, Australia has not yet achieved complete independence from Britain, unlike the United States which broke its ties in 1783, after the war of independence. Certainly, the Australian people felt shame about their origins at the time of Lawson's writing. Interestingly, however, none of Lawson's main protagonists are clearly described as convicts or ex· convicts, even though Lawson was thought to be a realistic writer of his times. As for the reason why there are no obvious convict characters in Lawson's writings, Dr. Peter Kirkpatrick of the University of Sydney suggests that Lawson did not want to acknowledge his country's convict past and regarded it as "dishonour", the same as other Australians of his time.4 Seeing the social background of Australia in the time Lawson was active as a writer, Kirkpatrick's viewpoint must be probable. Henry Lawson published his first poem in 1887, and then, was energetic in his writing about the last decade of the 19th century. It was the time when the Australian colonies were striving to unite and form a federation. Therefore, negative characters could dampen people's spirits, whereas positive characters such as the bush and people living there were regarded as good symbols of nationalism, as has been already discussed. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that Lawson avoided links between his bush characters and convicts.
111 Apart from the social background of his country, Lawson seems to have been concerned about his personal background despite the fact that he was not descended from convicts. His father was a Norwegian seaman who came to Australia and decided to leave his ship in 1855, at the beginning of the gold rush. He met his future wife, Lawson's mother, Louisa, in New Pipeclay, New South Wales. Thus, Lawson's father and his Norwegian family had nothing to do with any "dishonour" . On the contrary, Lawson's mother, Louisa, was born in Australia and her parents were immigrants from Kent, England. It is said that Louisa's father had gipsy blood, and Lawson himself often suggests the possibility of gipsy roots in his writings. He explains in his autobiography: "We were tall and dark on Mother's side and generally supposed to have descended from gipsies."5
His poem, "Gipsy Too", composed in 1902, suggests this because the line, "I came of the Gipsies too" (8,16,24,32,40) is repeated five times at the end of each stanza. Colin Roderick refers to interesting research about the poet's roots by T. D. Mutch, Lawson's supporter in his later days, in his notes of the poem: T. D. Mutch ... points out that at least as far back as Lawson's maternal great-grandparents there is no evidence of a gipsy strain. Mutch concludes: 'And yet, there remains the great-great-grandfather, Henry Albury, ... If his identity could be ascertained, the mystery would be cleared, and the Gipsy
story determined, ... '6 Whether Mutch's research was true or not, Lawson himself seems to have used his roots as an excuse for his bohemian lifestyle. 7 At the same time, his possible gipsy background may have made him hesitant to cast his characters in the part with a questionable background.
112 The first fleet which transported convicts from Britain to Australia consisted of about one thousand people divided among twelve ships: the First Fleeters. Three-quarters of those people were convicts: 564 men and 192 women.8 Between 1788, the year of their arrival, and 1868, the year when the last transport ship arrived at Fremantle, in Western Australia, approximately 168,000 convicts came to Australia.9 Russel Ward lists the number of convicts, emancipists, and colonial-born people, who possibly had some involvements with convicts, and that of free immigrants, who had nothing to do with convicts, in New South Wales, in his book, The Australian Legend According to Ward, in 1828, forty years after the first fleet, the number of convict-related citizens was 31,925 and that of free citizens was only 4,678. By 1851, about fifteen years before Lawson was born, 110,713 people were related to convicts and 76,530 were free. 10 Ten years after the transport of convicts to New South Wales finished, more than fifty percent of the total population of the colony were convict-related. This high rate means that the convicts would have had considerable influence on Australian society at that time. The origin of Hokkaido, the second largest island of Japan, is quite similar to that of Australia in respect of a society which started with transportation of convicts. Examining the Japanese case of penal settlement and comparing those two cases may give us a clearer view of the influence of Australian convicts on their society. A number of convicts were sent to Hokkaido, which is located in the northern part of the Japanese archipelago, towards the end of the nineteenth century. The beginning of the event was in 1604, when the first shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, designated a feudal lord, Matumae, as governor of Hokkaido. First, Matsumae only managed the southwest tip of the island and the rest of the vast land was a left to the Ainu, the native
113 inhabitants. For almost all of the Edo Era, the Tokugawa shogunate also did not pay any particular attention to the island. Towards the end of the era, however, the government decided to exploit the land because they were concerned about a possible Russian invasion of Hokkaido from the north. In 1869, the second year of the Meiji Era, the government sent the first group of migrants, as well as some officers, to the island. The five hundred migrants were virtually all paupers who had been forcibly collected from the streets of Edo.ll Mer the first transportation, large numbers of convicts were sent to various prisons in Hokkaido between 1881 and 1894. They were forced to work mainly as miners or labourers for building roads, bridges, and barracks. 12 Their working conditions were so miserable, especially in the coal mines, that many of them died of diseases of their eyes, skin, and respiratory and digestive systems.I3 Not a few convicts who tried to run away from their cruel labour were killed with a sword.14 Because there were many casualties and the transportation project was abolished in 1894. 15 After the end of convict labour, however, indigent people were fraudulently taken into custody and forced to do the mining and laboring work, and this labour system continued until 1946. 16 Opinions of the use of the convict labour in Hokkaido seem to vary from researcher to researcher. One of the writers of Hokkaidou no Hyakunen (One hundred years of Hokkaido) considers it, compared to the system in other prisons in Japan, to have been extraordinary because of the relentless outdoor labour, in very poor conditions, away from public eyes. This writer also points out that the forced labour has been questioned for a long time as "the dark age" in the history of Hokkaido. I7 On the contrary, Shigematsu Kazuyoshi, the writer of Hokkaido Kangoku no Rekislri (The History of Prisons in Hokkaido) has an opposite view. Here is a summary
114 of his view, translated by the present writer:
The exploitation of convict labour ill Hokkaido was, as a whole, conducted with not much, but some consideration by the staff, otherwise it could not have continued for such a long period of time. The whole system was well organized and assignments were devised for the convicts. The labour was equally allocated to each prison in rotation in order not to isolate one group from the others. Although there are actually pros and cons for the exploitation of convicts, the system definitely played a roles as a tractor for Hokkaido's development as well as being a form of
atonement for the convicts' crimes. 18 In the same book, Shigematu compares the banishment system used in Hokkaido to that in Tasmania's Port Aurthur, Australia, specifically on a list. 19 However, he does not provide any details about how the two systems influenced the national characteristics of each country. Shigematsu comments that the treatment of convicts was generally the same regardless of when or where they were confined.20 Generally speaking, however, there is a definite difference in what immigration, including the transportation of convicts, brought to people in each country. The difference is mainly due to the scale of immigration, not only in quantity but also in the distances involved. In Hokkaido, it was basically domestic migration. The settlement was set up as a branch of the central government, and in due course it became a part of the nation of Japan. On the other hand, Australia's immigrants were transported far away across the ocean to build a colony which was over thirty times as large as the mother country. 21 The enormous new country needed many more convicts, than Hokkaido did to maintain the land, and after transportation ended, Australia accepted migrants from many different countries and is
115 now a multi-cultural society. In addition, in contrast to Hokkaido, Australians do not consider themselves a part of their mother country. Regarding the exploitation of Hokkaido, in addition to convict labour, there was a project of colonial soldiers, "Tondenhei". The Meiji government enlisted ex-samurais, who became unemployed at the end of the shogunate era, and sent them to Hokkaido to provide defence as well as supplement the labour force. Although they had previously been the privileged class, they were now masterless and also inexperienced in manual labour. Yet, these samurais, who had been disciplined for many years with "Japanese chivalry", were generally patient, diligent, and sensible, and they became model labourers. The soldiers were also expected to supervise the convict labourers. About 14,000 "Tondenhei" and their families were sent to the island between 1875 and 1890.22 They, along with the convicts, greatly contributed to the settlement of Hokkaido. Besides, their work was so positively evaluated that it may moderate the harsh facts about the beginnings of Hokkaido and the cruel use of convict labour. This is also the definite difference from the Australian case which had no counterparts of "Tondenhei" . Australia and Hokkaido both started with exploitation using convicts as the main work force. However, there were clear differences in the purposes of development of two colonies. Australia was first exploited as a destination for exiles from Britain, and then, became a federated nation in itself, whereas Hokkaido was originally used as a defence to fortify against Russia and eventually became a part of Japan. Also, the scale of colonization differed between the two places, as did the influence of the events on the inhabitants. Babette Smith explains the Australian sentiment: "Australia has suffered from a major distortion of its convict history, a distortion that has been accompanied by an obvious desire to
116 avoid the subject altogether if possible." 23 It seems that Lawson avoided writing about the convicts while he was prosperous. However, he actually wrote some pieces of verse and prose about prison (gaol) and prisoners in his later years. Of those works, the poem "One-Hundred-and-Three" is an unexpected masterpiece which was produced when Lawson was almost finished as a writer. Lawson wrote the poem twice, first in 1908 and then again in 1917. The 1917 version consists of ninety-six lines or twenty-four stanzas, which is twenty-eight lines or seven stanzas shorter than the 1908 version. The
1917 version is in his final anthology of verse, Selected Poem~ which was published in 1918. George Robertson of the publisher, Angus and Robertson, asked Lawson to cut down the poem because it was too long. "One-Hundred-And-Three" is said to be the only notable prison poem In Australian literature.24 It was written based on Lawson's actual experiences in Darlinghurst Gaol, Sydney, which is now occupied by the National Art School. He was charged with wife desertion and child desertion twice each, neglect of child maintenance three times, and public drunkenness, and detained eight times, spending a total of 159 days in the gao125 Lawson was ordered to pay thirty shillings a week maintenance to his family, but he was often behind in his payments. 26 During his second imprisonment of about three weeks, Lawson wrote two pieces of prose, "The Rising of the Court" (1907) and "Going In" (1907), "One-Hundred-And-Three" was written during his fourth detention between the 8th and the 31st of August, 1908.27 It is said that this well-known poem was surreptitiously written on scraps of paper with a stolen pencil, and smuggled out of the gaol by visiting friends. 28 The title, "One-Hundred-And-Three", represents the number given to a particular prisoner, but the actual number given to Lawson at that time is unknown.
117 It is certain that Lawson was Prisoner "One-Hundred-and-Seventeen" in
November, 1909.29 The reasons for Lawson's degradation, and eventual imprisonment are not so simple. Certainly, his excessive drinking had a serious impact on his life. He first started drinking in his early teens when he helped his father in the Blue Mountains.30 As an adult, his drinking never stopped, rather, it became worse, which was always a serious problem for his wife, Bertha. His alcohol consumption increased during his stay in London from 1900 to 1902. It is generally believed that Lawson's decline was more obvious after his return from Britain. His heavy drinking caused his wife to have a mental breakdown, so that they had to return home earlier than originally planned. 31 However, Meg Tasker and Lucy Sussex conclude that alcohol abuse was not the only cause of the Lawsons' problems while in London: .. , it becomes clear that the Lawson's domestic crisis was largely caused by the extreme isolation, deprivation and anxiety she (Bertha) suffered. Drunkenness and poverty were nothing new -... In the long term, the English sojourn precipitated a marital crisis leading to irretrievable breakdown and acrimonious
disputes over maintenance and drink. 32 Soon after their return to Sydney, they decided to separate. In "One-Hundred-and-Three", Lawson describes some of harsh punishment meted out to prisoners and the poor conditions in the penal institution, and also criticises the juridical system and social inequality. For example, he gives the exact measurements of the cell where he stayed: "They shut a man in the four-by-eight, with a six-inch slit for air," (9) He also describes the food distributed to prisoners, and then, emphasises the prisoners who were on the verge of starvation because of their poor diet: "Bread and water and hominy, and a scrag of meat and a spud, / They send
118 a half-starved man to the Court, where the hearts of men they crave - / Then feed him up in the hospital to give him the strength to starve." (9,
63-64) There are the descriptions of the constant steps by the prIsoner, one-hundred-and-three, repeatedly, in the poem. The prisoner seems to be walking, but it is actually a punishment. Walking in a circle was one of the punishments imposed on prisoners in Britain.33 Lawson's descriptions suggest that the same punishment was used in Australia. The walking seems to have been done regularly, for an hour every day, according to the third stanza: "'l\venty-three hours of the twenty-four, to brood on his virtues there." (10) Deborah Beck adds extra information about the conditions Lawson describes in the poem: All prisoners sentenced to three years or more had to undergo the first nine months of their sentence in solitary confinement. Their diet consisted of bread and water, no letters could be written or received, no tobacco was allowed and there was no verbal communication. For 23 hours a day they were confined to a silent cell, with only one hour's exercise a day for the first six months, and then two hours a day for the next
three months. 34 Probably, these prison experiences would soften Lawson's opinion of Australian convicts. In fact, in a poem, "The Song of a Prison", there is the name of the prisoner who provided a pen and paper for the poet, while in Darlinghurst Gaol: And I paid in chews of tobacco from one who is in "for life"; He is scarcely a pal for a poet, but he only killed his wife. (He is cherub-like, jolly, good-natured, and frank as the skies
119 above, And his Christian name is Joseph, and his other, ye gods! is
Love!} (17-20)
Colin Roderick points out that the prisoner's name was George, not
Joseph. 35 Roderick also explains that Lawson was thinking of modeling new characters on George Love and Charlie Ah Sun, a Chinese prisoner, for
his stories, but his plan was not accepted by the Bulletin.36 If the writer had been able to produce appealing characters, such as he did with Mitchell and Joe Wilson, those two prisoners could have been models for new convict characters. However, it seems that Lawson's long-term involvement with hospitals and the courts had already undermined his creativity. The Irish have also influenced Australian society and contributed to the development of the country since the early days, not only as convicts but also as free migrants. Forty-one percent of all convicts transported to
Australia by 1802 were from Ireland. 37 Because there was a long term conflict between England and Ireland over differences of race, religion, and language, a large number of Irish convicts were political prisoners. 38
The Irish suffering originally began as early as in the 12th century, and worsened in the 17th century. Protestant settlers began confiscating Catholic estates, and land in Catholic ownership decreased sharply from 90% at the beginning of the 16th century to only 5% by 1778.39 Under these circumstances, Irish farmers and rural workers were transported to Australia. Apart from the convicts, a number of free Irish came to New South Wales under an official assistance scheme provided by the state government, especially between the 1830s and the 1850s.4o Russel Ward says about the influence of the Irish population on Australia: "We have seen that during
120 the two pre-Gold-Rush decades about a third of the whole population and more than half of the immigrants were Irish, ... " 41 This was partly related to the social background at that time in Ireland. There was a disaster called, "the Potato Famine" in the second half of the 1840s in Ireland. The famine was caused by a new type of blight which killed potato plants, the major crop in the country. The English government knew about the famine but did nothing to help the Irish people. During the five-year famine, as many as a million Irish people died and another million fled overseas. 42 The majority of them went to North America, and about four thousand braved the longer journey to Australia. 43 Irish people were generally poor even before the "Famine". Especially, the Catholic Irish who were persecuted also had their land confiscated by the English Protestants, and they were barely able to survive on their remaining cropland. Ward quotes George De Beaumont to express how desperate the Irish were: "in all countries, more or less, paupers may be discovered, but an entire nation of paupers in what never was seen until it was shown in Ireland". 44 By the 1870s, Irish children were faced with a choice of either emigrating, or remaining unmarried at home, when they grew Up.45 Some of the Irish, under those circumstances, may have been happy to leave and wished to try their luck in a new place. However, most of them had a hard time like other migrants to Australia, or it was probably harder for the Irish because they had to endure ethnical and religious prejudice from the Anglo-Australians. In other words, the deep-rooted conflict between England and Ireland was brought into Australia. Ned Kelly (1855-1880) is a popular example of a person whose hardships in Australia were caused by the fact that they came from Ireland. He was born in Australia, and his father was a freed convict who was
121 originally transported from Ireland on a charge of pig theft. Growing up under the influence, not only of his father but also his mother's family, Ned himself was caught stealing and was imprisoned when he was sixteen. When his mother was unjustly imprisoned for trying to prevent his brother's arrest, Ned and his friends decided to become bushrangers. He was a rogue, but never a bully; he robbed the rich and gave their money to the poor. This meant that he was always wanted by the police, but he also had many supporters. He was finally captured and hanged in 1880. Ned Kelly came to be regarded as a hero who bravely resisted authorities. He was seen as a representative of not only poor Irish settlers but also ordinary oppressed Australians. Considering his personal background, Ned Kelly could have become a model for a new Lawson character, and this bushranger , s sensational life could have provided the writer with some materials for a variety of interesting bush stories. However, Lawson did not write any stories whose characters were obviously modeled on Kelly, nor did he describe Kelly and his life directly in his writings. Nevertheless, there are some scenes in his stories which seem to suggest that Lawson was impressed by the bushranger. "The Selector's Daughter" has a scene in which three troopers visit the Wylies (the daughter's family) and one of the troopers makes fun of her. This scene is similar to an episode in Ned Kelly's autobiography where a police officer came and stayed at the Kelly's place and then, made improper jokes about Ned's sister. When Mrs Kelly tried to stop the officer she was unjustly arrested. Ned Kelly was arrested wrongly on a charge of horse theft and forced to serve three years in prison for a crime he did not commit. This reminds us of the series of events regarding the false arrest and trial of Jack Drew in
122 "The Hero of Redclay". In "Telling Mrs Baker", the name of Bob Baker's brother is Ned, and while Andy is burning some troublesome letters of "the Boss", he says, "Such is life!", which were the last words of Ned Kelly just before his execution. Lawson may have been trying to highlight the bushranger's adventures using his own original characters although he did not do it openly. Lawson wrote two other short stories in which Irish characters appear. One is "Bill, The Ventriloquial Rooster" . Mitchell, the narrator, talks about the strange crow of a rooster which his family owned. The rooster fights with another rooster owned by their neighbour, an Irishman named Page. In the story, Mitchell's family and the Pages have a disagreement over the fence dividing their properties. According to Colin Roderick, this story is based on an actual experience of Lawson in his childhood and Page is modeled on the real "Page", the Lawsons' Irish neighbour: The original Page was an Irishman also named Page, ... By the time Lawson was old enough to take notice of Page, the Irishman had leased the selection adjoining the Lawsons'. Lawson describes in the Chapter IV of "A Fragment of Autobiography" (PW., p. 731) how Page and the Lawsons came to be at loggerheads. It appears that Page had hired a bull which he refused to lend to the Lawsons and that somehow the dividing fence between the selections had collapsed and allowed Page's bull access to the Lawsons' heifers. 46 In "Bill, The Ventriloquial Rooster", there is an amicable scene in which Page brings Bill back to Mitchell's family treating it carefully, saying, " .. , I bear no malice. 'Twas a grand foight[sic1,"47 despite Bill knocking out Page's rooster in the fight. Lawson relates the original story of this incident in his autobiography and describes the real Page in the same scene:
123 "He had our rooster and [was] handling him gently. 'Yere cock beat my cock!' he said, 'but I bear no malice - 'twas a grand fight. There he is.' And he set him down carefully." 48 Lawson mentions that their family and Page finally got to something like friendship, although he also explains, "There was a feud between him and our family until we left". 49 "A Wild Irishman" (1894) is one of the few stories in which Lawson writes about Ireland or Irish people, and is probably the only one that has an Irishman as the main character. The Irishman, nicknamed "The Flour of Wheat" and his wild episodes of drunkenness are the central part of the story. These episodes, which are not admirable at all, are described sympathetically by the author. It is interesting that the character of "The Flour of Wheat" seems also to be based on Page, the Lawsons' Irish neighbour. In a scene where the Flour carries his dying friend to a hospital, he calls, "Inside there - come out!"50 at the reception room. Lawson mentions in his autobiography that Page often called them this way when he had something to ask the Lawsons. In addition, Lawson uses another phrase, which Page seems to have often said, at the end of "A Wild Irishman". When the Flour farewells the doctor who could not save his friend from dying, he says, "It was the will 0' God. Let bygones be bygones between us; gimme your hand, doctor.... Goodbye." 51 In "A Fragment of Autobiography", Lawson recollects the day his family left the selection: He [Page] was at feud with all his neighbours, ... , but the morning we were leaving the selection for good, he came up to the gate and shouted: "Inside there, come out." We came out. "Here's some fruit," he said. "'Tis a harrd worrld and it's little we have to be foightin' for. Shake hands and let bygones be
bygones US."52
124 Lawson may have had an image of Page as a typical Irishman from his childhood, and the image was not really negative. This may be the reason that he even shows affection in his descriptions of Page in "Bill, The Ventriloquial Rooster" and The Flour of Wheat in "A Wild Irishman" . Lawson went to a Catholic school for only a few months when he lived in an interior district of New South Wales, called Eurunderee, according to his autobiography. He and his family were not Catholic, and he explains the reason for his attendance at the school: "I don't know why I was sent there (to the Catholic school); but probably because my mater had become disgusted with our own churchmen as they were then."53 Lawson also mentions several Irishmen other than Page in the description of his school days in the autobiography, and his tone of voice is generally friendly. It is quite a riddle, therefore, why Lawson did not express much interest in the Irish in his writing. Dr Peter Kirkpatrick comments that there was a fear of Catholicism among many Australians at the time when Lawson lived.54 The Irish, who accounted for a large proportion of Australia's population at Lawson's time, were resolutely supported by the Roman Catholic Church, and were undoubtedly seen as a social threat to Protestant Australians. T. Inglis Moore supports Dr Kirkpatrick's opinion explaining the background of this fear of non-Catholic Australians: Thus [in Ireland] the Roman Catholic Church became closely
associated with the Irish people in a common struggle for freedom. It grew radical in outlook, with a philosophy of revolt against the heretical, foreign oppressor. This outlook and philosophy were preserved in Australia, especially as the great majority of the Church's Irish adherents were members of the working class, a class inevitably radical as a result of a long
125 history of poverty, oppression, and suffering,55 However, their viewpoints do not seem to apply to Lawson. As far as the description of his Catholic school days is concerned, Lawson does not seem to have had a fear or a dislike to the Irish only because of their religion. He only says that he was bullied by other boys w bile he went to the Catholic school. 56 Therefore, it is not so realistic to think that Catholicism had something to do with a paucity of Lawson's writing of the Irish, but probably, thinking that he did not write about them positively because the Irish and Catholicism reminded him of his unpleasant memories of being bullied is more realistic. Lawson did not write about convicts and the Irish so much as he actively wrote about the bush and its people to describe what he believed was the real Australia. He did not produce any noticeable protagonists with Australian characteristics out of those people, either, although they greatly contributed to the foundation of Australia. That is perhaps because he was influenced by public opinion of the times, or he did not consider them to be real Australians, or he just could not do it due to a decline in his creativity, especially in his later years. The definite reason for this still remains obscure, but at least, it is clear that Lawson did not regard them as materials to express "Australianism" he believed. It is interesting, however, that bis less writing about what could have represented "something Australian" paradoxically emphasises the negative inclination of Australians towards the inconvenient existence in course of their history. Lawson's attitude itself is an expression of "Australianism" without writing about it.
126 Conclusion
The great south land of Australia had existed, as an uncivilised continent in the southern hemisphere, for millions of years, completely separate from the European culture. When the first Europeans landed on it, the environmental and ecological distinction of Australia provided the new inhabitants with the unique groundwork on which they were to develop their own characteristics as Australians in later years. Above all, the Australian bush influenced the spontaneous evolution of Australia after it had been established artificially by transporting people from Britain. In Lawson's literature, the bush is also the important environment where the characters of his poems and stories develop their particular characteristics. His bush characters, both men and women, basically have hard and unsuccessful lives because Lawson's bush typically drives them into three woes, loneliness, madness, and death. Such unfortunate characters, who always suffer in the adverse circumstances, are the prototype of those people Lawson praises as the true contributors of their country in his poem, "The Men Who Made Australia" . However, Lawson did not leave those characters to be just the poor victims of their circumstances. He also gives them some alleviative measures. Mateship is one of those measures for Lawson's bush characters, especially bushmen. In Lawson's literature, mateship is an essential accompaniment of the bush. It is often exercised by his bush characters in various situations to save their mates, and it makes their fellowship more distinctive. Historically, the Australian bush forced men to be single or to live apart from their family because the living conditions were so harsh. These
127 men gradually developed a spirit of mutual aid to help them cope with the difficult circumstances. Under the principles of m ateship , the lateral relationships among the men were considered more important than vertical, power relationships. Mateship later metamorphosed into two Australian attitudes: anti-class-consciousness and anti-authoritarianism. Humour is another measure. Although humour is not the mainstream of Lawson's literature, it helps its bush characters and stories become active and lively. Some of Lawson's humorous stories were written for the sake of humour. In most cases, however, his humour functions to make a pathetic story more pathetic and to bring out cruelty of the bush hidden in a story. In Lawson's literature, humour sometimes works complicatedly, resulting in further emphasis on sufferings of the bush characters. Family is also one of those measures and a trump card of Lawson to keep his characters free from the three woes and enable them to survive in the bush. One of Lawson's characters, created as a bushman with his family, could be the first such heroic character and Lawson's new type of bush character. However, the writer does not allow him to be so, probably because, in Lawson's belief, his ideal bush character should obey the principles of mateship and should not stand out from other bushmen. Besides the Australian bush, which was a natural influence, immigrants and their backgrounds also had a strong affect on the new nation. The fact that the first group of immigrants was mostly convicts has lingered in the minds of Australian people for a long time. A convict background, for them, was a kind of common skeleton to be hidden in their cupboards. Convicts and the Irish could have been the necessary characters for completing the particular world of Lawson's literature, but actually, they do
128 not appear so much in his works. Whether Lawson did not write about them intentionally or not still remains uncertain. However, consequently, not writing about those people represents his views on "Australianism" as eloquently as expressing it through the other characters he actually describes in his works. When Lawson wrote the poem, "The Men Who Made Australia" in 1901, almost all his popular characters, from Andy to Joe Wilson, had already made appearances in his writing. These characters were created on the basis of the writer's ideas about what bush people, especially bushmen, should be in the Australian bush. However, they are not just a product of his imagination, but are embodiments of images Lawson actually got from his own experiences in the bush. Therefore, Lawson's characters are the representatives of the Australians who used to work for the foundation of their nation. Lawson's characters demonstrate their "Australianism" under the above-mentioned conditions given by Lawson, sometimes tragically, sometimes humorously, but mostly in a lively way. Lawson's characters actually encouraged the Australian people of that time, by showing different ways to survive in the harsh surroundings. This is demonstrated by the fact that Lawson's collection of short stories, "While the Billy Boiled" sold 7,000 copies in 1896. 1 Selling 7,000 copies in Australia, which had a population of about 3,800,000 at the end of 1900 would be equivalent to sales of nearly 240,000 copies in present day Japan, with an approximate population of 128,000,000.2 The remarkable number of books sold shows that this book was widely read by Australians at the time. Lawson's readers may have rediscovered, through the bush characters in his poems and stories, their characteristics as Australians as well as learned more about the significance of living in Australia. Even city people
129 may have had a similar sense of rediscovery because they would have been in a similar situation with regard to trying to adapt to a different environment. Mer all, Australian cities were constructed on areas which had been originally the same bush. Wherever they lived, therefore, people were constantly influenced by the same Australian environment. In his time, Henry Lawson may have played a role as a renovator of the country3. If present day Australians also learn from Lawson's literature, they will see the track their ancestors marked in the growing periods of the country through the words and deeds of the characters in his bush stories. If his bush characters can provide the present Australians with some hints of what they should be and do, Lawson should be remembered, not only as a reminder of the past, but also a renovator for the future of Australia.
130 NOTES
Introduction
1 See a passage from Vance Palmer quoted in Russel Ward's Concise History ofAustralia, 187.
2 John Barnes, Henry Lawson~ Short Stories, Essays in Austrahan Literature (Melbourne: Shillington House, 1985) 1.
3 Beverley Kingston, The Oxford History of Australia (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2001) 108, 113.
4 Kingston, The Oxford History ofAustralia 113.
5 Helen Irving, ed., The Centenary Companion to Australian Federation (1999; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009) 441.
6 Kingston, The Oxford History ofAustralia 113.
7 Geoffrey Sherington, Australia's Immigrants (1980; North Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1990) 85.
8 Sherington, Australia~ Immigrants 85.
9 Otsu Yoshihiro, Oosutorariajin Monogatari [The Story of Australians] (Tokyo: Taishukan-shoten, 1996) 167.
10 Russel Ward, Concise History ofAustralia, 5thed. (StLucia: University of Queensland Press, 1992) 277.
11 Christopher Lee, City Bushman: Henry Lawson and the Australian Imagination (Fremantle: Curtin University Books, 2004) 13-14, 233.
12 Lee, City Bushman 234.
13 Irving, Australian Federation 433.
14 Mulga is any of several species of Acacia found in drier parts of Australia. The Macquarie Dictionary, 1985 ed.
131 15 Billy is a cylindrical container for liquids, sometimes enameled, usually having a close-fitting lid. The Macquarie Dictionary, 1985 ed.
16 Russel Ward, The Australian Legend, 2nd ed. (1958; South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2005) 146.
17 Ward, Legend 2.
Chapter I
1 Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson Commentaries on his Prose Writings (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1985) 189.
2 Brian Matthews, The Receding Wave: Henry Lawson's Prose (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972) 16-17.
3 See Roderick, A Life, pp 86-87 for the details of Lawson's debate with Paterson.
4 Colin Roderick, ed. Henry Lawson Letters 1890-1922 (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1970) 49.
5 Roderick, Letters 49.
6 See Roderick, A Life, pp 89-99 for the details of Lawson's trip in the outback.
7 Roderick, Letters 53.
8 Roderick, Letters 50.
9 Roderick, Letters 54.
10 Denton Prout, Henry Lawson: The Grey Dreamer (Adelade: Rigby, 1963) 106.
H Colin Roderick, ed. Henry Lawson Criticism 1894-1971 (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1972) xxiv.
12 See Russel Ward, Concise History ofAustralia, pp 198-200 for the history of "the Union" in Australia.
13 Henry Lawson, Selected Stories (Sydney: A & R Classics, 2001)
132 189.
14 Lawson, Selected Stories 190.
15 Roderick, Commentaries 114.
16 Roderick, Commentaries 115.
17 Roderick, Commentaries 75.
Chapter II
1 Helen Irving, ed., The Centenary Companion toAustralian Federation (1999; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009) 441.
2 "Stress," My Pedia (electronic), 2005 ed.
3 Hori Nobuyuki, and Kikuchi Toshio, eds. Sekai no Sabaku: Sono Shizen, Bunka, Ningen [Deserts in the World: Their Nature, Culture, and People], Meguro City College Sousho [Meguro City College Series] 7. (Tokyo: Kyodo Insatsu, 2007) 81.
4 Hori and Kikuchi, Deserts 81.
5 Jared Diamond, Gun~ Germs, and Steel: The Fates ofHuman Societies, trans. Kurahone Akira (New York: W W Norton & Company, 1997) 148.
6 Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel 148-149.
7 Diamond, Guns, Germ~ and Steel 153.
8 Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel 153.
9 Irving, Australian Federation 342.
10 As for information about the population density in this paragraph, see the figure 4-4 on page 81, Hori and Kikuchi, Deserts,
11 Henry Lawson, Selected Stories (Sydney: A & R Classics, 2001) 84.
12 Denise Greig, A Photographic Guide to Trees ofAustrah'a (1998; Sydney: New Holland Publishers [Australia] 2001) 37-41.
13 Henry Lawson, Over the Sliprails (1900; McLean: Indy Publish)
133 51.
14 Lawson, Sliprai1s 54.
15 Lawson,_Sliprai1s_ 54.
16 Henry Lawson, On the Track (1900; McLean: Indy Publish) 56.
17 Lawson, Track 57.
18 Lawson, Track 64.
19 Brian Matthews, The Receding Wave: Henry Lawsons Prose (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972) 21.
20 Lawson, Selected Stories 352.
21 Lawson, Selected Stories 340.
22 Lawson, Selected Stories 345.
23 Lawson, Selected Stories 346 and others
24 Lawson, Selected Stories_341.
25 Matthews, Receding Wave 22-23.
26 Lawson, Selected Stories 184.
27 Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson:ALife (North Ryde: Angus & Robertson, 1991) 23.
28 Lawson, Selected Stories 344.
29 Lawson, Selected Stories 344.
30 Lawson, Selected Stories 344.
31 Lawson, Selected Stories 343.
32 Bunmei no Jinkoushi [History of Population with the Progress of Civilisation], table (Tokyo: Shin-Hyoron) 195.
33 Toujima Wako, Shiin Jiten [Dictionary of Death Causes] ( Tokyo: Kodansha, 2000) 158-160.
34 Lawson, Selected Stories 262.
35 "Waltzing Matilda," New Concise Australian & New Zealand English-Japanese Dictionary, 2001 ed.
134 36 Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson Commentaries on his Prose Writings (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1985) 181.
37 Lawson, Selected Stories 388.
38 Geraldine Carrodus, Golct Gamblers & Sly Grog: Life on the Goldfields, 1851-1900, Inquiring into Australian History (1981; Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1984) 30-32.
39 Derrick I. Stone, and Sue Mackinnon, Life on Australian Goldfields (Sydney: Methuen of Australia, 1976) 25.
Chapter III
1 Henry Lawson, Selected Stories (Sydney: A & R Classics, 2001) 226.
2 Lawson, Selected Stories 226.
3 Lawson, Selected Stories 226.
4 Lawson, Selected Stories 240.
5 Lawson, Selected Stories 227.
6 Lawson, Selected Stories 228-229.
7 Lawson, Selected Stories 238.
8 Lawson, Selected Stories 240.
9 Lawson, Selected Stories 228.
10 Lawson, Selected Stories 228.
11 Geoffrey Sherington, Australia's Immigrants (1980; North Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1990)116.
12 Colin Roderick, The Real Henry Lawson (Adelade: Rigby, 1982) 47.
13 Manning Clark, Henry Lawson (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1985) 70.
14 Ito Takayuki, Iuchi Toshio, and Nakai Kazuo, eds., Porando, Ukuraina, Baruto Shi [The History of Poland, Ukraine, and Balt] Sekai Kakkoku Shi [The History of Each Nation in the World] 20. (Tokyo:
135 Yamakawa Shuppansha, 1998) 206-211.
15 Ueda Shigeru, Kosakku no Roshia [Cossack's Russia] (Tokyo: Chuokoron Shinsha, 2000) 1 73.
16 Russel Ward, The Australian Legend, 2nd ed. (1958; South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2005) 62-63.
17 Lawson, Selected Stories 231.
18 Lawson, Selected Stories 20.
19 Lawson, Selected Stories 20.
20 Lawson, Selected Stories 240.
21 Lawson, Selected Stories 83.
22 Patricia Grimshaw, Chris McConville, and Ellen McEwen, eds., Families in Colonial Australia (North Sydney: George Allen & Unwin, 1985) 67.
23 Beverley Kingston, The Oxford History of Australia (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2001) 121-122.
24 Grimshaw, Families 34.
Chapter IV
1 T. Inglis Moore, Social Patterns in Australian Literature (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1971) 20.
2 Manning Clark, A Short History of Australia, 3rd Rev. ed. (New York: Nal Penguin Inc, 1987) 118.
3 Russel Ward, Concise History ofAustralia, 5th Rev. ed. (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1992) 52.
4 Ward, Concise History 52.
5 The Oxford History ofAustralia, Table (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2001) 114.
6 Beverley Kingston, Oxford History 114.
136 7 Oishi Manabu, Ooedo Maruwakari Jiten [Dictionary of the Whole Edo] (Tokyo: Jiji Press Publication Services, 2005) 88.
8 Tamura Eitarou, Edo Shomin no Kurashi [Edo People's Lifel (Tokyo: Yuzankaku, 2003) 18.
9 Russel Ward, The Australian Legend, 2nd ed. (1958; South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2005) 94-95.
10 A. J. C. Mayne, Fevez; Squaloz; and Wce: Sanitation and Social Policy in Wctorian Sydney (St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982) 108.
11 Yamamoto Hirofumi, Edo Jidai [The Edo Period] (Tokyo: Nihon Bungei-sha, 2003) 278.
12 Yamamoto, Edo Jidai 279.
13 Kato Takashi, Edo 0 Shiru Jiten [The Dictionary of Edol (Tokyo: Tokyodo Shuppan, 2004) 21-22.
14 Yamamoto, Edo Jidai 280-281.
15 Uetsuki Masumi, Nihonjin nara Mi ni Tsuketai Edo no Iki [The Sophisticated Style ofEdo Japanese Should Acquire] (Tokyo: Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 2008) 15.
16 Yamamoto, Edo Jidai_203.
17 Moore, Social Patterns 203.
18 Henry Lawson, Selected Stories (Sydney: A & R Classics, 2001) 55.
19 Lawson, Selected Stories 55.
20 Ross M. Martin, Trade Um'ons in Australia, trans. Hori Takeaki (Penguin Books, 1980) 3.
21 Ward, Legend 213.
22 Moore, Social Patterns 214.
23 Moore, Social Patterns 214.
24 Lawson, Selected Stories 57.
137 25 Colin Roderick, ed., Henry Lawson Letters 1890-1922 (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1970) 49-50.
26 Lawson,_Selected Stories 59.
27 Moore, Social Patterns 44.
28 A squatter is one who settled on Crown land to run stock.
29 Lawson, Selected Stories 431.
30 Lawson, Selected Stories_ 434.
31 Lawson, Selected Stories 434.
32 Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson Commentaries on his Prose Writings (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1985) 215.
33 Roderick, Commentaries 214-215.
34 Martin, Trade Um'ons 3.
Chapter V
1 Henry Lawson, Selected Stories (Sydney: A & R Classics, 2001) 172-173.
2 Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson Commentaries on his Prose Writings (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1985) 177.
3 Roderick, Commentaries 181.
4 Geraldine Carrodus, Gol~ Gamblers & Sly Grog: Life on the Gold:6.elds, 1851-1900, Inquiring into Australian History (1981; Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1984) 32.
5 Carrodus, Gold 30.
6 Derrick I. Stone and Sue Mackinnon, Life on Australian Gold:6.elds (Sydney: Methuen of Australia, 1976) 25.
7 Carrodus, Gold 74-77.
8 Stone and Mackinnon, Life on Australian Gold:6.elds 199-200. Australian Rules (football) is a popular sport especially in Victoria which
138 was originally formed in the middle of the 19th century.
9 Edgar Waters, "Recreation," The Pattern ofAustralian CultureJ. ed. A. L. Mcleod (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1963) 426.
10 Henry Lawson, Selected Stories (Sydney: A & R Classics, 2001) 388.
11 Waters, "Recreation," The Pattern ofAustralian Culture 425.
12 Lawson, Selected Stories 390.
13 Lawson, Selected Stories 63.
14 Russel Ward, Concise History of Australia (1965; St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1992) 149.
15 See Roderick, Commentaries 179-180 for Lawson's experiences of goldfields and information of iron-bark trees.
16 Lawson, Selected Stories 174.
17 Lawson, Selected Stories 1 75.
18 Lawson, Selected Stories 175.
19 Lawson, Selected Stories 175-176.
20 Kokontei Shinchou, perf., Niban Senji (The Second Brew) audiocassette, Sony, 1982.
21 Lawson, Selected Stories 176.
22 The dialogue is translated by the present writer. Kokontei Shinchou, perf., Tukuda Matsuri (Tsukuda Festival) audiocassette, Sony, 1980.
23 The quotation is translated by the present writer. Yamamoto Susumu, Rakugo Handobukku (Handbook of Rakugo) (1996; Tokyo: Sanseidou, 2007) 88.
24 Lawson, Selected Stories 176.
25 Ward, Concise History ofAustralia 190.
26 Ward, Concise History ofAustralia 189.
139 27 Edwin O. Reischauer, The Japanese Today: Change and Continuity (1977; Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1988) 68-70.
28 Reischauer, Japanese 74,77.
29 Russel Ward, "The Social Fabric," The Pattern of Australian Culture 23.
30 Ward, "The Social Fabric," The Pattern of Australian Culture 24-25.
31 Babette Smith, Australias Birthstain: the Startling Legacy of the Convict Era (2008; Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2009) 111.
32 Beverley Kingston, The Oxford History of Australia (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2001) 277.
33 Kingston, Oxford History ofAustralia 278.
34 Lawson, Selected Stories 1 78.
35 Colin Roderick, ed., Henry Lawson Letters 1890-1922 (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1970) 94.
Chapter VI
1 John Barnes, Henry Lawsons Short Stories, Essays in Australian Literature (Melbourne: Shillington House, 1985) 33.
2 Henry Lawson, Selected Stories (Sydney: A & R Classics, 2001) 331.
3 Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson Commentaries on his Prose Writings (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1985) 262.
4 Lawson Selected Stories 329.
5 Lawson, Selected Stories 329.
6 Lawson, Selected Stories 332.
7 Lawson, Selected Stories 333.
8 Lawson, Selected Stories 327 and other pages of the stories of the
140 Joe Wilson's sequence.
9 T. Inglis Moore, Social Patterns in Australian Literature (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1971) 63.
10 Lawson, Selected Stories 330.
11 Henry Lawson, About the Author, Over the Sliprails, by Alan R. Light, (McLean: IndyPublish) 121.
12 Lawson, Selected Stories 339-340.
13 Patricia Grimshaw, Chris McConville, and Ellen McEwen, ed., Families in Colom'al Australia (North Sydney: George Allen & Unwin, 1985) 176-177.
14 Lawson,_Selected Stories 338.
15 Lawson,_Selected Stories 340.
16 Grimshaw, Families 178.
17 Grimshaw, Families 180.
18 Grimshaw, Famihes 180-181.
19 Kerreen M. Reiger, The Disenchantment of the Home: Modernizing the Australian Family 1880-1940 (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1985) 118.
20 Reiger, Disenchantment 118.
21 Lawson,_Selected Stories 329.
22 Lawson, Selected Stories 285.
23 Kingston, Oxford History ofAustralia 128-130.
24 Lawson, Selected Stories 330.
25 Lawson,_Selected Stories 331.
26 Lawson, Selected Stories 332-333.
27 Grimshaw, Families 184.
28 Grimshaw, Families 183.
29 Grimshaw, Families 182-183.
141 30 Grimshaw, Families 180. 31 Lawson, Selected Stories 331. 32 Grimshaw, Families 194. 33 Grimshaw, Families 194-195. 34 Grimshaw, Families 130. 35 Grimshaw, Families 131. 36 Grimshaw, Families 130. 37 Grimshaw, Families 131. 38 Barnes, HL. Short Stories 32. 39 Barnes, HL. Short Stories 33.
40 Colin Roderick, ed., Henry Lawson Letters 1890-1922 (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1970) 248.
41 Barnes, HL. Short Stories 33.
42 "Ned Kelly" New Concise Australian & New Zealand Enghsh -Japanese Dictionary, 2001 ed.
43 Russel Ward, The Australian Legend, 2nd ed. (1958; South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2005) 145-146.
44 Ward, Legend 145.
45 Ohama Eri, "Shiturakuen kara Amerikan Adamu to shite no
Hakkuruberii Fin e: Uchinaru Jiyuu 0 Shirube to shite (From Paradise Lost to Huckleberry Finn as an American Adam: Guided by Internal Freedom)"
Setsuri 0 Shirube to shite (Guided by Providence) eds. Arai Akira and Noro Yuko (Tokyo: Liber Press, 2003) 167.
46 Ohama, Setsuri 167.
47 Wilfred L. Guerin, Earle G. Labor, Lee Morgan, and John R. Willingham, A Handbook of Cn'tical Approaches to Literature (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1966) 145.
142 Chapter VII
1 Babette Smith, Australia's Birthstain: the Startling Legacy of the Convict Era (2008; Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2009) 2.
2 Smith, Birthstain 9.
3 Smith, Birthstain 33.
4 Peter Kirkpatrik, Personal interview. 20 July 2011.
5 Brian Kiernan, ed. Henry Lawson, Portable Australian Authors (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1976) 19.
6 Colin Roderick, ed. Henry Lawson Collected Thrse, Vol. 2, (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1968) 366.
7 Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson: A Life (North Ryde: Angus & Robertson, 1991) 7.
8 T. A. Coghlan and T. T. Ewing, The Progress of Australia in the Nineteenth Century (1903; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011) 11.
9 Manning Clark, A Short History of Australia, 3rd Rev. ed. (New York: Nal Penguin Inc., 1987) 124.
10 Russel Ward, The Australian Legend, 2nd ed. (1958; South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2005) 15-16.
11 Nagai Hideo and Oba Yukio, Hokkaido no Hyakunen (One Hundred Years of Hokkaido) , Kenmin Hyakunenshi (The One-Hundred-Year History of Prefectures) 1. (Tokyo: Yamakawa Shuppan, 1999) 58.
12 Tabata Hiroshi, et al. Hokkaido no Rekishi (The History of Hokkaido) , Ken Shi (The History of Prefectures) 1. (Tokyo: Yamakawa Shupan, 2000) 198-202.
13 Nagai, Hokkaido no Hvakunen 95.
14 Takakura Shinichiro, gen.ed. Hokkaido no Kenkyu (The Study of Hokkaido), vol. 5 (Osaka: Seibundo, 1983) 291-292.
143 15 Takakura, Hokkaido 297.
16 Takakura, Hokkaido 313.
17 Nagai, Hokkaido no Hyakunen 95.
18 Shigematsu Kazuyoshi, Hokkaido Kangoku no Rekishi (The History of Prisons in Hokkaido) (Tokyo: Shinzansha, 2004) 32.
19 Shigematsu, Kangoku 37.
20 Shigematsu, Kangoku 38.
21 World Atlasl. figure (Edinburgh: John Bartholomew & Son)
22 For details of "Tondenhei", see Takakura and Seki, Hokkaido no Fudo to Rekishi (The Climate and the History of Hokkaido), Fudo to Rekishi (Climate and History) 1 ppI41-145.
23 Smith, Birthstain 2.
24 Colin Roderick, The Real Henry Lawson (Adelade: Rigby, 1982) 140.
25 Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson Commentaries on his Prose Writings (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1985) 295-296.
26 Brian Jinks, comp., Yours Truly Henry Lawson (2004; Gulgong: 2005) 24.
27 Roderick, Collected verse, Vol 2, 392.
28 Deborah Beck, Hope in Hell: A History of Darhnghurst Gaol and the NationalArt School 2nd ed. (Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin, 2010) 20.
29 Roderick, Collected versel. Vol 2, 400.
30 Jinks,_Yours Truly9.
31 Meg Tasker and Lucy Sussex, '''That Wild Run to London': Henry and Bertha Lawson in England" Australian Literary Studies, vol. 23 (2007) 168.
32 Tasker, Wild Run to London 182-183.
33 Shigematsu Kazuyoshi, Zusetsu Sekai Kangokushi Jiten (The
144 Pictorial Dictionary of History of Prisons in the World) (Tokyo: Kashiwa Shobo, 2005.) 219 and 257.
34 Beck, Hope in Hell 20.
35 Colin Roderick, Henry Lawson: A Life (North Ryde: Angus & Robertson, 1991) 291-292.
36 Roderick, A Life 292,
37 Geoffrey Sherington, Austrah'a's Immigrants 2nd ed. (North Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1990) 10.
38 Sherington, Immigrants 10-11.
39 Con Costello, Botany Bay: The Story of the Convicts 1}ansported from Ireland toAustralia, 1791-1853(Dublin: The Mercier Press, 1987) 10. 40 Sherington, Immigrants 55. 41 Ward, Legend 49. 42 Costello, Botany Bay 133.
43 Costello, Botany Bay 133. 44 Ward, Legend 50.
45 Patricia Grimshaw, Chris McConville, and Ellen McEwen, ed., Families in Colonial Australia (North Sydney: George Allen & Unwin, 1985) 2.
46 Roderick, Commentaries 78.
47 Henry Lawson, Selected Stories (Sydney: A & R Classics, 2001) 186.
48 Henry Lawson, "A Fragment of Autobiography," Portable Australian Authors: Henry Lawson ed. Brian Kiernan (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1976) 29.
49 Lawson, Autobiography29-30.
50 Lawson, Selected Stories 402.
51 Lawson, Selected Stories 404.
145 52 Lawson, Autobiography 30.
53 Lawson, Autobiography 30-3l.
54 Kirkpatrick, Interview.
55 T. Inglis Moore, Social Patterns in Australian Literature (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1971) 51.
56 Lawson, Autobiography 32.
Conclusion
1 Manning Clark, Henry Lawson: The Men and the Legend (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1985) Ill.
2 Beverley Kingston, The Oxford History of Australia (South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2001) 108.
3 Dr Peter Kirkpatrick represented Henry Lawson as "the renovator of Australia" in the personal interview conducted on July 20,2011.
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