Plot:

- The story starts off with the narrator and some of his friends out boating one
Sunday afternoon on a billabong.
- They meet a man on a horseback driving some horses along the bank and he asks
them if the water in the billabong was deep.
- The joker within the group tells him that it was deep enough to drown him and he
laughed a rode away.
- The narrator and his friends didn’t take much notice of him.
- The next day, a funeral gathered at the corner pub of the town for a man who had
drowned the previous day while trying to swim some horses across a billabong.
- He was a stranger in the town, and it was the fact that he was a union man that
accounted for the funeral.
- There were about fourteen to fifteen people who attended the procession and they
were all as much strangers to each other as to the corpse.
- They walked in twos and passed by two pubs and three shearers, and everyone
they passed showed respect to the dead be it keeping quiet or tilting their hats.
- Then, the narrator and his friends realize that the dead man was the same person
whom they had met yesterday while out boating.
- They regretted not taking much notice of him, and that they would have it they
had known they’d be the last people to see him alive.
- Soon, they reached the cemetery, with the narrator and some of his friends talking
about their close encounters with death.
- The priest was already there and then the procession started and everyone showed
respect to the dead man.
- The grave was described by the narrator as very narrow and he heaved a sign of
relief when the coffin slid easily down.
- After the funeral, the narrator and his friends learn that the name which the man
went about with was James John Tyson.
- They did hear about his real name later on, but soon forgot about it.

Characteristics
- Narrator
1) Respectful: he attended the funeral though the dead man was a stranger to him at
first “We were all strangers to the corpse” pg 58
2) Forgetful, not sentimental: he forgot the real name of the dead man despite
showing so much respect “for we have already forgotten the name” pg 63
3) Observant: he noticed everything that was happening in the surroundings “The
drops quickly evaporated, and the little round black spots they left were soon
dusted over…”pg 60 “The grave looked very narrow under the coffin…” pg 61
4) Humorous: literature humor “Drink, however, is stronger than unionism…” pg 58
“Perhaps not one of the fourteen possessed a soul any more than the corpse
did…” pg 58 “ ‘There’s the devil’ I looked up and saw the priest” pg 60

- James
1) Cautious: he was cautious enough to question the depth of the billabong “He said
it was a fine day and asked if the water was deep there” pg 57
 2) Carefree: he didn’t take the answer of the joker seriously “and he laughed and
rode further up” pg 57
3) Loner: no one knows him “We were all strangers to the corpse” pg 58

- Townsfolk
1) Respectful: everyone which the coffin passed showed respect to it “Bushmen
seldom grumble at an inconvenience of this sort, when it was caused by a funeral.
They have too much respect for the dead” pg 59 “The other two covered their
right ears with their hats, out of respect for the departed” pg59
2) Disrespectful at the same time: “He took off his hat, dropped it carelessly on the
ground” pg 60 “The father, be it remembered, was standing in the shade.” Pg 61
3) Unobservant: no one ever took much notice of the man when he was still alive
“We were all strangers to the corpse” pg 58
4) They are drunkards: “Drink, however, is stronger than unionism…” pg 58
“Perhaps not one of the fourteen possessed a soul any more than the corpse
did…” pg 58

Themes
- Identity vs. anonymity: the people knew the dead man as the man who drown or
James John Tyson, and later learn his real name later on but soon forgot about it
“we knew him as ‘that poor chap that got drowned yesterday’” pg 63 vs. “for we
have already forgotten the name” pg 63 Also no one is named, probably they
don’t know one another or they don’t care, even though they all do things
together.
- Ignorance vs. knowledge: the people learn the name of the dead man but forgot
about it after a while “We did hear, later on, what his real name was” pg 63 vs.
“for we have already forgotten the name” pg 63 The town seems to be in favor of
ignorance, as seen from how they are always drunk as they choose not to know.
Also not one of the townsfolk is named in the story, and only outsiders are named.
- Tradition and customs: it was sort of like a custom in the town to respect the dead
even though the dead was a complete stranger “We were all strangers to the
corpse” pg 58 and “Bushmen seldom grumble at an inconvenience of this sort,
when it was caused by a funeral. They have too much respect for the dead” pg 59
and “The other two covered their right ears with their hats, out of respect for the
departed” pg59 Customs are important within the town as that is what they use to
differentiate themselves from others.

Setting
- Sexism: the story did not have any women in it and this showed the sexism
present then in society
- Absence of women within the story: the absence of women in the story made the
story less emotional and thus a tragedy as we see hardly any-one crying over the
dead man
- The dry and hot weather: the hot and dry weather showed the cheapness and
shabbiness of the cloth covering the coffin and thus also shows the apathy of the
townsfolk to the dead man “The drops quickly evaporated, and the little round
black spots they left were soon dusted over, but the spots showed, by contrast, the
cheapness and shabbiness of the cloth with which the coffin was covered.” pg 60
The weather is merciless to the townsfolk, like how the townsfolk is to other
people.