The Union Buries its

Dead
by
Henry Lawson
 Context
"The Union Buries Its Dead" is a short story by Henry Lawson in which a young
man drowns while fording his horses in the river. The story describes the funeral
procession in the Outback for the young man who, though a stranger in town, is
nevertheless given a funeral because he was a fellow union laborer. Lawson
uses the story to satirize the overly romanticized "bush life" and the Union's
commitment to respecting its members.
Angus and Robertson published the story in the collection While the Billy Boils
in 1896.

The story was described by Historian Manning Clarke like this:

“He (Lawson) was telling Australians that the bush barbarians had their own
way of showing they know just as well as the author of the book of Ecclesiastes
what life was all about” - Cited in “Studies in Australian Classic Fiction”
2
 Structure
Short Story or sketch Narration
❏ Use of narrator as ❏ First Person
the eyes and the ears
of the reader. Character/s
❏ Short sentences ❏ Unnamed narrator
❏ The dead man
Setting ❏ Procession of
❏ The Australian Bush mourners
 Structure
❏ Vernacular colloquialisms
❏ Use of Allusion
❏ Sentence length
❏ Language Devices- Humour
- Descriptive language
- irony
Themes
● A Bushman's Approach to Hardship-Several
times throughout the text, the narrator repeats the sentiment that it
"doesn't matter." His approach, therefore, seems to include a dismissal
of any difficult emotion.

● Isolation of Bush Life- The residents of the town, for

example, are portrayed as raging alcoholics, using substances to cope
with the harshness of bush life. The main plot event, the death of the
bushman, is also a reminder in itself of the isolation of that lifestyle. The
man dies alone in the bush, unknown even to his family members, and
the town cannot even remember his name.

● Respect for the Dead- The story shows a lack of respect

for the dead and the ritual of the funeral. Lawson was an atheist.
Themes continued
● Class Divisions- revulsion brought up by the presence of
class divisions demonstrates the emphasis Lawson, and other
writers of his time, placed on a new egalitarian Australian national
consciousness.

● Religious Devotion -the heavy presence of religious

imagery throughout the text underscores the importance of the
church to bush life and historically, in Australia.

● Community vs. Strangers- Throughout the text,

characters are repeatedly referred to as "strangers." The
boundary between community and strangers is not always well-
defined and in fact depends on the relative associations
between characters.
 Through the use of the narrator,
Lawson allows us as readers to
examine the idea of respect for the
dead. He highlights how some men
are unable to attend the funeral as
they succumb to the drink and lose
respect for the individual.
The fact that the dead man was
unknown to all and we even learn
that the name given is incorrect
suggests the growing divide between
tradition and the new ‘bush’
7 landscape.
 Find one example/quote from the text to support each of the
themes.

A Bushman's Approach to Hardship:

Isolation of Bush Life:

Respect for the Dead:

Class Divisions:

Religious Devotion:

Community VS Strangers:

8
 How has Lawson broken down romantic notions of the bush in his short

story ‘The Union Buries its Dead’? Provide quotes to support your

thesis.

Begin with:

What has Lawson done within the structure of the short story -

‘The Union Buries its Dead’?

How has he achieved it?

Why and how did he write it for a new Australian audience?

9
 How has Henry Lawson affirmed or challenged
cultural stereotypes?
Begin by asking yourself what stereotypes have
been depicted by Lawson within his short stories.
Have they been positively conveyed and if so,
where?
Have they been negatively conveyed and if so,
where?

(If you are finding it hard to write a substantial

piece, write some dot points so that you can start to
recognise where you are seeing a range of ideas
and processes being utilised by Lawson.)

10
 A retelling of
the story
The Union Buries its Dead

11