Henry Lawson's short story, "The Union Buries Its Dead," is a short story that explores the themes of poverty, injustice, and the struggle for workers' rights. Lawson's work speaks of some issues of inequality and social justice. In this speech I will explore the ways in which Lawson's work challenges ideas about class, power, and the role of the individual in society. This essay will argue that "The Union Buries Its Dead" continues to resonate with readers today. Today, I will be talking about, Henry Lawson, and his short story, The Union Buries Its Dead. It portrays the resilience, determination, and stoicism that is characteristic of the Australian people. The Union Buries Its Dead is a story about the death of a union member, Jim Bently, who dies in a mining accident. The story follows the union members as they prepare for his funeral and the aftermath of his death. The story is set in the harsh Australian outback, where life is tough, and death is a common occurrence. …show more content…
This is evident in the way they have faced natural disasters such as bushfires and floods, and in the way they have adapted to the challenges of modern life. The Union Buries Its Dead is a perfect example of the stoicism that shows how stoic Australian people are but not showing any emotionduring the harshes times.The union members in the story are faced with the death of one of their own, but they remain determined to honor him in the best way possible. They work tirelessly to prepare for his funeral, and they do so with a sense of dignity and purpose. The story also highlights the importance of community in the Australian way of life. The union members come together to support each other in the face of adversity. They share their grief and their burden, and they do so with a sense of solidarity. This sense of community is a fundamental aspect of the Australian way of life, and it is what makes us
Grant utilises traumatic anecdotes, allusion to contemporary issues and his first person’s point of view to bring forth the readers values and attitudes of accountability for the past, and criticalness of previous actions against Indigenous people. For example, Grant details personal tales of how his grandmother was turned away from the hospital because “she was giving birth to the child of a black person”. The anecdote attacks the latter part of the Australian Dream, stating “(..)deep sense of belonging that allows all Australian to thrive” which was unfortunately not the case where Grant’s elder was reprimanded of her right to treatment. Furthermore, Grant talks about his grandfather who fought wars for Australia but came back to a nation where “he couldn’t even share a drink with his digger mates in the pub because he was black”. The anecdotes again contradicts core Australian values of mateship and equality as Grant’s grandfather who served alongside his caucasian friends was not recognized as a citizen thus was denied the ability to socialise with his soldiers.
In the poem, ‘Shame’ by Kevin Gilbert, it exemplifies stereotypes and the prejudice surrounding Aboriginal Australians in a more modern-day Australia. Lines like ““Shame” when we live on the riverbanks, while collectin’ our welfare cheques”, shows White Australia’s many existing prejudices around Aboriginal peoples’ ways of life. The way that our country has treated our first nation’s peoples has embedded a sense of shame within Indigenous Australians for living their lives differently. The repetition of the word ‘shame’ reinforces this idea of the shame felt by Aboriginal Australians and illustrates the constant reminder that Indigenous Australians should be ashamed of their ways of life, despite white Australia’s major role in perpetuating dangerous stereotypes around our First nations people. However the ending line “
In it, Macleod evinces how inequality is supported by those at the top and the bottom and how the structure of inequality itself is stagnant. Through the young working class men dubbed the Brothers, Jay Macleod illustrates the hopelessness in their attempts at Makin’
Dixon uses this poetic device to make abstract or unfamiliar ideas concepts more concrete and easier to understand, visualize and remember. This encourages the reader to realize that Indigenous Australians saw people like A. O. Neville, who presided with the policy to remove Aboriginal children from their families, as the devil. This device helps communicate the message by showing how much members of the Stolen Generations have suffered. This also makes the audience understand why this practice has had such a negative and ongoing impact on First Nations
Throughout this analysis we will take a critical look at the aboriginal identity, the suffering these people go through mentally and physically, and their relationship with the government (Anzovino & Boutilier 2015). The
The provocative vivid image of the Australian outback emphasise the loneliness, solidarity and emotional and mental impact of the bushmen. In ‘the drover’s wife’, Lawson depicts the hardships and isolation of the drover’s wives living in the Australian Outback during the early 1900’s. The distinctively visuals explore the woman’s power and courage developed whilst raising her children in the isolated environment. In Maus, Spigelman exhibits the holocaust memoir by his father and a holocaust survivor, Vladak. The provoking images of the war and survival conveys the hardships and the suffering gained from the
The short story Life in the Iron-Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis revolves around a lower-classed American citizen named Hugh Wolfe in the mid-1800s, who cannot be blamed and prosecuted for his decision to keep the money and try to make a better life for himself. Rebecca Harding Davis sets the story up to show the early struggles of Hugh’s life: “A morbid, gloomy man, untaught, unled, left to feed his soul in grossness and crime, and hard, grinding labor” (Davis 10). Davis uses Hugh’s life as a representation of how society functioned at the time. Unfortunately for Hugh, the class system is set up in a way where it is nearly impossible to reach a higher social status, leaving Hugh confined in his lugubrious, lower-class life. Davis also reveals
Some historians (Mason, 2002; Wilcox, 2011) agree that there was social division amongst the community concerned over conscription and the importance of the war effort, although McKernan (1980) and Lawless, Young & Cameron (2000) outlines the disconnection between the returning soldiers (who would form the Return and Services League) and the rest of the community. The social divide is a reflection of Australia’s maturation and realisation of the
The Australian outback acts as a significant cultural symbol that embodies the essence of Australian life. The outback takes centre stage in both Wake In Fright and Picnic At Hanging Rock, standing as a powerful backdrop against which both narratives unfold. Through their portrayal of the outback, Wake In Fright and Picnic At Hanging Rock communicate themes of isolation, danger, and the unknown. The vastness and unforgiving nature of the outback represent the physical and emotional isolation experienced by Australians. It reflects the immense challenges faced by those in remote areas, emphasising the sheer resilience and resourcefulness required to survive.
He continues on passionately and fades into a proud tone as he explains that Australia Day is a day to celebrate the country’s unique diversity, and multicultural nation. Through his use of inclusive language such as ‘we’ and ‘our’, Roberts-Smith is able to create a sense of inclusion for the reader and makes them realise that they should be celebrating their country’s unique diversity. Coupling this with the reinforcement from facts and statistics such as ’65 percent of Aussies marked the day in some way last year’ and ‘16,000 new Aussies chose Australia Day of all days to become Australia Citizens’, shows the reader the amount of pride the people in Australia have for their country. It is clear that Roberts-Smith is passionate about his point of view and arguments similar to Russell who is equally passionate about his arguments and point of view. In which each writers passion assists them in making their individual pieces more succinct and
The war killed tens and thousands of Australian soldiers, with many wounded, injured or taken as prisoners. The war left a long lasting impact on Australia in many aspects which will be discussed throughout this essay. Australia’s society was significantly impacted by the war both
Life cycle, deals with how Victorias are influenced by AFL. It satirises the fact that AFL for people has become a religion as such. It describes the general cycle of life of a resident of Victoria. From birth people are encouraged to barrack for their teams, and build a life around AFL. This “religion” is implied on the “innocent monsters” by their parents and surroundings.
A gorgeous legend that starts with a friendly hand outstretched and ends with an agonizing death. It weaves the legend full of sacrifice and the aftermath of death. It covers the true value of sacrifice and how much it means to those left behind. How those people honor them once they have passed. The importance of having people around you that care enough to sacrifice everything for you, how those people deal with their grief if they ever lose you.
Social inequality is overlooked by many. It affects so many of us, though we have yet to realize how extreme it is. Lee argues in this novel how much stress social inequalities put on the black and white races throughout the 1930s. Although, social inequalities did not just affect different races, it also affected poor people and family backgrounds. These are proven in the novel multiple times through Boo Radley, Tom Robinson, and the Cunninghams when the book is looked at more in
Inequality between social classes has been a problem for humanity since social organization exists. The texts “I Am The People, The Mob” by Carl Sandburg and “The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats” by Nick Hanauer both address an issue about inequality, relevant for each’s author’s context. While “The Pitchforks Are Coming… For Us Plutocrats” expresses a point of view for higher class people and about a modern-day problem, “I Am The People, The Mob” describes a problem in a context of a century before and for a less wealthy class. Text C, “I Am The People, The Mob” is a poem written in 1916, for an audience of people that were not part of the higher social classes but were oppressed by them.