In a Dry Season Essay Example
In a Dry Season Essay Example

In a Dry Season Essay Example

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  • Pages: 3 (627 words)
  • Published: November 16, 2017
  • Type: Essay
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Henry Lawson tells stories of life in the Australian bush and its early inhabitants. His unique view of the bush conflicts with most modern views of Life in “Outback Australia”. His attitude does not support the positive opinion most people convey about the bush as he has spent a considerable amount of his life in the bush where he experienced first hand its harsh nature. The three texts studied, a drover’s wife, In a Dry Season and Fried Green Tomatoes all reflect the composer’s attitude and living environment.

The exploration of these texts delves into the elemental development of characters, setting and plot and their relationship with the composer. Further more the exploration of the characters and the plot allude to the interaction between characters and events, this interaction allows us to distill the authors concerns. In a Dry Se

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ason is a story about Henry Lawson’s monotonous train journey to Bourke and the harsh conditions of the outback which is shown through Lawson’s perspective from the train window.The harsh conditions of the bush conveyed are metaphorically representing the circumstances in which people live by in the bush as a result from social injustice. The statement that implies that the bush workers are only differentiated by their hat or facial expression further supports the theme of social injustice and its universal impact amongst bush communities.

The train passes through several towns which consist of a pub and a general store, the main components of bush towns, yet their maybe the occasional building which is unique yet the foundation of the town makes every town alike.This implies the widespread effect of the barren landscape and the hopelessness o

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the people searching for work. In a Dry Season focuses on the landscape of the bush and the setting in which the characters are associated with. Lawson’s understanding and experience of the bush life allows us to develop an understanding of the setting as it provides the opportunity for us to reflect on the importance of time and place. This reinforces the notion of Stories reflecting their composer’s culture and experience.As an indication by the title, the setting to is dry, Lawson suggests not only an arid landscape but also a bareness in terms of hope, emotion and imagination.

Lawson has written this text in a dismissive tone, demonstrated in the first paragraph “Draw a wire fence and a few ragged gums, and add some scattered sheep running away from the train. Then you’ll have the bush all along the New South Wales western line from Bathurst on. ” This statement dismisses the dry and barren landscape of the bush giving no recognition to the bush environment.Following this statement we are left with a serious of tableau’s giving a series of impressions.

These impressions are a representation of Lawson’s attitude towards the bush further supporting that stories are a reflection of their composer’s values. Despite the dismissive tense, Lawson does not write in a judgmental tone, he does not criticise the bush yet he merely presents the bush landscape as it is. The story is written in first person, allowing Lawson to create an emotional distance between the bush life and landscape.Lawson’s description is generalized and has a deep lack of imagination; it alludes to the fact that the harshness of the environment has caused

the death of imagination.

This is further amplified by the absence of emotive adjectives. “The railway towns consist of a public house and a general store, with a square tank and a school-house on piles in the nearer distance. ” The dilapidation of the building suggests the desolation of each place and the fact the towns all appear to be the same.

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