Sample Lawson Essay
It is not until one is placed in another’s shoes, that they fully understand the hardships
that the other must face. In The Penguin Henry Lawson’s Short Stories ‘The drover’s wife’
and ‘In a Dry Season’ and ‘African Beggar’ Raymond Tong, distinctively visual language
that creates images is employed so that the responder can establish perceptions of and
relationships with the personas and their worlds.
The establishment of images through the use of distinctively visual language in Lawson’s
‘In a dry season’ allows the responder to connect with both the personas and their
environment. The first word ‘draw’ is indicative of what Lawson has anticipated for the rest
of the pure sketch. ’a wire fence and a few ragged gums…Then you’ll have the bush’. This
effective use of a direct imperative followed by bland but valuable concrete sensory
description as well as the listing of ‘a public house and a general store, with a square tank
and a schoolhouse’ to describe the towns contents and the afterthought ‘but the shutters
are up and the place empty’ pressure the responder to picture an idle and unfruitful
image. The monotony of the environment is highlighted through these techniques and the
responder instantly dislikes the Australian bush due to its sameness, predictability and
desolation.
Distinctively Visual Language creates images that allow the responder to establish
relationships with the personas and their environment. Lawson wields a generous amount
of sarcasm and humour into the sketch. Examples include the aside- ‘death is about the
only cheerful thing in the bush’, the exclamation ‘they talk of settling people on the land!
Better settle people in it’ and ‘leaning in one of the eight possible directions’ These allude
to lifelessness and death, evoking images of an empty, boring and uneventful place in
ones mind which is further accentuated by ‘by a way of variety, the artist might make a
watercolour-sketch of a fettlers tent on the line’ to highlight the lack of activity at the
bush. This results in an understanding and admiration of what those who dwell in the
inhumane conditions of the bush must face and is consequential to a relationship of
contempt with the environment.
Similar to ‘In a dry season’, in ‘The drover’s wife’ Lawson creates powerful images by
employing distinctively visual language that enables the responder to feel the hardships
that others face. Concrete sensory description is effectively used to create a beautiful
image when The Drover’s wife sits to watch the snake all night. ‘A green sapling club laid
in readiness on the dresser by her side, together with her sewing basket and copy of the
young ladies journal.’ The journal is symbolic of the approach she takes in not letting the
bush take away her femininity. Juxtaposing to this, the club is symbolic of what she needs
to do, it displays her innovative ways and her ability to be content with her lifestyle. The
sewing basket acts as a ‘bridge’ between the two as it represents both sides of the
woman. Images of a resourceful, cooperative and woman of sophistication are conjured
up in the responders mind. One is able establish a relationship of commendation with the
drover’s wife whilst despising the Australian Bush for what it puts her through.
Lawson’s choices of verbs are very powerful when creating a distinctively visual image in
the responders mind in ‘The Drover’s Wife’. When the drover’s wife goes to hit the snake,
‘snatches’ is used to create images of immediacy, courage and a quick thinker within the
responder’s mind, whilst ‘darts’ is employed to create generate a image of a menace, the
woman has no hesitation in hitting the snake and she darts because she is a protector and
loves her children. The TECHNIQUE ‘ she seems contented with her lot’ and ‘she has a
keen, very keen, sense of the ridiculious’ further reflect the strong willed qualities that the
drover’s wife posses. These images bring jealous admiration into the relationship that the
responder shares with the drover’s wife as regard her as a ‘woman of all trades’ in the
Australian bush and they recognize that they wouldn’t be able to be as resilient as she is if
they were to face the gruelling conditions of the environment.
Similar to the work of Henry Lawson, distinctively visual language is utilised in Raymond
Tong’s ‘African Beggar’ that allows the responder to perceive and create a relationship
with the persona and his world in a particular and therefore understand the adversity he
faces. The metaphor ‘a heap of verminous rags and matted hair’ is used to establish an
image of a ‘thing’ rather than a human as ‘verminous’ is often associated with flies and
‘matted hair’ creates images of filth, dust and neglect of physical hygiene. This is then
juxtaposed to the next metaphor ‘he watches with cunning eyes’ as it challenges the
responders pre-existing perceptions of the persona and instead conjures up images of
reptile like creature watching for pray in the responders mind. The pronoun ‘he’ and
description ‘smallpoxed face’ are used to remind the responder that this is a person and
their negative perception of the beggar are further explored. The responder upholds a
relationship of disgust with the beggar, as they are unable to comprehend how a human
can be in such a state.
The sudden change of tone in the third stanza of ‘African Beggar’ enables the responder to
re-establish the perception and relationship that they had previously created with the
beggar. ‘lost in the trackless jungle of his pain’ is an example of symbolism used to
demonstrate that there is pain in the whole of the beggars body and it suggests that the
amount of pain is endless. The responder visualises someone struggling for life and they
begin to feel sympathetic towards the beggar, the first line of the third stanza ‘lying all
alone’ additionally highlights this. The personification ‘clutching the pitiless red earth in
vain’ helps to further pressure the responder to feel sympathetic towards the beggar as
clutching indicates his desperation and the colour red personifies the blood of life,
nourishment, energy and strength. The responder is able to conceptualise this beautiful
image and they uphold a relationship of sorrow and deep pity for the beggar, whilst
discovering intolerance for the world he is stuck in due to the adversity it imposes upon
him.
Both Henry Lawson’s short stories and ‘African Beggar’ by Raymond Tong contain
distinctively visual language that allow the responder to feel the hardships that the
personas pursue by being encapsulated in their world through the images that are created
in their mind. “A writer should write with his eyes and a painter with his ears.” -Gertrude
Stein.