The Union Buries Its Dead

by Henry Lawson

Respect for the dead is an concept that is present in the general global society. Henry Lawson explores themes of national value and respect in regards to the dead, as well as Australian identity within our small communities. 

Lawson illustrates how people create small communities of friends and family, with which they share a connection and bond, but often don’t care to stray far away from this community. He perfectly demonstrates how people rarely care about strangers; an exception of this is the dead. ‘We didn’t take much notice of him,’ is a common thought after interacting with a stranger, especially one from out of town. This displays the disregard people have for humans outside of their community.  

‘Four or five of funeral, who were borders at the pub,’ shows how people gain respect for people once they die, even if they had never known the deceased personally. This respect grows when the townspeople find out the dead man was a ‘union man’. Respect is a large part Australian national value, particularly for military and service people (and union in the late 1800’s - early 1900’s). 

Lawson accurately portrays the short time this mourning lasts, while they respected James John Tyson (deceased) during the immediacy of his death, it didn’t last long ‘for we had already forgotten the name.’