Henry Lawson the Drover's Wife
Henry Lawson’s short story The Drover’s Wife is a story about a Drover’s wife who has been living alone with her children for time to time which has lead to her being a rough manly woman and her experience at home with the children and the dangerous life style she lives. Henry Lawson has concentrated on the farmer section of the Australian society in this short story. The place the story is taken in is outback Australia in the bushes, it is a very deserted area with no other family or houses anywhere near the place the Drover’s wife lives at. The characters presented in this short story are the Drover’s wife and Alligator. The drover’s wife is a brave but lonely lady who lives with her 4 children while the husband is usually out working for long period of time. We never actually get her name as she is only referred to as the Drover’s wife. The alligator is the name the family have given to their dog that is very strong and powerful and quick. The dog is very friendly but only to its own family not to anyone else. The dog is showed to provide companionship to the lonely bush-woman. The main situation of this story is that there is a snake which is spotted by one of the kids which has entered the house or is around the house which scares the mum because she is worried about her kids, this leads to her making them sleep in the kitchen while she and her dog keep guard and try find the snake to kill. The place is shown to be a very deserted bush land and there are quotes which show us this, the first quote which support this is “bush all round—bush with no horizon, for the country is flat” and “nineteen miles to the nearest sign of civilization” both show what I have said before. The quote “she is not a coward, but recent events have shaken her nerves” and the quote 'and sail as far as a ship can sail-and further” also shows us her loneliness. The quote "She knows what this means, and lays her hand on the stick" shows us that she is ready and keen to strike at the snake