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Sample Lawson EssayIt 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. ................
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