Identity Is Not Static but Always Changing

Within our Identity is: Our environment, our behaviour, our capabilities, our beliefs and values which defines who and what kind of person we are.

As we grow older we discover new things about us and how we identify ourselves, throughout the experiences we face in our lives. Identity formation is defined as the combination of personal, social and cultural experiences that combine to form an individual’s identity.

Identity is not static, and never will be; it is the result of continuous interaction with the environment. People in our lives such as friends, family, teachers and idols affect the way we identify ourselves; they are a big factor in building our personality. Past experiences we go through can also have an impact on our identity, if we're growing; we're always going to be out of our comfort zone. 

Another aspect of how identity continues to change is through communication with others.

The people we choose to be around with affects how we identify ourselves. Our friendships in and out of school play a big role in shaping how we act towards certain situations. 

A reference to Henry Lawson story about the drovers wife would be after her husband abandons her and she if left with her children. Her identity is forced to grow, and she is shaped into a stronger and supportive mother, although her old traits are still there, new ones have been added, strengthening her Identity.

Despite our identity continually developing over time, some aspects from earlier on in our lives stay constant. For example if you ask your parents what their favourite song is their not going to say "stupid hoe" by Nikki Minaj, but something they remember listening to when they were 16.

Because of this, past identities are still relevant to the present.

"what we are never changes, but who we are never stops changing"

Song - I Still Call Australia Home

I've been to cities that never close down,

From New York to Rio and old London town,

But no matter how far or how wide I roam,

I still call Australia home.

I'm always trav'lin',

And I love being free,

And so I keep leaving the sun and the sea,

But my heart lies waiting — over the foam.

I still call Australia home.

All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world,

Away from their families and friends,

But as the world gets older and colder and colder,

It's good to know where your journey ends.

But someday we'll all be together once more,

When all of the ships come back to the shore,

I realize something I've always known,

I still call Australia home.

But no matter how far or how wide I roam,

I still call Australia, I still call Australia,

I still call Australia home.

The Fair Go, Has Fairly Gone.

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The Union Buries it's dead

This story demonstrates the similarities between the past and now.

The quotes within the story suggest the drinking culture is present and active within Australia. Visiting the pub to drink and have some downtime is demonstrated as a part of their life and identity to escape the hardships of working in a desolate wasteland. "unionism is stronger than creed. Drink, however, it stronger than unionism… more than two thirds of the funeral were unable to follow. They were too drunk"

Even though the drowned man was not known to the people who attended his funeral, they took the effort to bury him because they were all members of the same Union. They took the liberty to take care of their own.

When the narrator expresses that nothing matters, he means that nothing is being taken seriously but it should be. People are drinking at a funeral too drunk to walk, a priest is being called the devil, and no respect is being shown. Women are absent in the story, probably staying at home in the bush. Henry Lawson is poking fun at the blokes.

Examples of humour include the "warning" given to the young man on horseback at the beginning of the story. The priest attending the funeral was also called a devil, and his hat held above his head, even when he's standing in shade.

Examples of the physical discomfort of the day is expressed throughout the story. The holy water is said to have evaporated as soon as the drops hit the coffin, and the hot dusty road on the way to the cemetery.