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.