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Dobrez questions why Lawson frequently lapsed into inferior kinds of inspiration such as sentimentality, melodrama, or cliche, and failed to pursue the "truth" further . Dobrez blames this on Lawson's lack of courage to transcend his audience and sustain the artistic tensions of his greatest passages.
Discusses the novel's historical sources and implications (Irish and Australian) and the complexities of the relationship between the two main characters, Phelim Halloran and Robert Hearn.
Argues that Henry Kingsley, whose nephew had claimed that he served for some time in the Australian Mounted Police, may have considered joining, but "learned of the necessity of having to attend executions and refrainded from doing so" (420).