Cirrus@Austlit

Kiernan questions whether Such is Life reflects the "spirit of the nineties" and whether the ideas that Tom Collins expresses in his digressions are simply Joseph Furphy expressing ideas prevalent at the time. Kiernan concludes that Tom Collins' digressions must be read against the contradictions of his actions because his philosophy does not always match his behaviour: "Man's relationship to the universe and his fellow man are the real concern of Such is Life, not the presentation of Australian fronteir society, and the novel offers us Tom Collins's comic response to life rather than Furphy's 'philosophy'".

Robson examines Clarke's use of recorded history and the extent to which these records were adapted for the purposes of the narrative. While some items were exaggerated for effect, others are almost exact transcriptions of original records. Robson concludes that His Natural Life is far from the truth in terms of the incidents surrounding Rufus Dawes, but he acknowledges that Clarke's use of recorded history produced "a more effective human document than it otherwise might have been.