The Loaded Dog.doc

The Loaded Dog LawsonThe Loaded Dog is one of the most formulaic of Lawsons conventional bush yarns. There is some conjecture as to whether this story may have been based on real events or simply based on folkloric exaggeration. Lawson frequented an old camp for bullock teams and got a lot of his ideas for stories from here. How much of these stories are true and how much are exaggeration.The story starts with an extended discussion of the plan made by Andy and Dave. They both have different skills. Dave is the ideas man whilst we are told that Andy usually put Daves theories into practice if they were practicable.The detailed description of the process serves a dual purpose: firstly it helps to provide a sketch of the process that is a particular skill to miners, although to add to the drama we are told that : He made a cartridge about three times the size of those they used in the rock.; finally the distinctively visual account of the process of custom designing this explosive provides great suspense for the story. An explosive such as this has only one purpose, and thats to explode. The inevitability of the outcome for the bomb itself is palpable. How this will happen is the point of interest for the story.The story gains a sense of the ludicrous through the fact that the whole purpose of Andys creation is to go fishing, yet Andy is set to go to great lengths with his invention. What adds to this is that their third mate, the sensible one, acts as a foil for Dave and Andys folly when were told by the omniscient narrator that Jim Bentley, by the way, wasnt interested in their silliness. This happens after the introduction of the dog and the creation of the bomb. It seems the two items are set on a collision course for mayhem particularly when the sensible member of the group predicts that not good can come of this.The big black young retriever dog is injected into the story in an engaging way. It would seem that he has been around the miners for too long because he seems to share their personality and it seems wants to be a part of their group and is prepared to be equally as silly as Jim believes the others are. It is important that Tommy is a retriever as the nature of retrievers is to want to return an item to those that he loves. This creates the problem. Also they provide the most engaging of pets. The distinctively visual image helps to support the endearing roguish qualities that Tommy displays. Firstly we are told that he is an overgrown pup, a big, foolish, four-footed mate, who was always slobbering after them and lashing their legs with his heavy tail that swung round like a stock-whip. The use of the stock-whip imagery provides a distinctively bush feel to this surreal story. His silliness is explored at length including mention of his almost meta-cognitive recognition of this fact making the story more absurd through personification. We are also told of his past record of retrieving a one week dead cat so kindly returned to the inside flap of their tent. Despite his silliness we are told didactically that they loved him for his good-heartedness and foolishness. The second phase of the story starts with the imperative us of direct speech: “Run, Andy! Run!. Run! Look behind you, you fool! Danger is apparent as we are told, predictably, that the dog had the cartridge and was following with its broadest and silliest grin. The dog had brushed fuse in the fire and .now it was hissing and spitting properly. The use of sound imagery as well as personification adds to the distinctively knockabout comic farce that develops. The use of sibilance with the fuse accentuates not only the distinctively visual but also the comically farcical: the live fuse swishing in all directions and hissing and spluttering and stinking.Adding to the comedy is the fact that Dave bravely made a dive for the dog and retrieves the cartridge throwing it far away but not far enough that it couldnt be retrieved in time for a bit more comic relief. Both Andy and Dave curse and throw sticks at the dog to make him go away. This gives Jim his turn at dealing with poor Tommy. He climbs a sapling that wont hold his weight. The responder knows that time is short as the fuse sounded as though it as going a mile a minute. The sound imagery which extends from the earlier sibilance is repeated her with more urgency to create a sense of urgency and suspense. The sapling gives way and Jim hits the ground running. The dog abandons Jim and takes off after Dave again who heads for the bar.The bar itself provides a particularly bush Australian image of an iconic country social centre: there were several casual Bushmen on the verandah; some shut themselves in the stable; there was a new weather-board and corrugated-iron kitchen and wash-house on piles in the backyard. After describing these particularly bush buildings we are introduced to the unexpected resolution to this story. Lawson provides no time for us to feel empathy with this antagonist and provides evidence that almost everyone is best rid of this vicious yellow mongrel cattle-dog. There is an accumulation of descriptive words that are used to describe this dog each of them carries a distinctively villainous and necessarily negative connotation: sneaking, fighting, thieving canine, whom neighbours had tried for years to shoot or poison. Even his associate dogs are given these negative human features as they are described as spidery, thievish, cold-blooded kangaroo dogs, mongrel sheep and cattle dogs, vicious black and yellow dogs. yapping yelping small fry.Instead of the expected climax Lawson allows the responder to imagine the result of this event. This is done masterfully through the use of ellipsis: He (the yellow dog) sniffed at the cartridge twice, and was just taking a third cautious sniff when it was a very good blasting powder.The use of exaggeration and the purpose of the story as sketch folkloric yarn is clearly revealed as the next paragraph begins Bushmen say that the kitchen jumped off its piles and back on again This is obviously a story told around the fireplace and has been embellished through many tellings.The denouement likewise has that distinctively visual feel to it as the retriever returns: Smiling his broadest, longest, and reddest smile of amiability, and apparently satisfied for one afternoon with the fun hed had. This is a cyclical return to the personified nature of the dog and to the humour of the story.The humour of the peculiarly bush community is accentuated by the distinctively lazy drawl of bushmen passing Daves campsite for years to come who lampoon Dave by saying: “El-lo, Da-a-ve! Hows the fishin getting on, Da-a-ve? QuestionsThe beauty of this story is in the roguish qualities of the dog. It is liked from the start and even its scampish activities come across favourably to the responder. We can enjoy the humour because we expect that all will end well in the end despite the suspense that is created. 1. Outline three images that support this idea2. To what extent do you feel Tommy is personified. (Give