SOURCE: "Narrative Technique in Lawson's Joe Wilson Stories," in Southerly, Vol. 37, No. 1, March, 1977, pp. 97-107.

While the Joe Wilson stories are generally considered to represent Henry Lawson's prose style at its best, little attention has been paid to the narrative technique on which that style depends.

Joe, as narrator, attains the successful balance of objectivity and imaginative evocation sought in Lawson's previous stories. The older Joe Wilson maintains an almost objective detachment in the narration of his own earlier life. This tone of detachment is struck in the generalizing reflections of the opening of "Joe Wilson's Courtship": "There are many times in this world when a healthy boy is happy". The balance between this objective tone and that of personal reminiscence is soon introduced: "I wasn't a healthy-minded, average boy . . .". The balance created by the narrative voice allows for shifts in perspective throughout the story. Whenever there is...