Many of the short stories by Henry Lawson deal with isolation or mateship, however not many of them deal with a combination of the two. The characters in Lawson's stories have a strong sense of community, but they must still stand alone in order to survive. Some are alone because they must be, some because they want to be, some are a definite part of a group and still remain alone. Some are not as …showed first 75 words of 987 total…

…showed last 75 words of 987 total…sometimes fate intervenes. The stories of Henry Lawson deal with all these themes of isolation, and the theme that is strongest is that of survival, for even though all his characters seem to be clearly alone or in company, most often they are alone in a sense that is an essential part of the power of his stories. They are alone in that they can rely upon, truly constantly rely upon, only one person. Themselves.