Social Class and Hierarchy

The book extensively examines the rigid social stratification of Australian station life, from the manager's house to the men's hut, and the tensions between wage-slaves, squatters, and officials, often using biblical and feudal analogies.

The chapter contrasts the pretensions of the English gentleman Willoughby with the practical lives of colonial bullock drivers, exploring the tension between inherited status and the demands of a new society.

The narrator's pipe-dream sermon condemns the rich man's exploitation of the poor and the church's complicity in maintaining inequality.