# Steelman — While the Billy Boils character guide

> Steelman in While the Billy Boils by Henry Lawson.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** The Great Steelman, Steelman Steelman

**First appearance:** 0021-steelman

## Snapshot

A velvet-tongued trickster who stages his partner Smith as a dying consumptive to milk sympathy from strangers, then scolds him for being a mug.

## Who they are

Steelman divides the world into 'spielers and mugs,' and he is emphatically the former, using greasepaint, borrowed rags, and a carefully rehearsed Aberdeen backstory to transform Smith into a convincing death's-door beggar. He is by turns cruelly exacting and theatrically tender, dressing Smith down for his stupidity even as he engineers every detail of the performance. His elaborate deceptions expose the thin line between bush hospitality and the predatory ingenuity of those who live by their wits.

## Relationships

### [The Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/characters/the_narrator)

_psychological_

Steelman is a cunning conman and manipulator who frequently uses the narrator as a dupe or accomplice in his schemes.

### [Jim Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/characters/jim_brown)

_friendship_

Jim Brown is Steelman's gullible but loyal mate, often the target of Steelman's tricks but remaining a companion.

### [The Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/characters/the_narrator)

_psychological_

Steelman is a cunning conman and manipulator who frequently uses the narrator as a dupe or accomplice in his schemes.

### [The Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/characters/the_narrator)

_psychological_

Steelman is a cunning conman and manipulator who frequently uses the narrator as a dupe or accomplice in his schemes.

### [Jim Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/characters/jim_brown)

_friendship_

Jim Brown is Steelman's gullible but loyal mate, often the target of Steelman's tricks but remaining a companion.

### [Jim Brown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/characters/jim_brown)

_friendship_

Jim Brown is Steelman's gullible but loyal mate, often the target of Steelman's tricks but remaining a companion.

## In the story

### [While the Billy Boils](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/chapters/while-the-billy-boils)

Featured in stories about his schemes and impositions, such as imposing on old schoolmate Brown.

### [Steelman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/chapters/steelman)

The central figure, a hard case who imposes himself on old friends and refuses to leave.

### [Steelman's Pupil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/chapters/steelman-s-pupil)

The spieler and teacher who tries to educate Smith in the ways of cadging and survival.

### [Coming Across—A Study in the Steerage](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/chapters/coming-across-a-study-in-the-steerage)

Implied as the commercial traveller who makes remarks about wrecks and heroics, and participates in the late-night gathering.

### [The Geological Spieler](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/chapters/the-geological-spieler)

Disguises himself as a geologist, Mr. Stoneleigh, to deceive the railway workers and gain free lodging.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/characters/steelman
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/while_the_billy_boils_se/characters