For the Term of His Natural Life is an Australian novel by Marcus Clarke, first published in 1874. Set in the 1830s, it follows Rufus Dawes, a young man falsely convicted of murder and transported to Tasmania's brutal penal colonies. Enduring cruelty, starvation, and injustice at settlements like Macquarie Harbour and Norfolk Island, Dawes clings to hope and his love for Sylvia, the commandant's daughter. The novel unflinchingly depicts the barbarity of the convict system, exposing colonial corruption and human suffering. Widely regarded as a masterpiece of Australian literature, it remains a powerful indictment of institutional cruelty and injustice.
