For the Term of His Natural Life

For the Term of His Natural Life is a classic novel about British and Australian convicts in exile. The author is Marcus Clarke, an important writer in the Australian colonial period. Since its publication, this work has attracted extensive attention in the world. This paper interprets the novel from the perspective of existentialism and explores the real life situation of British exiles in Australia. Before the second World war, Australians regarded having criminal ancestors as a stain on them. In Life Imprisonment, Clark mercilessly attacked the evil of the British criminal system and made a firm defense for the innocence of British exiles in the colonial period. Through the experience of the hero Rufus, the author reveals the destruction of the exile system on people's mind and reproduces the real situation of the life of English convicts in early Australia, which has profound social practical significance.