Austin does not make explicit political statements in The Land of Little Rain. With her voice marginalized by the male-dominated nature movement at the time, Austin's politics work instead through the aesthetics of representation; The Land of Little Rain is itself a critique of patriarchal conventions of nature writing.[6] It speaks to what Heike Schafer calls an "aesthetic political agenda".[7] Austin's vivid descriptions of the land in the novel are intended to suggest a sort of "regionalized utopia" that requires an intimate understanding of the land. Austin feels that in order to achieve social harmony, humanity has to work with nature, not against it. The stories in The Land of Little Rain feature the deleterious influences of man on nature, including the wasting of pastures by grazing domesticated herds and the ceaseless mining of resources, which destroy the land, though not irreparably. This suggests that just as the land of the Southwest needs to be rejuvenated, the cultures of the Southwest region, inherently tied to the land, need a cultural regeneration.
Austin's Southwest-centric literature sets her firmly within the context of contemporary regionalist writers. Though less politically direct than some of her other essays and short stories, the chapters of The Land of Little Rain are meant to convey a sense of the necessity of using the land properly. For example, in "The Water Trails of the Ceriso," Austin details the way in which the various desert animals cooperate to share the watering hole and guide each other with their trails. Even the hunters forsake their predation to allow the hunted to quench their thirst at the watering hole so that both may continue to survive. These animals must work within the limitations of the land, allowing their trails to be followed and their prey to have a haven, in order for their entire ecosystem to function and survive.
While not explicitly part of the nature fakers controversy of the early 20th century, Austin's work reflects a clear opposition to writers like Ernest Thompson Seton and Charles G. D. Roberts.[8] The Land of Little Rain is written in highly descriptive, but very dry prose that contains little in the way of traditional plot. Austin saw her position as one of observation, not sentimentalization.[5] Her work contrasted with contemporary fictionalized accounts of nature—stories about the lives of animals that were highly disingenuous, enamoring children with fantasies about the natural world. Austin used her popularity to sell people on the merits of the sort of "true" nature writing found in The Land of Little Rain.
