Ned Kelly the rebel. Ned Kelly the Saint. Ever since his famous death in 1880 In Melbourne, an all out battle has been fought by Australians, and others from around the world who sought to have their point of view sounded, all would swear that their interpretation of the person, Mr. Kelly, was the most accurate. The infamous story of a man who grew up in trying times and suffered great persecution from the Victorian Police Force, facing the frustration of living in a land where the son of a convict would always be labeled as o.
The idea off man fighting back against his oppressors is enough to inspire even the most TLD of hearts, but can It ever be claimed that the person of Ned Kelly can be understood In the truest sense? Peter Carrey, an author who won The Booker Prize in 2001 for his book, sought to give Ned Kelly a voice of his own, through writing True History of the Kelly Gang. This tale is told through the supposed eyes of Mr. Kelly, whose desire was to inform his unborn daughter of his real story, which could not be tainted, for he would not be alive to tell her as his end was near.
However, the question still burns: to what extent does Carrey evoke the real Ned Kelly? Many have formed the opinion that Ned was a murderous tyrant who took the law Into his own hands and killed innocent people. The message that he sends to the following generations to some seemed as though he were condoning the use of violence to solve ones problems, for he retaliated against his oppressors in an extremely aggressive way. Can the children of today liken this man to that of a hero, taking on the righteous justifications that he gave so passionately in regard to his actions?
Mr. Kelly stole horses, robbed banks with his mates and killed policemen, all for the sake of his quest for Justice. What Is Justice then? Who has the right to deliver it? Ned Kelly seemed to think that he was the one who should have that authority. In The True History of the Kelly Gang, Needs girl tries to make him see that he has enough money and resources to disappear to America, and that Ned didn’t have to ‘stick up’ the newspaper printers and get his letter published. ” (Girl) You needn’t stick nothing up no more you have all that you require.
Except Justice (Ned) . Ned was so set on he fact that those who had done him wrong must suffer the consequences, even If It meant losing those who were closest to him. HIS determination for his writings to be printed, according to Carrey, was through the desire that all Australians needed to hear the story of his misfortune, for it seemed that Ned was under the impression that if the public truly knew the injustices committed by the keepers of the law, there would be an uprising, evoking the true Australian Spirit to come forth from within a man’s heart.
What this describes about his character is that he was completely one- wed about revenge, and he wanted to rally a mighty wave of support In his favor. The way that Mr. Carrey wrote this book, seems to justify that fact. Ned seemed to think that he was above the law, and that his unjust actions were Justified because of the unjust treatment that he had received. Fighting fire with fire, if you like. It is obvious that Mr. Carrey had sympathy for Needs cause, as he allowed him to speak throughout the whole book with a freedom to use any language he chose to have his story told.
The reader would be given the opportunity to become Immersed In a or Tanat seemed so real, one may as well nave Eden slating opposite Nee as en toll his story to you. As a result, the reader is in the position to be completely convinced of Ned Kelly’s plight. The fact that Mr. Kelly called the police traps’, drove home the idea that he had a chip on his shoulder that needed to be filled in. The writing style that Peter Carrey used in The True History of the Kelly Gang helped the book to be more believable, as it were written in diary form, and Ned Kelly was the author and narrator.
Had the book been written from another’s perspective, such as Constable Fitzpatrick, the sequence of events mat have played out very differently. Carrey sought to reveal Needs innocence as a child, as Ned set out to cover his paper with the letters of the alphabet . This captures a much smaller and vulnerable picture of Mr. Kelly as a child, for most of the time, the focus of the Kelly story is on his antics with the police, and his famous iron clad armor. The reader is moved to consider that Ned started out as an innocent child, Just like anyone else.
The picture of a child doing his homework as his mother bustled about the kitchen may even draw to the reface memories that the reader may have had of his own childhood, thus Carrey cleverly finds a point of familiarity between the early years of Ned Kelly and the early years of the reader, and encourages the embracement of the his character. Next, Carrey begins to reveal trauma that Ned suffered in his growing years, after Sergeant O’Neill visit to his mother’s house. During his visit, the sergeant speaks harshly of Needs father, and labels him worse than the scum between his toes.
Kelly was very young at this stage, and was horrified by such words being spoken, for he said Sergeant O’Neill had filled my boys imagination with thoughts that would breed like maggots on a summers day . Ned Kelly the abused. With this powerful use of language, Carrey sought to reveal how the innocence of Kelly’s young mind was influenced greatly by the harshness of the police from a very young age, and the reader is given yet another opportunity to develop a sense of understanding in regard to the apprehension that Ned showed towards the officers of the law throughout his life.
Perhaps this is why he felt Justified when he turned to crime. A ay of striking back at those who tried to intimidate him, and seeing how the police liked it when they were the ones who were being intimidated. The picture that this paints about the person of Ned Kelly can go two ways: he is Justified in his actions or he lacks the maturity to deal with his problems in a mature way. Ned Kelly the Punisher.
So far Mr. Carrey has shown that Ned was simply a boy trying to do the best he could for his ma and pa, and it is interesting to see how even from a young age, he was willing to take responsibility for his actions, for when his father was blamed for doffing another fellows heifer’, we see that Ned knew that he was the one responsible, and he confessed, I’m Ned I done it . At this point Caress choice of writing beckons for the reader to see that Ned was not a bad spirited boy and that he wanted to do what was right in the beginning.
This adds to the point that Carrey whispers through the entire book: Ned did not start out this way, for it was the system and the harshness of life that formed him into the famous bushmaster that we remember today. The reader gets passively drawn in, and the messages between the lines are so subtle. Already, the reader can find themselves feeling a tinge of compassion for poor 01′ Needy. Ned Kelly the innocent. Carrey is far too accomplished and adventurous a writer to expect anything so simple or so obvious as the suspension AT Leasehold In ten reader.
Ratter, en makes a villa Ana sustained plea Tort accommodation, for readers to bring all they think they know about Ned Kelly – all those half-remembered childhood memories of a man in the heat of an outback summer with a bucket on his head – and then to allow Carrey himself to fill in the empty spaces that remain . The description that Carrey brings about Needs character in his book appears to infiltrate the readers mind, causing a re-evaluation of prior knowledge and pre- conceived ideas about who Mr. Kelly is. The True History of the Kelly Gang reveals yet another face of Ned Kelly, and that is the fatherly love he has for his unborn daughter.
He writes: My dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you and will contain no single lie may I burn in Hell if I speak false. Here, in the opening pages of his book, Peter Carrey introduces a Ned Kelly who knows his doom, but still eels love for his family. Through these words his heart yearns for the day when his daughter will understand why her father was not around to see her grow. Kelly is adamant that he speaks the truth, which appeals for the reader to put themselves in his boots, pondering what they would do if they were in his position.
Carrey preys on the powerful bond that exists between a father and daughter, and uses it to construct a new face to the Ned Kelly that we thought we were acquainted with already. Ned Kelly the Loving Father. Through the pages of Carry’s book, we learn that Needs mother has a twisted, cough kind of love for him, for Kelly had no idea that he was sold to be the great Harry Power’s bushwhacking apprentice, which equipped him for the melody that would be played throughout the rest of his life. When Power is betrayed by a friend and caught by the authorities, the blame is placed upon Ned for the betrayal. Ned Kelly the Traitor.
The way that Carrey describes the social impact of this injustice causes the reader to become even more aware of the events that shaped Ned into being so bitter towards the police, and all those who slandered his name. People who lived that Ned did betray Harry Power would even cross the road to walk on the other side to show their disgust to him. Later on in the book, Ned wins a boxing match against his bitter rival, Wild Wright, and describes his social status afterwards: As a result of winning the fight I become what is known as popular which were even worse than being hated as a traitor though the conditions in many ways were identical.
Now every drunken fool thought he must fight the great champagne and take away his crown . It can now be observed that Ned is becoming more used to being in the public eye. First he is hated for betrayal, then he is loved for winning a fight. Carrey cleverly shows yet another face of Kelly. Ned Kelly the Star. So far we have seen the person of Ned Kelly being unpacked in a chronological kind of order, from an innocent boy, bushmaster in training, traitor and courageous boxer.
It is now explicitly obvious to the reader that Ned Kelly is growing up, and fast. He has spent some time in prison, and his heart has progressively become drenched with a dark hatred for the police, who time and time again have Jumped at every opportunity to humiliate and undermine his family. Peter Carrey artistically brushed the love and loyalty that Ned had for his mates. Joe, who was one AT ten ‘Kelly Gang’ was telling e N a Tanat en wellness t Nat teeny weren’t mates, Tort en knew the end of his life was near as a result of that friendship.
But Ned said: Shut your hole you are our mate we wont let you suffer . Carrey called for the reader to observe that when a person loses all he has in life, all he has left to treasure are either his family, or his mates. Ned Kelly, the loyal mate. There is something very Australian about the concept of imitates; sticking it out through thick and thin resistances, and it is obvious that Carry’s intention was to strike that chord in the mind of the reader, therefore reinforcing the likeable nature of the doomed bushmaster.
Getting further into True History of the Kelly Gang, Carrey unveils how deep a love he had for his mother. His girl is trying to convince him to escape to America, but he wants to stay to bust his mother out of prison, even at the cost of losing his girl forever, for he knew what awaited him if he stayed. Kelly’s deep love for his mother showed so much, that it made Mary Hear (his girlfriend) Jealous, as she says: Is it rue do you really love her more than me, and Ned says: It ant the same. Could it be possible that Ned would forsake all for the love of his mother?
This courageous, yet borderline crazy love begins to reveal that although witty, Needs Judgment was clouded by his stubbornness to see his circumstances for what they truly were. Carrey writes this piece with care, as it evokes the reader to have compassion on him for his fate. Carrey seems to be loudly proclaiming that even those considered to be the most cruel at heart are able to love furiously. It is here that we see Ned Kelly, a an of stubborn love. He (Carrey) makes a valid and sustained plea for empty spaces that remain.
Everyone who has heard the tale of Ned Kelly has formed their opinion about who he was. Carrey seeks to use fiction to bring his story to life, and to captivate the mind of the reader, and has done this very well. The character Mr. Kelly represents is an interpretation that belongs to Carrey, and it is up to the reader to allow their own paradigms to be confronted when reading this explosive take on Kelly’s life. Mr.. Carrey has still turned a hagiographer’s admiration for his outlaw subject into vastly entertaining story in which the voluble, candid Ned has no trouble holding centre stage.
The Kelly that Carrey created in his novel allowed, perhaps for the first time, the bushmaster from the east to have his own say, without interruption from others. The desperation that he possessed to bring his version of Justice to the Australian bush can be heard through each page, as his mother was mistreated, his father thrown prison for a crime he did not commit, and Ned finding he was constantly in trouble for the law for being ‘innocently in possession of horses that did to belong to him.
Through all of Carry’s efforts to present his idea of who the real Ned was, it is imperative to observe that his sympathies were with Mr. Kelly in all situations. Perhaps that is the very point. Those who look back into the history of the person of Ned Kelly could find many a man in him. I en DOD, ten souses, ten protector, ten gentle, ten cunning, ten controlling, ten loyal mate, the bloodthirsty murderer. Each one of these attributes can be likened to Ned, and Carrey does a fantastic Job of re-introducing the legend of who he is.
So in answer to the question: To what extent does The True History of the Kelly Gang evoke the real Ned Kelly, one must consider that the answer to this question lies in the heart of every Australian who reads the book. It is determined by the values that the readers hold within, regarding a plethora of morals and issues. Perhaps those who have suffered great injustices would side with Ned. On the other hand, those who have suffered as a result of Ned Kelly’s actions may respond in anger to the claims that he was not a defender of Justice, but breached it completely.
In regard to Peter Carrey, he is but one man with one opinion. His degree of accuracy of Needs identity can not be measured. He may be right. He may be completely off the mark, but he took the Journey that we all must take; the Journey that taunts us to observe deeper than the surface of Needs life, and to come to a place of appreciation of what we have in Australia today. In a way, Peter Carrey has sounded the unofficial anthem of the Susie heart, for the ever-evolving idea of who Ned Kelly was. His legend did not die in Melbourne in 1880, for today it has never been more furiously alive.