True History of the Kelly Gang
Ned Kelly, the narrator of this fictional account of his life, was areal-life outlaw in the outback of Australia. He lived during the 19thcentury, and wreaked havoc with his gang, but captured popular attention.Many saw him as a modern-day Robin Hood, who tried to care for his poorrelatives by stealing from the wealthy and powerful while evading the ineptpolice for years. Some historians saw him as a brutal and violent man, butCarey's portrayal makes him seem more like a man who was part victim andpart determined youth who hated the police, and thus sealed his fate. To make the book more realistic, Carey employs narration that is attimes illiterate and yet imaginative. He attempts to portray Ned as whathe was, a semi-educated man with the capacity to dream and look forward tothe future. For example, Ned "writes" early in the book, "Tis not povertyI hate the most nor the eternal groveling but the insults which grow on itwhich not even leeches can cure" (Carey 8). His sentences are sometimesdifficult to decipher until the reader gets into the rhythm of the book,but one the cadence becomes clear, the reader is caught up in the vividdescriptions of outback life, and the difficulties thes
Kelly is anational folk hero in Australia, and this book only enhances his image. Ned continually felt the taint of his convict blood, andCarey covered this in the novel as another reason Kelly was forced into aviolent life of crime. As he continually eludes thepolice, he makes them looks like fools, and gains national notoriety in theprocess. Kelly's story is perfect for a historian, for not only was hedowntrodden, his legend grew even further when he was captured wearinghomemade armor, and a chapter in the book supposedly recounts how hecreated it to protect his men. We proved there were no taint we was of truebone blood and beauty born" (Carey 337). "True History of the Kelly Gang" is a compelling book, but itshould not be taken as the gospel truth on Ned Kelly, for that, the readershould delve more into history to find out the real truth about the realman. The book is interestingto read, has real-realized characters, and will take the reader back intime to a simpler and yet far more complex way of living and solvingproblems. It gives a vividportrait of Australia under colonial rule, when the British governed withan iron hand and little sympathy for the downtrodden. Continually throughout the novel, Kelly isforced to confront authority, and he comes to distrust and hate the policeand the bureaucrats who run the country. Today, Kelly's flaunting of authority is seen as the beginningsof the Australian's unrest and nationalism, so it is no wonder he is anational folk hero. The book does not read like a novel, it reads like areal journal, and so the supposed writer really becomes existent in themind of the reader, and seems to grow in importance and stature. Henever seems like a true "bad" man, and he always seems to be surrounded bypersecution and circumstance. Kellywrites early in the novel, "God willing I shall live to see you read thesewords to witness your astonishment and see your dark eyes widen and yourjaw drop when you finally comprehend the injustice we poor Irish sufferedin this present age" (Carey 3). Kelly's words closeto the end of the book, "I wished only to be a citizen I had tried to speakbut the mongrels stole my tongue when I asked for justice they gave menone" (Carey 342), could have been his epitaph.
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Acceptance Essays
