Ned Kelly: Legend, Myth and Australian Values
August 30th 2007 01:51
Ned Kelly: Legend, Myth and Australian Values
What makes Ned Kelly the most famous Australian in history has more to do with what he comes to represent more than anything. In essence the Ned Kelly story is larger than life just as his last stand wearing armour and in a long shoot out with over a hundred police troopers. It is the image of a defiant rebel that make people wish to go back and read his story from the beginning. The character is unique to the psyche of Australians that is used often in arguments and historical examples of how we see justice. Would it be such a stretch to say that Ned Kelly is about Australian values?
Every child in Australia knows the Ned Kelly story and usually there is little pressure to learn it. It is popular in Australia as Robin Hood is to England with similar parallels. There are both pro and anti Kelly camps but by for the pro Kelly supporter are in the majority. The appeal of an outlaw fighting a corrupt and unaccountable police force of troopers is an attractive one. Over his period of outlawing he grew to be legend and a man of respected stature; whereas the trooper were despised and treated with contempt. Why was this so?
The question of justice and equality before the law is one that still plays out today. Kelly is seen as man that is more sinned against than has sinned and a man that help draw attention to suffering in the country. Despite killing police in gun fights he was able to win an army of supporters who some historians have likened to a serious challenge to the authority of the state.
It is unclear in historical texts as to whether Ned Kelly was a horse thief or not but he was known to police in both friendly and other ways. At a young age he was awarded a sash for bravery for saving a young boy from drowning. In later life he was jailed in questionable circumstances over the accusation of horse stealing. He was absent from his home when a police trooper came to arrest him. However the situation became difficult and the policeman was injured. Ned Kelly was blamed but his mother was jailed in his absence. This was the incident that turned Ned from being farmer to being a Bushranger, using the Victorian countryside as his own turf to fight the unpopular troopers and the law.
On the government side Ned Kelly was a now criminal that deserved to hang and but for many people he came to symbolize their suffering too. Gun fight led to the deaths of several troopers and as a result the largest reward ever offered in the world was posted for the capture of Ned Kelly at the time it was an amazing 8000 pounds ($16,000 ). Farmers were harassed by troopers in the hunt for the Kelly gang yet he helped out many with what he had stolen from his many bank robberies. He won greater popularity when robbing a bank he burned all the banks debtors records thus wiping the debt of every farm in the district. His defiance of the government of Victoria was shown in his scathing Jerilderie letter to the press warn them to stay out of Victoria and explaining how any reasonable man would do as he has done.
An extract from his letter:
Full text of the letter can be found here: Really Long Link
The end of the Kelly gang has been shown in numerous film and television dramas. The oldest version of the Ned Kelly story (cira 1909) is reputed to be the first feature film ever made. Mick Jagger even played Ned Kelly at one stage as a young man not unlike a rebellious rock star. The more recent 2003 version of Ned Kelly is perhaps one of the best despite being a compressed fictionalized version of the story. The image of the four armoured gang members coming out like ghost from the shadows to face the army of troopers is pure cinema magic. Yet it does indicate the determination of the Gang to fight to the end.
Tragic endings make great heroic drama and greater moral lessons in fiction. So by the time the injured Ned Kelly was captured he had become the classic tragic hero refusing to show weakness in front of the law. When sentenced to death by the same judge that had previously sentenced his mother to prison the judge said the usual words of: “May God have mercy on your soul.”
To which Kelly was reported to have said, “I will go further than that and I will see you there.”
More than 30,000 signatures were gathered to protest against Ned Kelly’s death sentence. This is an unimaginable number at a time when Australia still had a tiny population and indicates the amount of sympathy he and his case had in the community.
His final words before being hanged were reported as: “It has come to this then. Such is Life.” November 11 1880.
Today if anyone travels from Melbourne to the New South Wales border you have to pass through Kelly country. Much of it is unchanged from the days when the Kelly Gang roamed the Bush and robbed banks. He is seen by many novices, children, politicians and academics as a hero. A person that best represents what is good in Australians.
Upon reflection of the modern age he would undoubtedly be labeled as a terrorist buy a government. Yet in the eyes of most Australian they would reject any such association. In comparison to the modern drug dealing gangsters of today he was a perfect gentleman with loyalties to those that could help themselves. The Law put him on trail but after he was hanged the Law was put on trail with a Royal Commission. Changes to the distribution of land and to police accountably of their actions were made soon after.
If any Australian government wishes to impose a set of unique Australian values upon the immigrants perhaps they should take the lesson from Ned Kelly and be defiant and rebelous.
The Helmet Ned Kelly wore in his last stand
Every child in Australia knows the Ned Kelly story and usually there is little pressure to learn it. It is popular in Australia as Robin Hood is to England with similar parallels. There are both pro and anti Kelly camps but by for the pro Kelly supporter are in the majority. The appeal of an outlaw fighting a corrupt and unaccountable police force of troopers is an attractive one. Over his period of outlawing he grew to be legend and a man of respected stature; whereas the trooper were despised and treated with contempt. Why was this so?
Face mask taken just after Ned Kelly was hanged. Possibly swollen from the execution.
It is unclear in historical texts as to whether Ned Kelly was a horse thief or not but he was known to police in both friendly and other ways. At a young age he was awarded a sash for bravery for saving a young boy from drowning. In later life he was jailed in questionable circumstances over the accusation of horse stealing. He was absent from his home when a police trooper came to arrest him. However the situation became difficult and the policeman was injured. Ned Kelly was blamed but his mother was jailed in his absence. This was the incident that turned Ned from being farmer to being a Bushranger, using the Victorian countryside as his own turf to fight the unpopular troopers and the law.
Full metal jackets
An extract from his letter:
I give fair warning to all those who has reason to fear me to sell out and give P10 out of every hundred towards the widow and orphan fund and do not attempt to reside in Victoria but as short a time as possible after reading this notice, neglect this and abide by the consequences, which shall be worse than the rust in the wheat in Victoria or the druth of a dry season to the grasshoppers in New South Wales I do not wish to give the order full force without giving timely warning. but I am a widows son outlawed and my orders must be obeyed.
Full text of the letter can be found here: Really Long Link
The end of the Kelly gang has been shown in numerous film and television dramas. The oldest version of the Ned Kelly story (cira 1909) is reputed to be the first feature film ever made. Mick Jagger even played Ned Kelly at one stage as a young man not unlike a rebellious rock star. The more recent 2003 version of Ned Kelly is perhaps one of the best despite being a compressed fictionalized version of the story. The image of the four armoured gang members coming out like ghost from the shadows to face the army of troopers is pure cinema magic. Yet it does indicate the determination of the Gang to fight to the end.
Artist depiction showing Ned as a Ghostly force
To which Kelly was reported to have said, “I will go further than that and I will see you there.”
More than 30,000 signatures were gathered to protest against Ned Kelly’s death sentence. This is an unimaginable number at a time when Australia still had a tiny population and indicates the amount of sympathy he and his case had in the community.
His final words before being hanged were reported as: “It has come to this then. Such is Life.” November 11 1880.
The herioc version of a superhero
2003 version
If any Australian government wishes to impose a set of unique Australian values upon the immigrants perhaps they should take the lesson from Ned Kelly and be defiant and rebelous.
| 80 |
| Vote |
Comments (10)
Add Comments
Read More
