The True History of the Kelly Gang - Critical Appreciation Essay

“The True History of the Kelly Gang” Critical Appreciation Essay

“The True History of the Kelly Gang” is an epistolary novel, in this case it is in effect one long letter from Ned Kelly to his daughter. Throughout the novel, the tone is fuelled with a strong sense of immediacy and verisimilitude, delivering to the reader the uninterrupted and unfiltered voice of Ned Kelly, and Australian bushranger. This is noticed through the colloquial way of speech and lack of punctuation throughout the extract.

Throughout the extract the speaker emphasizes the inhumane treatment of his people – the Irish by the British who controlled Australia. The hateful and violent language directed towards the English people emphasizes the speaker’s abhorrence for these people “A huge red jowled creature the Englishman”. As it is the British who sentenced the speaker’s father to jail and had prejudice against his mother’s family, thus from an early age the speaker was led to think they were the source of the family’s poverty and difficult way of life. “Approach says he as if he was an altar” evokes religious connotations and the idea that the British deified themselves and diminished the Irish to slave-like qualities, where they were forced to regard the British as seemingly omnipotent gods, because they were in control and could do anything they wanted to do to them. This explains the vivid hate the speaker feels towards the British and his desire for revenge. “A cake for his prisoner Quinn”, the “cake” symbolises the humanity that the Irish preserved, even after being dehumanised by the British, “as they broke my mother’s cake apart” implies the British breaking the Irish’ last hopes and dreams, the cake being the last symbol of their humanity and morals still preserved is crushed by the wealth and arrogance of the British. Due to all these factors Ned Kelly is a character, which is easily sympathised by the reader, even though formally he is a criminal.

The speaker highlights the importance of wealth and respectability in the society he and his family live in “Drenched to the bone and doubtless stank of poverty”. This leads to explain why the speaker has turned to a life of crime, possibly for an Irish man at the time there simply was no other option in earning a lot of money. The epistolary form of the novel reminds the reader that all of this is advice for a daughter and thus turning to a life of crime may perchance was due to a noble reason of providing for his daughter’s brighter future. “Coarse words and cruelty which I now relate are far away in ancient time” reinforces this idea and emphasizes the speaker’s hope for a brighter future for his daughter. The speaker describes his life to his daughter indicating that she will never know of such terrors, but must acknowledge that that is how it once was “Like wet dogs” emphasizes the speaker’s disgust of himself, and the inhumane treatment received from the British, later on he says “Tis not poverty I hate the most <…> but the insults which grow on it” therefore he does not hate the state of being poor but he hates the prejudice, the animal-like treatment. It is the