True History of the Kelly Gang

True History of the Kelly Gang is Peter Carey's 2001 Booker Prize winning novel that recontructs the life and times of Ned Kelly, an uneducated Irish immigrant who becomes a infamous bushranger and revolutionary figure in Austrailia. Although this book is fictional the characters in the novel actually existed and many of the events are based on historical fact. Although his legacy is still somewhat controversial, Ned Kelly is revered by many as a national icon and the forerunner of Australian nationalism. Based partly on historical documents and the famous Jerilderie letter written by Kelly, Carey's novel closely follows the known facts of Kelly's opposition of England's unjust colonial rule.

In writing this book, Carey introduces the story from Ned Kelly's point of view. The letter, written in his last days sets about to write his life history so that his infant daughter will know the truth about him. What follows is a glimpse of life during a period of British colonial rule (apporximatley 1840-1880) in Austrailia as the Kelly family struggles to survive in Australia's unyielding bush country. As dirt-poor Irish immigrants they are looked upon by the English settlers (called squatters) as "a notch beneath the cattle" and face continual harassment from the traps (police) and the threat of eviction from their land.

Ned's father dies while Ned is quite young and Ned initially sets about to farm the land and protect his mother and siblings. Kelly's mother is not neccessarily a sympathetic figure in this novel although is much beloved by Ned. At one point, Ned's mother tricks Ned into becoming an apprentice to the famous bushranger Harry Power (in order to bring in money), thus drawing Ned increasingly into a life of crime. When Ned accidently shoots the treacherous Constable Fitzgerald, Ned is forced to flee into the wild back country. In the bush, Ned uses the lessons he learned from Harry Power to avoid capture and survive in the wild. He is joined by his younger brother Dan and two loyal friends; together they comprise the Kelly gang. During this time Ned also falls in love with marries his donah, Mary Hearn, the mother of his daughter. While on the lam, the Kelly gang outsmart the police, elude massive manhunts, and commit daring robberies all the while gaining widespread support from poor oppressed farmers whom they help out by paying off their debts or helping them work the land.

After his capture in 1880, Ned Kelly said, "If my lips teach the public that men are made mad by bad treatment, and if the police are taught that they may exasperate to madness men they persecute and ill treat, my life will not be entirely thrown away." True History of the Kelly Gang is preceded by an epigraph from William Faulkner: "The past is not dead. It is not even past." These quotes illumine Carey's intent to both relate a good story of a revolutionary figure and more importantly convey a warning about the consequences of injustice and perscution that occur in contemporary conflicts today.