Hero, Villain or Victim?
By Ben Mayer
We all know the name, and we all know the face. Perhaps one of the most notorious Australian icons of all time is Ned Kelly. I strongly believe that Ned Kelly was a victim of police corruption which ultimately led to his life being cut short. Because the story of Ned Kelly has been told by the authority in question, I do not believe that Ned Kelly has been accurately represented. I firmly believe Ned Kelly is a hero, not a villain.
It has now been more than 100 years since the tragic death of Ned Kelly when he was hung in the old Melbourne Gaol in November 1880. When people hear the name of the great Australian outlaw, the first thing that comes to mind is a bank robber and a horse and cattle thief who
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Ned’s father- an Irish convict- was transported from Ireland to Australia to serve seven years in jail for stealing two pigs. Six years after his release, John ‘Red’ Kelly had a son. Little did he know that his son would become one of the most famous convicts of all time. Many people still refuse to believe that Ned Kelly was incapable of being any more than a tyrant who did not have any fine qualities. During his childhood, he always had it rough. You cannot deny that he did some questionable things but what choice did he have? Ned Kelly fought for his survival and for his family. He deserved to live a free …show more content…
The Kelly’s word would not have counted for anything compared to that of the deceitful mouth of Constable Fitzpatrick’s who obviously wanted to never see the face of a Kelly again. Ned Kelly had been unfairly persecuted by the corrupt police his entire life. They took every opportunity to incriminate the name of the great Australian bushranger for all sorts of crimes even if they had no actual evidence he was guilty. This is clearly a great injustice to his rights. Nobody should ever be judged for what they believe a person may be like without even having any prior knowledge of the