True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
"True History of the Kelly Gang" by Peter Carey presents a fictionalized account of the life of the infamous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly, framed as a long letter addressed to his daughter in San Francisco. The narrative explores Kelly's troubled upbringing, marked by poverty and crime, beginning with his father's transportation as a convict and the family’s struggles against police harassment. Kelly's mother, Ellen, is portrayed as a resilient figure who faces societal judgment while trying to provide for her family amid legal troubles.
As the story unfolds, young Ned grows into a man burdened by responsibility and is drawn into a life of crime, including an apprenticeship with the bushranger Harry Power. The text details pivotal events leading to the formation of the Kelly Gang, including confrontations with law enforcement that culminate in violent encounters. The gang's notorious bank heists are described as acts of defiance against what they perceive as oppressive authorities.
Kelly's letter serves as both a personal narrative and a broader commentary on the injustices faced by the Irish settler community in Victoria. He seeks to clarify his motivations and actions, emphasizing his desire for his daughter to understand the complexities of his life and the societal conditions that shaped it. This novel offers a compelling glimpse into the life of a controversial figure, inviting readers to reflect on themes of loyalty, family, and the struggle for justice.
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 2000
Type of work: Novel
The Work
True History of the Kelly Gang gives the bushranger Ned Kelly a chance to tell his own story in the form of a long letter to his daughter in San Francisco. Kelly’s father was a former convict, transported to Tasmania; Kelly has no idea what his father’s crime might have been. He met Kelly’s mother, Ellen, in a town called Donnybrook, and they determined to marry. Her family, the Quinns, were habitual criminals who constantly drew the attention of the police. Ellen Quinn was unaware that her husband was a former criminal, but the police knew, subjected his family to much attention, and attempted to blackmail Ellen for sexual favors. Kelly’s father is finally imprisoned when he takes the blame for young Kelly’s theft and butchering of a cow, although he is in fact prosecuted for removing a brand from the hide. He is released as a favor after Kelly saves a local man’s son from drowning, but he is a broken man and dies shortly after.
At twelve, Kelly finds himself the man of the family and struggles to lead a law-abiding life through farming and breaking horses. His mother, meanwhile, opens a drinking den and, it is suggested, also works as a prostitute. The family moves around, supported by the extended Quinn family, finally settling in the Glenrowan area, where they have bought some land and become “selectors,” or settlers. However, they live in great poverty and remain targets for the local police. Young Ned is temporarily apprenticed to the bushranger Harry Power and is present when a number of crimes are committed. He serves several terms in prison for alleged cattle-rustling and other crimes.
The final period of his short but tumultuous life begins with an incident on the family property, when a policeman, Fitzpatrick, claims he was injured in a gunfight with members of the Kelly family. The Kelly family claim Fitzpatrick was knocked to the ground when he attempted to proposition Ned’s sister Kate. Ned’s mother is imprisoned, but Ned and his brother Dan go into hiding, where they are joined by two friends.
The police determine to track down the Kelly gang. Ned and his friends come across a group of police officers at Stringybark Creek, whom they disarm, killing one policeman, and then wait for the others to return. When they do, although one policeman proposes that the police should surrender, the others refuse, and there is a shootout in which all of the policemen are killed.
The Kelly gang then carry out a series of audacious bank raids, taking hostages but killing no one. They are finally betrayed by one of their friends when they arrive in Glenrowan. Knowing that a trainload of policemen is on its way to the town, the gang take hostages and pull up rail tracks in order to cause a train crash.
Ned Kelly’s letter to his daughter ceases at this point, and his story is supplemented by a third-party account of the siege in which the Kelly Gang, all except Ned, are killed, and an account of Ned Kelly’s hanging.
Throughout the narrative, Kelly is desperate to ensure that his daughter knows the truth about her father, and he attempts to justify his actions, as he did in the Jerilderie letter, by showing that the police and the authorities in Victoria treated the colonists unfairly and with great severity.
Sources for Further Study
The Christian Science Monitor, January 18, 2001, p. 20.
The Lancet 357 (February 3, 2001): 401.
Library Journal 125 (December, 2000): 186.
Los Angeles Times Book Review, January 28, 2001, p. 2.
Maclean’s 114 (March 26, 2001): 48.
Meanjin 60, no. 3 (2001): 214.
The New York Review of Books 48 (March 29, 2001): 15.
The New York Times, January 4, 2001, p. E10.
The New York Times Book Review 106 (January 7, 2001): 7.
The New Yorker 76 (January 22, 2001): 80.
Publishers Weekly 247 (November 13, 2000): 84.
The Spectator 286 (January 13, 2001): 35.
The Village Voice 46 (February 13, 2001): 79.
World and I 16 (June, 2001): 251.
World Literature Today 75 (Spring, 2001): 314.