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e-­‐note:  True  History  of  the  Kelly  Gang  by  Peter  Carey  (2000)      

Peter  Carey’s  2000  novel,  True  History  of   the  Kelly  Gang  challenges  and  revises  our  

notions  of  Australian  bushlife,  its  heroes  and  antiheroes.  The  novel  is  Carey’s  second  

Booker  Prize  winning  novel,  a  narrative   that  explores   the   infamous  Ned  Kelly,  who  

leads   a   traumatic   childhood  of   violence   and   abandonment,   eventually   becoming   a  

highwayman  and  killer.  The  majority  of  the  novel   is  Ned’s   letter  of  self-­‐explanation  

to  his  daughter,  a  daughter  who  he  has  never  met.  The  passionate  justification  of  his  

story  is  told  with  the  intensity  of  a  father  longing  for  his  side  of  the  story  to  be  heard,  

and  the  narrative  urgency  of   the  text   is  enhanced  through  minimal  punctuation:  “I  

lost  my  father  at  12yr.  of  age  and  know  what  it  is  to  be  raised  on  lies  and  silence  my  

dear   daughter   you   are   presently   too   young   to   understand   a  word   I  write   but   this  

history  is  for  you  and  will  contain  no  single  lie  may  I  burn  in  hell  if  I  speak  false”.(p.5)  

   

One  of   the   sources  of  Carey’s   inspiration   for   this   intense   voice  was  Kelly’s   famous  

Jerilderie  Letter  that  Carey  read  in  the  mid-­‐1960s.  This  8000  word  letter  was  dictated  

to  Joe  Byrne  in  1879,  and  it  gives  Ned’s  own  account  of  his  actions,  an  account  that  

he  was   insistent   should   be   published   as   a   pamphlet,   but   his   orders  were   ignored.  

Carey   describes   it   as   “an   extraordinary   document,   the   passionate   voice   of   a  man  

who  is  writing  to  explain  his  life,  save  his  life,  his  reputation”.  He  was  enthralled  by  

its  original  style  and  idiosyncratic  voice,  a  voice  that  was  uneducated  but  intelligent  

and  funny.  True  History  is  not  a  ‘real’  novel,  a  fact  that  is  a  little  disconcerting  when  

faced  with  the  title,  True  History  of  the  Kelly  Gang.  What  impact  does  the  title  have  

on  your  approach  to  the  text?  

   

The   figure   of   Ned   Kelly   is   important   to   the   evolution   of   Australian   nationalism  

because   of   the   values   his   legend   embodies;   namely,   that   of   anti-­‐authoritarianism,  

loyalty  to  friends  and  family,  and  courage  in  the  face  of  adversity.  Carey’s  narrative  

technique  of  historiographical  metafiction  blurs  the  boundaries  between  history  and  

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text,  creating  a  postmodern  aesthetic,  one  that  challenges  the  reliability  of  historical  

writing.  What  do  you  make  of  his  use  of  archival  presentation?  The  chapters  in  the  

novel   are  presented  as   “parcels,”   each  prefaced  by  a  description  of   the  document  

and   its   source,   mimicking   archival   categorisation.   How   does   this   influence   your  

reception  of  the  text?  How  is  the  myth  of  Ned  Kelly  re-­‐written  through  this  novel?    

   

Read  the  Jerilderie  letter:  

http://www2.slv.vic.gov.au/collections/treasures/jerilderieletter/index.html