Essay about Ned Kelly: A Victim of the Law

Privilege is something not everyone is blessed with. Ned Kelly and his short but influential life is a perfect example of this. This essay will argue that Ned Kelly was a victim of his circumstances because he was falsely accused of shooting Fitzpatrick, he lost his father and was surrounded by criminal activity. Without figures like Ned Kelly, Australian society would not be the same today.

Ned Kelly was supposedly engaged in many criminal acts during his short life. One such act was being convicted of shooting constable Fitzpatrick. Ned Kelly was not even present at the event yet Fitzpatrick was out for blood. For example, on the night he was blamed, he claimed that he was 600 miles away yet the Constable still accused him. Fitzpatrick also completely revamped the story to portray the Kelly family as the villains on pg. 29-33 Wilkinson states ‘This isn’t quite the version of events that Constable Alexander Fitzpatrick reported to his colleague’. This shows that Fitzpatrick was doing everything he could to put the Kelly Family behind bars. Consequently, Ellen Kelly was jailed because of that event. 'The police got great credit and praise for arresting the mother of 12 children' as shown by Ned Kelly himself in the Jerilderie Letter. This is clear evidence that the government was corrupt as they did not care that one of the children was an infant on Ellen's breast. The Fitzpatrick Affair was one of the things that set the police on him even though he was not even part of it!

Secondly, many criminals, liars, and thieves surrounded Ned from a young age. Unsurprisingly, this led to Ned being drawn down a dark path. For example, when Ned was riding back from Wangaratta, he was arrested for stealing a horse. However, Ned had received that horse from his mother's friend, who most likely stole it himself as stated on page 19 of Black Snake, ‘the horse wasn’t his. He had stolen it.’ Ned Kelly was also apprenticed to Harry Power, a notorious bush ranger, who was not a good mentor for Ned at the time, as Harry was not the best at bush ranging. The horrid men in Ned's life made staying an acceptable citizen almost impossible.

Ned Kelly had one of the most undesirable childhoods anyone could ask for. When he was twelve, his father died. Clearly, this is a very big responsibility for a twelve-year-old. Having to step into a fatherly role at such a young age pushed Young Kelly to further limits with no guidance. For example, Selector Jacob Barker, stated in Black Snake (pg. 6) that without a father figure he could not 'see him making anything of himself.' When his father died, Ned's family did not have money to buy land so they had to rent land which was hard on the family. Another reason Ned was a victim is his lack of acceptable role models. All he had was his uncles and cousins who taught him how to be the opposite of a law-abiding citizen. Although he robbed banks and killed three police officers, had Ned had an easier childhood maybe he would not have committed some of these heinous acts that he did. 

Clearly, this essay has demonstrated that Ned Kelly was a victim of his circumstances. He had lost his father and at a young age was surrounded by criminal activity. Losing his father was a huge disadvantage for Ned. His father would have played an important role in young Ned's life. Without him he had no-one to teach him to be a respectable citizen, which led to some poor choices in his life. Ned Kelly and his family have been persecuted by the law; they all deserve justice. Ned Kelly’s story remains unanswered even today yet after many investigations and inquiries, it is clear. Ned Kelly was undoubtedly a victim.