Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang offers a bold reimagining of the life of Australia’s most famous bushranger, notorious for his defiance against colonial authorities. Growing up in the harsh Australian landscape, young Ned is subjected to many traumatic events that come with being oppressed and living in poverty. Subjugation by authorities, loss of innocence and exposure to harsh realities, alongside family and mentor roles, play a significant part in Ned’s moral beliefs and ethics. His moral ambiguity blurs heroism and brutality, highlighting the conflict between personal ethics and societal norms including obedience to authority and class dynamics. Kelly’s tumultuous experiences as a boy serve as a foundation for his ethical beliefs …show more content…
Following an opening shot, the audience is shocked by the opening scene. Ellen (Kelly’s mother) performs fellatio on a colonial policeman (O’Neil) so she can keep running the family’s illegal moonshine business. Kurzel presents the power dynamic between the English and the Irish, whilst an emasculated father is forced to wait outside his home. Kelly is exposed to adult behaviour that “lay inside me like the egg of a liver fluke.” This teaches Kelly crime as survival. This leads to Kelly killing a cow and replacing the family’s provider, which Ellen tells him, "You're a man now, you're everything he isn't." he is rewarded for his efforts. She takes pride in Kelly’s evolving morals of familial duty, defiance against authority, and ethical complexity. These are utilised when he is sold to an outlaw, Harry Power, for skill development and money. Kurzel uses mise en scene to introduce Harry as a fatherly figure, seated at the table by a cosy fire, delivering anti-police sentiment through an ironically jolly song. This
Into the Wild by John Krakauer is a rare book in which its author freely admits his bias within the first few pages. “I won't claim to be an impartial biographer,” states Krakauer in the author’s note, and indeed he is not. Although it is not revealed in the author's note whether Krakauer's bias will be positive or negative, it can be easily inferred. Krakauer's explanation of his obsession with McCandless's story makes it evident that Into the Wild was written to persuade the reader to view him as the author does; as remarkably intelligent, driven, and spirited. This differs greatly from the opinion many people hold that McCandless was a simply a foolhardy kid in way over his head. Some even go as far as saying that his recklessness was due to an apparent death-wish. Krakauer uses a combination of ethos, logos and pathos throughout his rendition of McCandless’s story to dispute these negative outlooks while also giving readers new to this enigmatic adventure a proper introduction.
"Where I came from, in order to be down you had to be 'in'" (Shakur, 226). This quote, taken from Sanyika Shakur's (aka Monster Kody Scott) Monster: The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member relates the mind set of those growing up the concrete jungle of South Central L.A. This powerful account of the triumph of the human spirit over insurmountable odds brings the reader into the daily battles for survival. His story starts at the beginning of his gang life (being initiated at age 11), moves through his teen years (mostly spent in various correctional facilities) and ends up with his transformation in a member of the New Afrikan Independence Movement.
Many had called Ned Kelly a murderous thug, but what people say doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right. Ned was born in 1854, died at the age of 26 in 1880 and an Irish immigrant. Many have recognised Ned’s infamousness due to his action and his disgraceful family who had said to do many wrongs. Yes, Ned’s action clearly show a villain., but If you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, then you shouldn’t judge a person by his action. Ned’s mother was taken to jail for self-defence, his father died when Ned was 12-year-old further more every now and then police would accuse Ned and his family for horse thief or cattle stealing. These reason can clearly state that Ned’s a victim who played the role of villain.
“The Secret Lives of Sgt. John Wilson: A True Story of Love and Murder” is studied as a historical non-fiction novel, in which Lois Simmie shows the reader the actions of a man who sets his life up in a series of lies and betrayal. Her purpose is clear, to intrigue the audience with a true story of the murder of Polly Wilson, which had not yet been heard. Though not a lot of people had ever heard of John Wilson, the first ever Saskatchewan RNWMP officer who was found guilty of a crime, being that he killed his wife, and hung to his death. She writes her novel that is not only entertaining to her audience but also serves the purpose of educating fellow Canadians about the true life events that followed John Wilson and his fellow RNWMP officers.
‘The Drover’s Wife’ opens with a vivid visual image of the house which becomes a character in itself, the lexical word chain “round timber, slabs, and stringy bark, and floored with split slabs” shows us the poor, rough materials used to build only what is necessary to survive. Thus, we can visualise the simplistic nature of the lives the drover’s wife and her children live in their environment. Strong visual imagery is employed to depict the landscape; “Bush all round – bush with no horizon, for the country is flat. No ranges in the distance… No undergrowth”. The repetition of “no” emphasises the lack of distinguishing features, the land is monotonous and contains “nothing to relieve the eye”. The environment is isolated; they are alone “There is nothing to see, however, and not a soul to meet”. This helps the audience to develop an understanding of the isolation and loneliness of Australians living in the bush during the Colonial
‘In a Dry Season’ by Henry Lawson paints an image of the typical harsh and unforgiving Australian outback as well as it’s monotony. He attempts to illustrates its true nature and not romanticise about the sparse landscape or the difficulty of growing crops. He demonstrates the integrity of the bush characters which is heightened compared to lesser individuals. “The least horrible spot in the bush, in a dry season is where the bush isn't - where it has been cleared away and a green crop is trying to grow.” The word “horrible” reinforces that fact that the bush isn’t a hospitable place.
The book Outlaw Platoon written by Sean Parnell is a soldiers’ tale of his platoon in one of the most dangerous places on earth. This book is a non-fiction riveting work that tells the story of a platoon that spent sixteen months on an operating base in the Bermel Valley, the border of Pakistan. This mission the men were sent on was part of a mission called Operation Enduring Freedom. This book is extremely relevant to the war that we are still fighting in Afghanistan and the humanitarian work that continues. We still have men in this area fighting and losing their lives everyday. It is the focus of ongoing political debates and the purpose of our involvement there is an ongoing question in the minds of many Americans. In writing this book, Parnell makes it clear in his author’s notes that he indeed was not trying to pursue one political agenda over another. His goal as not to speak of all members of the platoon and expose their identities and the types of soldiers they were but instead to showcase some of the men’s bravery and abilities during the war. Parnell believed that he owed it to the men to write something that would show the world what these men go through during combat in an honest and raw account. Another purpose of Parnell’s in writing this book is an attempt at making sure these men are given a place in American war history.
The repetition of the word, 'bush' in, " Bush all round - bush with no horizon.." creates a vivid visual image of the bush setting and emphasises the loneliness experienced by the drover's wife and her family. The family's loneliness is reinforced in, "...The everlasting, maddening sameness ...longs a man to break away and travel as far a way as trains can go...". This juxtaposes the traditional perception of the bush,which is that of beauty and pleasure, and depicts a tedious environment incapable of nurturing curious thought,an another hardship on the family. This is ironic as this iconic story symbolises Australia, it does this by portraying the country side in a negative light. Therefore, the harsh environment highlights the determination of Australians in the face of
Although partially true in its time, the Australian bush legend fades more and more as time progresses. The Australian identity of the 1890s was not the same as it was in the 1950s, nor do we have the same self-image today, as portrayed in 'The Australian Legend'. Recent statistics show that we work longer hours and drink far less then we used to. Many more Australians go to the beach than to the bush and despite the iconic male bushman, for most men and women in Australia the beach is far more central to our identity and lives, as the majority of the population lives closer to our coastal shores.
The Gangster Disciples is a violent gang which began in the Chicago, Illinois area. In the 1970's, the leaders of two different Chicago-based gangs, the Black Disciples and the Supreme Gangsters, aligned their respective groups andcreated the Gangster Disciples. Once united, the Gangster Disciples recruited heavily in Chicago, within Illinois jails and prisons, and throughout the United States. The Gangster Disciples are active in criminal activity in approximately 24 states. The Gangster Disciples employ a highly structured organization. Members are organized into geographic groups; each called a "count" or a “deck." Members in good standing are considered to be ”on-count" or ”plugged in." A meeting of a particular count may be referred to
The lives of everyone in the town of Springfield Oregon changed on May 21st of 1998. A quiet boy named Kip Kinkel became known as “The Killer at Thurston High” after killing both of his parents, murdering two classmates, and severely injuring 24 others. There are many factors in the 15 year old boy’s life that led up to the horrific events that occurred on that day. The same factors that influenced the tragedy in occurring could have very easily insured that it never happened to begin with.
(there are some conflicting views as to the right spot the bushrangers held their jubilee.) The bushrangers had departed their former area of operations in the first week of October in a leisurely manner where from the recent reports appeared to be in fine spirits, regardless of the large police presence at all points of the compass from the bushrangers. However, the Bathurst raid in the first week of October 1863, was up to this date still the most brazen achievement of the gang, but the audacity of their visit to that provincial town would now be surpassed as the five bushrangers, on the 12 October 1863, rode nonchalantly into the station of Mr. Grant, an old lag, born in Moyne, Tipperary, Ireland in 1792. He was transported to New South Wales in 1810 at the age of 18, for the crime of accessory to murder which had been perpetrated by his sister. Once free in 1820, Grant would go on to become one of the most extensive land barons of the Belubula/Lachlan Plains. Therefore, at the old age of 71, John Grant watched as Ben Hall and the gang reined their horses and dismounted, but after a short conversation the bushrangers departed and travelled the short distance onto
Schofield cried out and tried to help, but she went down under a blow from a billy club. Maybeth rushed to help her parents and was rewarded with a cop's boot to her ribs. Mother Beal pulled the twins to her bosom and shielded them with her old body” (Kruger 229). The worst thing is none of the people who received a harsh beating were of the criminal's profile. The police were put in place to protect but throughout the paragraph, they were only harming people, Kruger made sure to write this violent display to set the tone of oppression, not just of people of color but for all oppressed people at that time.
The mafia originally started in Sicily, Italy more than 100 years ago. Mafia is defined as a secret criminal society/organization/syndicate which is known for its intimidation and involvement in organized crime. Immigration of Italian Mafia to the US all started from the moment when Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922. Mussolini viewed the mafia as a possible threat to his Fascist party. Later that year he launched a brutal operation during which more than 1,000 Mafiosi were convicted and thrown in jail. Some of the higher ranked Mafiosi escaped to the United States and that was the beginning of the US Mafia as we know it today. In the US the Mafia started getting involved in several of businesses and started expanding its organization.
The revival of the Morant legend is owed to the Bruce Beresford film, based upon nationalistic writings influenced by personal agenda such as George Witton’s Scapegoats of the Empire. The realities and truths of Morant’s life differ substantially to the legend. Morant and Handcock were not scapegoats but heartless murderers. Harry Morant and Peter Handcock were unstable men, held a desire accompanied with revenge to kill the Boer prisoners and carried out the unwarranted killing of an innocent German missionary. Harry ‘the Breaker’ Morant, ‘a scapegoat of his own unstable character’[2] and P.J. Handcock, a ‘victim’ of his brutal actions, were not scapegoats.