Blog post summary

Matt Meyers

Some similar themes discussed previously in class reappeared in this week’s blog post. One of which is the reliability of Ned Kelly. Can we trust Ned and all that he says? Preethi seems to say that Ned is probably portraying himself in a more positive light so that his daughter does not view him as the evil man most other people would say he is. He often exaggerates his stories so that he can appear as more of a hero. Madolyn also acknowledged the one-sided viewpoint of Ned Kelly. She believes that we cannot make any judgments about Ned Kelly’s morals changing due to the fact that his morals and his expression of those morals take form through his own eyes. He does not recognize any transformation in those morals and does not allow the reader to see a change if there is any at all.

Another common theme discussed previously in class is whether or not the morals of Ned have changed. Ashley writes about how she is disgusted by Ned’s performance in the final pages of the book. He now has moved from the “defensive” and onto the “offensive” as he actively seeks out “traps” to take revenge. She seems to argue that Ned’s morals have changed. He now wants to kill rather than only committing murder when he was left with no other choice. Jasmine argues, on the other hand, that Ned’s actions toward the end of the book only reaffirm his morals. Jasmine holds that Ned puts his mother above all and everything else and that he is willing to do whatever possible to set her free. By throwing his own life and others lives away in an attempt to save his mother, Ned stands by his moral of protecting his mother no matter the cost.

The point of right and wrong also made its way into this blog post. Abby argues that Ned undergoes an internal struggle as he has to choose who he should stand by because he cannot help everyone. These complicated decisions seem to give substance to the belief that a “gray area” exists between right and wrong. Is there just one right and one wrong answer? Abby does not think so. Ryan’s argument in which he compares Ned Kelly to Andrew Jackson only reaffirms Abby’s position. He holds that a blurry line exists between a hero and villain, between right and wrong. According to Ryan, most of the time people are a mix of right and wrong, and therefore, we cannot truly judge them as being one or the other.

A common theme exists where everyone seems to agree that Ned’s actions towards the end of the story were erratic and irrational. However, some, like Tate, claimed that he was just plain arrogant, while others, like Holly, seemed to believe that Ned was simply tired of hiding and of all the unfair treatment he had received. He knew that he was going to be pursued for the rest of his life, so he figured he might as well go out sending a message to the public.

Other new themes appeared in this blog post as well. For instance, Thomas analyzes the “love” between Mary and Ned. He questions whether it is true love and believes it to be more of a lustful relationship; they did have intercourse the first day they met, barely knowing one another. Jasmine’s viewpoint seems to support the notion that Ned does not really love Mary. Rather, she suggests that Mary’s resemblance to his mother sparks his attraction. Robert further implies that his mother’s similar attitude, actions, and looks seem to parallel Mary, attracting him to her, just as Harry Power found attraction in his mother. The user Craw (I do not know who this is) further claims that Ned is a fool and has the mind of a child concerning love. He believes himself to be in love so easily and fails to question the intentions of Mary.