Thursday, September 23, 2010
Harry Power is a manipulator/user and must be overcome by Ned
At the start of the novel, it was widely thought that harry power would take Ned Kelly under his wing and mold him into a bushranger. This is absolutely true. Mrs. Kelly gave Harry Power 15 quid to take Ned and show him the ropes. The funny thing about this situation is that Harry Power does not need money especially money from someone so poor. Harry can easily stick up some rich people, but the point is that he took the money as respect for Mrs. Kelly because he was fond of her or at least in earlier part of the novel. However, we learn on page 88 that Harry is getting it on with a landlady at some establishment. It seems like these women to Harry were only used for when he got tired of robbing people and decided to take a break. We don't know how many other women Harry has this relationship with but at least he doesn't feel anything special for Mrs. Kelly. We see Harry using Ned too when Ned thought he had really killed Bill Frost. Ned became almost like a willing servant to Harry because he thought Harry is the only one who can save him, yet we learn that Bill did not die from R.R. McBean. Harry took advantage of Ned's weakness and used him as a slave. In fact, Harry Power has only shown how much he is a villain and not some folk hero who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. His only concern is his best interests. Ned is in his early 20s now, yet he is still not a man. He is too trustworthy of others. I think that Ned will have to kill Harry Power before he can become a real bushranger.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
As far as Harry not needing money I disagree completely. Although he does buy Ned some boots and stay at some hotels he clearly is not as wealthy as he would like Ned to think he is. Harry does not have anything period besides a stolen horse which pretty much makes that not his either. He can't even buy decent food to eat. When he takes money from Ned's mom I believe that is an example of his need because he claims that he does not take from the poor so why would he accept the offer from Ned's mom when she is definitely dirt poor.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Harry's relationship with women, I think he needs that affection from people. It is a known fact in order to live you must interact with people and this is where Harry gets his interaction. The little bit of interaction he receives from the people he steals from is not a positive one so he seeks out this interaction with women. I guess in a sense that would be just using them when he got tired of bushranging, but I do not think he is just like "well I'm tired of waiting for someone to come down the road that I can steal from, I guess I'm gonna go find some lady to have sex with."
And as far as Harry Power being a villain. Yes! I do believe he would be considered a villain. He does not simply take from the rich and give to the poor. He takes from the rich and gives it to people in order to benefit himself. For example on page 57, he gives Ned's mom money in exchange for sex. Therefore I agree, he is definitely no Robin Hood and Ned does not seem to be heading in his footsteps and I hope he stays on track.
One of the roles of Harry Power's character seems to be to contrast with Ned. Power (unlike Ned) can almost undeniably be classified as a criminal, taking advantage of Ned and manipulating him for his own gain, and this contrast makes us sympathize with Ned. The juxtaposition of Power, who is portrayed as a greedy self-interested criminal, and Ned, who describes his own criminal actions as justified leads us to trust Ned and almost view him as a "different" kind of bush ranger.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the novel I saw Power as almost a demanding mentor figure. I almost hoped (and expected) that he would take on the role of the coach who works his players harder than anyone ever has and leads his team to a victory. We soon learn this is not the case. The fact that the book is narrated by Ned could provide for these initial feelings I had toward Harry. Also, the comparison that was made between Potter and Frost also leads us to believe in Potter.