This topic isn't necessarily specific to just this portion of the book, but it's interesting to me throughout the novel. Before Mary, Ned's mother is the only woman he has ever loved. I guess what gets to me is how quickly Ned seemed to be head over heels for a woman he knew nothing about. Also, Mary was the first woman he ever met. It just seems kind of off to me that love came so easily for him. They fell in love at first sight and even though she had a baby Ned moved forward with her without even stopping to ask questions. Have you been married? Whose baby is this? Why are you so eager to be with me?
Those all seem like relevant questions to me, but Ned was not raised to be skeptical of other people's intentions. That willingness to trust anyone who shows an interest in his life is Ned's downfall; he's Achilles heel. Throughout the novel, Ned made this same mistake over and over again. Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. I understand the naivety in youth, but Ned was still letting people "pull wool over his eyes" deep into his twenties.
How easy he fell in love seems to be a prime example of this to me. As a 19-year-old, I am more skeptical of love's intentions than Ned was at 26. Maybe it was because of his lack of experience, but Ned's love life reminds me of middle school romance.
Middle school romance or not, I think this matches up well with Ned's experiences and what kind of environment he was raised in, no that's not completely correct, more like what kind of environment he raised himself in. His family was a mess from my point of view. There were children from several different fathers yet he still seemed to be able to get along and love them despite that. Because of his experiences living with his many siblings, He is able to accept that Mary had a baby and she had been with someone else before. He was able to accepted because he understood the hardship to raise children upon the mother especially a single mother, that's why in the novel Ned said he would apply for the position of father(214). Let's not forget that at this time, Ned's mom is having a mighty time with George King before they found out he was sleeping with women all over the place. Therefore, his mom already chose a man for her house and Ned is not as needed anymore, so he actually has a chance to form his own family. Also, I don't think Ned just all of a sudden saw Mary and was like wow shes hot and fell in love like that no no. I think we can all agree that Ned has a little bit of an Oedipus complex yes? I think he saw a resemblance in Mary(Irish, single mother, working hard, beautiful?) to his mother and became attracted to Mary quickly.
ReplyDeleteI think you underestimate the good that comes of Ned's trust for others in the book. He's one man going against an entire colony; he certainly would not have gotten anywhere without some help. I think one of the major themes of the novel is that the oppressed Irish minority is able to rise up against the British, and that this wouldn't be possible without a sense of unity and universal trust. Such an uprising inherently creates a necessity for Ned to trust those involved and a substantial risk if his trust is betrayed.
ReplyDeleteMost obviously, Ned must trust his gang. Without their help he never would have been able to survive the police ambush, rob either of the banks, or even put up a fight in their final stand. However, just as importantly, Kelly trusts their supporters throughout Australia, the farmers and laborers that sympathize with their cause. Without their support, the gang would never have been able to travel around the country undetected, communicate with their allies and families, and very well could have gone hungry.
Even in the instances where Ned's trust is misplaced, his trust of Joe Byrne's judgement usually protects him from too severe of consequences. For example, Ned "did not with Aaron Sherritt's death...For Joe Byrne it was a different matter the root were deep and violent" (347). Although Ned didn't think Sherritt's death necessary, Joe Byrne knew that Aaron would continue to be dangerous, and had him killed to avoid any further consequences. However, there are two instances in the book that Ned overrules Joe Byrne's judgement that lead to negative consequences. However, I think that these aren't instances of Ned's foolish trust, but of him realizing that he has no alternative and must take a risk. For example, when Ned gave his letter to the printer's wife, he felt that it was his only chance to get the letter printed. Although this decision led to negative consequences, I don't think this was necessarily an instance of misplaced trust, but of taking a risk for lack of a better option.