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Ned Kelly Quotes

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Edward (Ned) Kelly was an infamous Australian bushranger of Irish descent that lived from 1854 to 1880. Black Snake is one of many pieces of literature that has been written based on Ned Kelly’s life. Black Snake is a historical fiction novel based on non – fictional events. Black Snake shows different perspectives on what really happened, so the person could’ve slightly changed the story to back up their point of view. Carole Wilkinson is an award- winning Australian author. All throughout Australian history there has been a continual debate on whether Ned Kelly was a hero or a villain. This debate has good evidence for both sides, so it comes down to personal interpretation. In Black Snake, Wilkinson constructs Ned Kelly as a hero. She portrays …show more content…

The ways Wilkinson crafts Ned Kelly as a hero is through the dialogue she uses for her characters, the types of language her characters use and by also backing up her novel with historical evidence. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate how Carole Wilkinson crafts Ned Kelly to be a hero in Black Snake.

Dialogue is the language used in a conversation between two or more characters. A character’s speech in a novel can drastically affect the reader’s response. Dialogue helps readers to find out more information on a characters personality and values, it helps the story to advance and it helps the story have difference. In Black Snake, Carole Wilkinson uses dialogue to develop our knowledge on Ned Kelly. In Black Snake, many pieces of dialogue reveal vital information about Ned Kelly’s …show more content…

Throughout Black Snake, Ned Kelly is described, using language, in a variety of ways. Some people, such as Superintendent Hare, felt very strongly that Ned Kelly was a villain. “Ned Kelly was a flash ill-looking blackguard…. Notwithstanding all his boasted pluck and boasts, how game he would die” (Pg. 127, Wilkinson, 2002). Others, such as Ned Kelly’s mother (Ellen Kelly), felt very strongly that Ned Kelly was a hero and that police mistreatment towards him and his family was what drove him to become an outlaw. “Think what the police have done to me and mine, and then tell me if you wonder that the boys turned and smote the ones who had so persecuted them” (Pg. 128, Wilkinson, 2002) Others, such as Constable Richards of Euroa, feel that Ned Kelly did commit wrongdoings and did break the law, but he was standing up for people that were struggling and didn’t have a voice and helping those being mistreated. “He was a bushranger but he was the gamest man I ever saw” (Pg. 129, Wilkinson, 2002). The language techniques included in Black Snake are imagery and figurative language, language that can make a reader absorbed in a book and finally, colonial words correct to that time period. In Black Snake, many words are used that can be defined as imagery and figurative language. Imagery can be defined as the use of words to create a vivid mental

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