Rand Kelly Term Papers

Ned Kelly was a bushranger from the 1800’s he lived from 1854 to 1880. He lived in North-East Victoria. The renowned bushranger is a victim due to a number of reasons. He was driven into crime because of his dysfunctional childhood, he also suffered from social discrimination and was born into a family of criminals, together these show that Ned Kelly was a victim of circumstances.

Ned Kelly had a flawed childhood because of his alcoholic father's death and the financial state of his large family. Ned Kelly became the head of the family at the age of 12, even though he wasn't the oldest child. Ned had to work strenuously to make money to help feed the hungry mouths of his younger brothers and sisters. As shown in the "Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly” written by Carole Wilkinson, Ned had an extremely arduous life, by the age of 10 his father had gone to jail for six months, consequently, Ned had to take his father’s place on the farm. His circumstances prove that to Ned didn’t have anyone teach him to be a

"Black Snake: The Daring of Ned Kelly” shows that Ned's life was exceedingly burdensome. At the age of 15, he was drawn into a fight that had nothing to do with him and was charged with ‘vicious assault’. Even after claiming his innocence, the police solely ignored him and he ended up serving six months in prison for no good reason. Ned spent three years of his life trying to live an honest life but the Victorian police watched the Kelly's like hawks and accused them of crimes they did not commit such as stealing horses. How could Ned have lived an honest life if every single time he looked over his shoulder, a trooper would be standing there with both guns loaded and aimed at his forehead? He couldn’t! These factors caused him to be driven to the life of a bushranger. Police harassment and life with criminals as relatives were main