An Argument in Favor or Against the View That Ned Kelly Was a Hero of a Villain

Ned Kelly: HERO OR VILLAIN? People have always argued about Ned Kelly and whether he was a hero of a villain. In my eyes he was neither hero or villain. If anything he was a heroic villain. Ned Kelly was just an Australian with Irish born parents who was given a hard time by the Australian police officers. When he was blamed for shooting a police officer he went on the run as an outlaw. The police bullied and picked on his friends and family, imprisoning his mother and some of his friends.

Ned Kelly, his two brothers and his best friend formed the Kelly Gang and became outlaws and travelled the area in and around Glen Rowan and Mansfield in Victoria where they lived. They hid out in the bush and were being pursued by the police in the area. Eventually the gang was trapped and the situation became kill or be killed so the Kelly gang shot about six police officers before they were the ones being shot.

They continued on the run in the area robbing banks and stealing cattle only killing if they absolutely had to. They took no hostages and harmed no civilians in the banks they robbed.

By this time the police they killed earlier were being replaced by at least a hundred more under the command of a respected high ranked officer. The Kelly gang was being hunted. The gang headed to the Glen Rowan hotel destroying part of a railroad on the way to prevent police following them by train.

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The gang made armour for their bodies out of nail cans and pieces of iron. They were bulletproof almost everywhere. When they reached the hotel the did not let the people leave but did them no harm, letting them go about doing whatever they wanted. One man escaped and stopped the police train and told them everything. When the police arrived at the hotel there was a big shootout.

The police opened fire first killing innocent civilians. The Kelly Gang fought back killing many police officers in the process. Everyone in the gang died except Ned who survived until morning. When he made one last stand he was shot repeatedly in the legs and taken to Melbourne Gaol. In the end he was hanged. Ned Kelly, hero or villain? I believe he was neither. I wouldn’t call Ned Kelly a villain because he was an outlaw for a reason. He was being hunted for something he didn’t do and when he defended himself with force he had every police officer in the state onto him and a price tag on his head if any civilians wanted a piece of the action. Nor would I call Ned Kelly a hero. What he did was amazing but although it has been described as this before I wouldn’t call it heroic.