The 'Gallipoli Story' is an adolescent novel which exlplores the ways in which representation of our Nation’s and family’s past
through stories, histories, official and unofficial, fictional and
non-fictional, helps to define our personal paradigms or world view, the
concepts we hold of ourselves and our surroundings.
“There is more to Gallipoli than legend (2003
vii). Carolyn encourages his readers to consider the difference between history and
legend, facts, and the fictions derived from those facts. To illustrate this Carolyn
notes that, “Simpson the legend and Simpson the man are not the same thing (2003
P.71).” John Simpson Kirkpatrick did in fact find the courage to go between
battle lines to rescue wounded soldiers and take them back to atop his donkey. “In
24 days, Simpson had brought in about 300 soldiers, most of them with leg
wounds (2003 p70).” Simpson’s tale took off with the public back home. It was
an effective story. ‘Simpson was a Christ-like figure. He didn’t kill anyone.
He helped the weak. Recruiters used Simpson’s story to encourage men to
enlist... A few Anzacs rewrote their diaries to say they had met him (2003 p70).”
Ironically for a national Australian hero of the time, in non-military life,
Simpson was an illegal immigrant who lied about his Arabic citizenship to get
into the Australian Army. He also had a history of drunkenness and violence. The
idealised ‘Australian’ myth surrounding this legend is an example of
romanticising images and partial truths, being used to form the foundation of
our ‘national identity’. Today, Simpson’s personal ‘imperfections’ and ‘migrant
status’ may make his deeds appear more heroic as we extend our definition of
what it is to be Australian.
Annie.
No comments:
Post a Comment