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The Legend Of King O’malley Essay, Research Paper

Text Analysis Essay 3

1.To what extent did the events of the day prompt the writing of this play? What were the writer’s objectives?

First published in 1974, but performed by NIDA in 1970, The Legend of King O’Malley was a controversial play for its time. In the thick of the Vietnam War, the authors themselves, as well as the actors were directly influenced by the issue of conscription. Each of the characters, legislations, and events are based on real life, therefore, both the events of the time it is set in, the early 20th century, and the time when the play was written, 1960’s, have influenced the authors.

Ultimately, The Legend of King O’Malley is about politics. In writing this play, I believe Boddy and Ellis were encouraging ignorant Australians to examine the political and social construction of their country. They were also addressing the issues that were affecting them the most at the time, conscription and war. Faced with the possibility of being dragged away at the drop of a hat, Ellis and Boddy used their talents to make their opinions heard. The idea of using satire and various acting and production styles to convince their audience takes the edge off of the serious nature of the play and the issues that it addresses. As Australians, we know very little of our history. The federation of our country was an issue that Boddy and Ellis believed we should have some knowledge of, even if this knowledge was merely derived from fact. Also, with conscription being such a controversial issue at the time, humour was used to soften the blows against the politicians of the time.

Just as the events of the play are based on fact, so too are the circumstances to a degree. The opening scenes, with their preaching and giving are derived from the childhood experiences of one or both of the authors. In his introduction to the play, Bob Ellis explains;

“But all of it, for me, is still my Adventist childhood, and the marvellous comic strip through which we climbed, amid singing angel choirs, the glowing stairway to the kingdom above.”

From this we can see the passion that is woven into the script and the origins of many of the ideas. We know that King O’Malley was a real person, born in 1854 who founded “The Waterlily Rockbound Church, the Redskin Temple of the Cayuse Nation” and died in Melbourne in 1953, but the character as portrayed in ‘The Legend’, was derived predominantly from two of the strongest influences on Ellis’s own life, Sibley and Bill Marwood. Just as O’Malley’s characteristics stem primarily from influences in the authors lives’, the religious connotations throughout the play are similarly derived.

As healthy young men in Australia between the years of 1968 and 1971, both Bob Ellis and Michael Boddy were eligible to go to war. They had chosen not to volunteer, however by conscription laws, they could have been forced to leave their homes and families. The Legend of King O’Malley was their contribution to the protests against conscription throughout Australia and the world.

As well as the events of the 60’s that inspired the authors when writing, we must consider the historical influences. At the turn of the 20th century, the English colony that was soon to become a nation in it’s own right, Australia, began to take shape. Having been inhabited for many thousands of years by Aborigines, the first settlement of white man in 1788 came as quite a shock. The reaction from the British towards the native inhabitants varied considerably. On one side, there were those who both accepted the Aborigines and attempted to communicate and build up relations with them. On the other hand, there were those who were more than happy to obliterate the entire race.

In the text, as O’Malley reaches the northern coast of Australian and is clutching to the last threads of life, it is his willingness to accept help from anyone that ultimately saves him. Boddy and Ellis have attempted to show that by simply opening our eyes and accepting a different solution to a problem, we may be able to save ourselves. O’Malley had accepted the fact that he was going to die, however with his strange song and even more absurd dancing, Coowonga (Angel) breathed life back into O’Malley, thus giving him the strength to continue his mission;

“I need a place to die. The waves are close. The sand is cold. Is there no cave where I can lay my bones?” – O’Malley

“She’ll be right, mate!” – Coowonga

In conclusion, the authors were not only influenced by events of their time, but also by the historical incidents. By writing The Legend of King O’Malley, Bob Ellis and Michael Boddy are encouraging their audiences to look into the history of Australia and consider how things could have be done differently. They have also discussed controversial issues of their era that directly affected their own lives.

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