‘Ransom is a story of vengeance clashing with grief.’ Discuss.

In his lyrical novel, Ransom, David Malouf reimagines the final book of The Iliad, and in doing so, highlights the futility of countering grief with vengeance. He asserts the pointlessness of such vengeful actions, examines the role of the ‘rough world of men’ in creating it, and notes its cyclic nature, leaving many readers disheartened. However, Malouf also demonstrates how grief can be overcome with honourable actions.

Malouf demonstrates to readers the uselessness of trying to assuage grief with acts of revenge. He introduces this concept right from the outset of the novel through his characterisation of Achilles. Malouf moves away from the traditional portrayal of Achilles as the most formidable of the Greeks and instead describes him as hollow and like a dead man. This new perspective of Achilles depicts him as lacking balance and feeling trapped in a clogging grey web due to his grief over the death of his soulmate Patroclus. Once Malouf describes Achilles’ barbaric actions in dragging around the corpse of Patroclus’ killer, Hector, it becomes clear to readers that Achilles is attempting to assuage his grief with violence and brutal, callous actions. Malouf uses imagery to depict Achilles as already dead himself as he continues to desecrate Hector’s body, by describing him as caked with dust like a man who has walked out of his grave. Thus, Malouf asserts how Achilles’ act of revenge has only wasted his spirit and left him feeling that it was never enough; being unable to overcome his pain at the loss of his friend.

Malouf examines the role that the ‘rough world of men’ plays in creating the practice of countering grief with revenge. Throughout the text, Malouf is critical of this world of bursts of violence where honour is achieved through the hero’s death…on the battlefield. He portrays the characters immersed in the ‘rough world of men’ such as Achilles, Alcimus, and the Myrmidons as unbalanced characters lacking in emotion and compassion and afraid of where silence might take them. As these men have endured war day after day…season after season, they have lost their more intuitive, honourable sides, and now turn to violence and brutality, a clash of arms, in order to settle a quarrel. These men have lost dear companions but having been stuck under a spell of continuous warfare, they only seek to assuage the grief they have suffered by battling the other side with renewed vengeance. By frequently mentioning the great length of the nine year war, Malouf encourages readers to view this idea of the ‘rough world of men’ of overcoming grief by continuing to avenge the deaths of friends through violence as preventing the destructive war from coming to a decisive end.

Readers may be left disheartened in Ransom as Malouf highlights the generational cycle of grief and revenge. Although the main events of the text occur over one day, Malouf often jumps forwards or backwards in time to demonstrate to readers the similarity of events in the future to those in the present and past. The vision of Priam’s impending death at the hands of Achilles’ son, Neoptolemus, in particular, is employed by Malouf to show the cyclic nature of grief and vengeance present in the classical world of warriors and honour. During the vision, Malouf describes Neoptolemus as working towards this moment for his entire life; living out the long hard days of training in boyish dreams. He feels that he must avenge the death of his father as in the ‘rough world of men’, this is the honourable act of overcoming his loss - needing to live up to the legacy of the great Achilles. However, although he kills Priam, his father’s great enemy, he does not experience a rush of exhilaration. Instead, Malouf describes to readers the heartsickness, animal sadness, despondency he feels as the entire act of revenge was botched and did nothing to consume his grief at the loss of his father. By highlighting how the act of revenge to overcome grief continues in the future, Malouf may leave readers feeling disappointed in this element of the story.

However, Malouf offers readers a sense of optimism as he asserts how grief can be truly overcome through dignified actions. By emphasising to readers the great transformation that Priam – and also

Achilles – undergo through the journey and Priam’s act of begging Achilles for the body of his son, Malouf shows that grief may be consumed as long as honourable actions are employed rather than violent, vengeful ones. Before Priam undertakes his journey, he is described by Malouf as grieving not only for the loss of his son, but also for the impending destruction of Troy. This characterisation is juxtaposed with how he is portrayed returning home, as the hero of the deed that had never till now been attempted. At the end of the text, he feels a provisional triumph and the eleven days of peace shining around [him]. In undertaking such an unprecedented and honourable action of begging his son’s killer for his body, Priam has been able to overcome his grief without violence, and feels the interim of [the] truce on his return rather than grieving over the destruction of Troy and the desecration of his son’s body. In addition, Somax, a character often employed to represent Malouf’s ideas, expresses the wise sentiment that punching his mule Beauty would not have brought [his son] back to life. Hence, Malouf asserts the need for considered, dignified actions to overcome grief, rather than acts of vengeance.

In his novel, Ransom, David Malouf demonstrates the futility of vengeance in overcoming grief. He highlights the uselessness of such violent acts, the role of war and the ‘rough world of men’, and the cyclic nature of vengeance in such a world. However, he gives readers some optimism as he shows how honourable deeds can overcome grief without brutality.