In ‘Ransom’, Malouf reveals the deeper truths that make us fully human.

Whilst the novel “Ransom” is set during the ninth year of the Trojan War and contains the brutality of war, the author David Malouf poses the question as to what makes us human. He explores the essence of humanity through the connections which characters have with each other, particularly fathers and sons. Through Somax’s personal stories, King Priam learns what raw human emotions such as grief and loss really mean. This irrefutable fact that mortal humans must all die allows characters to empathise with one another and allows for the successful ransom of Hector’s body. Despite this, Malouf also suggests that being part of humanity is something to be celebrated. The novel rejoices in the simple pleasures which life entails and asserts that recognizing this, even if it means breaking with convention, is fulfilling and life-giving.

Malouf suggests that recognizing and treasuring the undeniable bonds we share with one another is an essential part of being human. Malouf focuses on the father-son relationship between several characters in the novel to contrast against the brutal stereotypical warrior role of males. In doing so, he shows that even males who usually “roughly silence” “women’s talk” can recognise the bonds they share. This idea is evoked in Priam’s appeal to Achilles to think of his father Peleus and his son Neoptolemus and see Priam “as a father” and an equal to Achilles. In the “smoky” hut, Achilles initially mistakes Priam for his own father, suggesting that all fathers are similar because what Priam does is what “any man would do”. It is this truth that Malouf suggests is universal. In this moment in the hut, Priam is a representative of all fathers because fatherhood is part of the human identity. All the three main characters can be identified as fathers and this unites them. Certainly, Malouf’s characterisation of Priam and Achilles highlights the universality that a father-son relationship has for all humans on both sides of war.

One of the major consequences of war is the grief and loss which resonates in both the Greek and Trojan camps. Malouf shows that these experiences also render as human and are unavoidable but can be overcome. The raw emotion of “great Achilles” and “great Priam’ in the opening two sections of the novel epitomises how “rage” can afflict those men with the highest positions in society. Achilles, “mad with grief” ties Hector’s body to his chariot, “knot after knot”, “a thing unheard of”. The symbolism of the knot in Malouf’s description underline the incapacity of Achilles to “break free” from his anger and guilt until “something new and unimaginable” occurs. Priam is similarly rendered “a child” in his grief for Hector as he “[fouls] his head with excrement”. The smell associated with excrement conveys the shame and despair which Priam is plagued with. It is only through Somax’s storytelling and wisdom he shares that Priam is able to understand his grief through “new-found eyes”. Somax forms the mouthpiece for Malouf’s encouragement and proposal that all humans must “go on” “for all [their] losses”. In being a “simple carter” with a simple story of his own loss, Somax opens Priam’s eyes as well as our eyes to the deep truth that grief transcends all race and status, making us truly human.

Our own death is also shown to be something that makes us human because it is true for everyone. Malouf uses the idea of deaths which are predestined to highlight this idea. From the very beginning of the novel both Achilles and Priam recognise that their deaths will be part of the legacy they leave behind. Achilles “accepts this” “with the pious resignation of the old man he will never become”. In choosing his life and destiny as a warrior, Achilles is well aware that “the sea is not where it will end”. He has “entered the rough world of men” and men, being mortal, all have the same “fee paid in advance”. “the hard bargain that life makes” is similarly shared by Priam. King Priam knows the death which awaits him and this becomes a motivation to leave a “living image’ instead. The recognition that “humans, as we all are” are “endowed” with “mortality” enables the ransom to be successful. This deep truth allows Achilles to consent to give back the body of Hector because gaining insight into this truth humanizes Achilles. Hence Malouf reveals the humanizing truth that each and every human being is doomed to die.

Nevertheless, the novel also endorses the uplifting truth that life is to be celebrated because that makes us feel alive and connected. The restrictive “ceremonial” role of Priam “as king” normally prevents him from taking part in simple everyday pleasures. Only through his physical and metaphorical journey to the Greek camp is he exposed to the “prattling world”. The “griddlecakes” from Somax are such a simple invention yet they bring delight to both men showing how the pleasure of eating is something to be rejoiced. This idea is carried forward when Priam, Achilles and his warriors share a meal together after their refreshing resolution and reconciliation with one another and themselves. Here, Malouf emphasizes the importance of simple pleasures as they allow connection with one another and with their own humanity.

In his epic retelling of the “Iliad”, Malouf reveals the deeper truths which humanize characters amid the brutality and violence of the Trojan War. Through the ransom, through storytelling, through the recognition of shared mortality, all humans are equal.