David Malouf's Ransom Themes

David Malouf’s Ransom portrays a strong connection between Achilles and Patroclus which is evident from their love for one another. Through the loss of Patroclus however, Achilles experiences a great deal of pain that comes from a sense of death, grief and loss, all of which are prominent themes within Malouf’s adaptation of the Iliad, Ransom. After the passing of Patroclus, Achilles looses all that is humane inside him, his anger concocted from his refusal to be consoled after Patroclus’ death sending him spiralling out of control and beyond recognition, violating every moral code by which he lives by. Achilles’ daily violation of Hector’s body in conjunction with his throbbing sense of grief and its yearning for a cure has caused Achilles to undergo a self transformation where he
Achilles deals with an enormous sense of anger when he finds out that Patroclus had died, his rage taken out upon the body of Hector, where he would leave it out to rot and let nature’s wrath plague Hector’s body. Unlike a normal being, Achilles was never given the tools to cope and deal with his emotions, “never permitting himself to betray to others what he felt “, instead he was always told to keep then locked up inside. When he could no longer control his emotions, everything that was inside, everything that was locked away from the world, came out. Taking his rage upon Hector was at the time the only logical thought through Achilles’ mind but little was he aware that this would turn out for the worse, sending him spiralling into a state of despair. That boy who once was drawn to his mother’s nature, to be free, fluidlike and without substance had now become someone who was not even recognisable to his own men. Although Malouf downplays the death of Hector, he places great emphasis upon the emotions and changes taking place within