Tomorrow When the War Began Essay

The Narrative Tomorrow When The War Began, a popular text by John Marsden relates to today’s society though the use of common themes. Leadership is shown through the character Homer in the novel which relates to our contemporary world of leadership such as the American government. Survival is a key theme demonstrated by the characters and the settings. Survival has recently been demonstrated in the Hudson River plane crash. Relationships are demonstrated between every character in the novel. As the setting changes so do the characters relationships between each other, they become stronger. This relates to the families that were victims in the recent Victorian bushfires. Morality in war is shown in the novel through the characters adapting to being a part of war and not everyday simple life. An example of the this in real life is when soldiers in the Iraq war have to kill people to save themselves and their countries. Maturity is demonstrated in the novel when Homer changes because of the situation he is in. This happens commonly in our contemporary life when families loose a parent and older siblings are forced to take the place of a parental figure. These themes relate to our everyday society by the actions of the main characters and how the settings influence how the characters act.

The characters relationship change in the novel as events that occur bring them closer, this relates to the relationships of couples and families that were victims of the Victorian bushfires. In the novel at the beginning when the teenagers come back from their camping trip we see how the characters differ and find it hard to get along. ‘‘…of course it’s bad,’ I yelled at her. ‘Do you think my dad would leave his dogs to die like that? Do you think I’ll be having a good laugh at that tomorrow? I was screaming and crying at the same time.’…. ‘Robyn started crying and yelling….’(pg 64) But by the end of the novel all the characters have put their differences aside and can get along....