tomorrow when the war began analytical essay

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John Marsden’s Tomorrow When the War Began: Summary and Analysis

• John Marsden’s Tomorrow When the…

The novel,  Tomorrow When the War Began  was written by author John Marsden and published in 1993, entails the story of a group of teenagers put into a precarious situation. Upon returning from a short camping trip to the nearby mountainous areas of Wirrawee, they discover themselves in a new world. A world overrun by foreign soldiers, a world devoid of the people and things they used to know. A world of war. Throughout the story, the characters are developed, some more than other, as a result of the harsh decisions, environments, and situations they find themselves in. Of the main few characters, one who undergoes the most change is Homer Yannos. 

Introduced as a brash, rebellious, and careless teenager, he seems to not have a care in the world except enjoying himself… at first. Once the severity of their situation is revealed to him, lots of changes occur within him. He begins leading the group as their unofficial leader, making smart and well-thought-out decisions, and begins comforting and caring for others. These changes are further explored by entailing Homer’s reaction to tough situations using characterization. The following information describes Homer’s change, why it happened, and what he did that revealed these developments.

Within the novel’s exposition, Homer is introduced to the story as a rebel within the community. This is before the invasion, so Homer does not really have any concerns, cares, or a responsibility to spare his friends and family. Ellie’s description of Homer is that he is “…wild, outrageous, didn’t care what he did or said or what anyone thought.” He is known for making foolish choices, choices that would often embarrass others, but not someone like Homer, who lacks the self-respect to do so. An example that perfectly portrays Homer’s lack of remorse and respect is his creation of a game called ‘Greek Roulette.’ In the game, “… you’d take it in turns to walk up to a window and head-butt it.” 

This description alone gives an idea of just how immature and careless Homer truly was before the invasion. In addition to this, “Homer always seemed to be in trouble.” whether it be from a round of Greek Roulette that a teacher stumbled upon, or from taking worker’s ladders away while they were on the school’s roof, he was constantly being berated by others, and yet felt no guilt for his actions. 

To add to his often-rash behaviour, Homer generally did not regard people’s emotions as being valuable, resulting in him getting angry and making bad choices. An example of this situation is when “…they (Homer and his mother) had a massive argument, which ended with homer chucking the sprouts at his mum.” This situation was from his youth, but his lack of respect and the emotional value of others is still portrayed in him at the beginning of the book. 

In general, before the invasion, Homer was immature, selfish, and not at all reluctant to do the wrong thing, even at the expense of others’ comfort and wellbeing. He does not think things through and is rash. Later, his change is a surprise to everyone and will be explored further.

Homer’s change from a rash, irresponsible bot, into a tactically thinking, caring and responsible man relies on two main ‘turning points’. One of these points was Homer’s confession to Ellie about having feelings for Fi. Ellie is taken aback, especially with this type of conversation “coming from Homer” because in the past, “…real women, he treated like beanbags.” This helps Homer develop as he finally regards people’s feelings and treats people like they should be treated. 

Furthermore, “…he got embarrassed at admitting even that much” meaning that he liked Fi. In order to impress her, Homer began acting less impulsively and focused on interpreting and understanding people’s feelings, a big change for him. More of his emotions were showing and he was finally capable of feeling empathy, all because his feelings for Fi opened a whole new range of changes in which Homer could explore. 

The second major point of development for Homer, is when the group returns home and realizes the danger and the situation that they have found themselves in. Instantly, Homer begins taking a leadership role. He realized that they needed to “… stay calm or we’ll (the group of teenagers) never get anywhere” and he began planning with intelligence and the group’s best interest. Likewise, he realizes that as a leader, he must make the tough and important choices for the group’s safety, and he does just that when “…Homer made an unpopular decision. ‘I think we should split up.”’ 

He is instantly met with contradictions from the rest of the group, but he stays calm and elaborates, bringing up rational points, and explaining that “’ Five people free and two locked up is a better equivalent than no people free and seven locked up.”’ Everyone else realizes that Homer is correct, and “we were starting to recognize Homer’s leadership.”

Homer’s responsible and leaderlike behavior continues throughout the journal, and by the end, Homer is an entirely new person. He creates the majority of the plans and choices that ultimately save the group’s lives on multiple occasions. Whenever the groups “…voices trailed off, we found ourselves looking at him (Homer)” for ideas and they were beginning to see the ‘new Homer’ and just how much change there had been, emotionally and mentally. One of Homer’s most influential decisions was to retreat “…to Hell. 

That was Homer’s genius, he combined action with thought, and he planned ahead.” This not only gave the group a safe haven to stay in while they plotted and recovered, but it gave them hope and something to focus on to take their attention away from the looming and ominous invasion. Another example of Homer’s obvious role as the leader of the group is when he is formulating his plan for the destruction of the bridge. He quickly and efficiently assigns everyone roles, based on their strengths and weaknesses. 

He follows through with the plan with efficiency and carefully planned moves, which results in the successful explosion and (almost) all of the group being unharmed. This behavior continues until the end of the novel and in extreme contrast to his previously selfish and careless behavior in the exposition, whenever he makes a mistake or takes an unnecessary risk, “… he’s so down on himself.” 

This shows that in addition to becoming more focused and seeing things through, he gradually became more capable of caring for others and letting emotion show. A majority of that change came from his progressive relationship with Fi, and to support that, near the end, Homer says: “Yeah, I love you to Fi.” This coming from Homer, who began with such a high ego, shows his quickly developing emotions and maturity, which is conveyed exceptionally well.

Homer’s development as a character is extreme. He began as a rebellious, rule-breaking teenager who had no interest in other people’s emotions or feelings. He did what he wanted and was complacent about retribution as an effect of his poorly planned actions. This side of Homer was introduced at the beginning, but further into the book, a series of events happen that cause him to begin thinking more about the feelings of others and about everything else in general. 

His love for Fi provided an opportunity for him to learn more about respecting others and treating them well, unlike he did before, and the invasion allowed the ‘hidden leader’ within him to shine and show everyone his true capabilities. By the end of the book, Homer is the unofficial leader of the group and is held responsible for making all the big decisions and supporting the group. 

This is a responsibility that the ‘old Homer’ would never have been trusted with, because as stated in the book, before the invasion “Homer wasn’t even trusted to hand out the books.” Homer’s transformation from the rule-breaking, class clown into the leader of the group, making tactical plans, and resisting invasion is a character development that surprised all the characters but was for the better and resulted in many lifesaving decisions and plans.

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Tomorrow, When the War Began Summary & Study Guide

Tomorrow, When the War Began Summary & Study Guide Description

Ellie and Corrie are best friends in their final year of school when they decide to skip Commemoration Day activities in favor of a camping trip. They issue invitations to a group of friends and make their plans. Among those who are going along are Ellie's neighbor and childhood friend Homer, a classmate Fiona, Corrie's boyfriend Kevin, a friend Robyn, and a classmate Lee. Ellie says that she finds Lee interesting though he isn't an intimate part of their group prior to the trip. They head to an area known as Taylor's Stitch and prepare to drop down into a rocky valley known as Hell. There's a rumor that a hermit lived there for many years after killing his wife and infant son. Ellie says that if he could get down into Hell, they can surely find a way. They do discover a way down and once there, find that there's a trail that makes the trek much easier though it is completely concealed from the road. For several days, the group takes it easy. They have water and have packed in plenty of food, so they simply enjoy their time.

One night planes fly over and the next day they head back. At Ellie's house - the first they encounter - there's no one at home and several of the dogs that are tied up outside are dead. They find similar scenes at other houses along the way and eventually realize that something horrible has happened. That makes them more cautious and they soon realize that soldiers have invaded, taking everyone who was attending Commemoration Day events prisoner. There has been some killing and the various members of the group find themselves in dangerous situations as they try to assess the situation and figure out their next move. They rule out a rescue of their families as too risky and gather up everything they can to help wait out the time until help arrives. They then return to "Hell," knowing that if they disguise their approach up Tailor's Stitch they can likely avoid detection by the military.

Over the coming days, they secretly take more supplies into their camp site. They hide supplies in various places around the mountain in case they get cut off. In a daring ploy, Lee, Homer, Ellie and Fiona blow up a bridge - an act they believe will seriously hamper the invaders' supply lines. When Corrie is shot in the back, Kevin takes her to the hospital, hoping that the enemy will take her in and save her life as the remainder of the group settles in, plants vegetables and does whatever they can to hamper the progress of their enemy. Meanwhile, several of the young people of the group pair off - Fiona with Homer and Ellie with Lee. As they look for ways to survive, they deal with the emotional upheaval, each trying to make sense of the situation and their roles in it.

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Tomorrow When the War Began

By john marsden, tomorrow when the war began analysis.

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Tomorrow When the War Began is a young adult novel which tells the story of Ellie Linton and her group of ragtag teenage friends. The group, which had gone out to the bush of Australia to camp, returns one day to their town to find people disappeared and animals dead. Distressed, the group quickly discovers that their town has been taken over by an unidentified military force so that it could be used as a beachhead for their invasion. That force, which Ellie and her group saw and heard flying over them while camping in the bush, was never identified.

Marsden says that he did this intentionally; the detail is also important because of when the novel was written and published, America and its allies were still reeling from the effects of the Cold War with Russia and concerned about potential invasion or nuclear attack (ideas which were echoed in other works, like Red Dawn ). During that time, no one knew who danger would come from. Would it be from Russia, or another unaffiliated country? Marsden's choice to not name the invaders is reflective of the fear of the unknown of the people living in that time period.

While intelligent and resourceful (not many adults could camp in the Australian bush), Ellie and her friends are children. So, when they are faced with an adversary that is determined to conquer the rest of Australia, which they see as a place to mine, Ellie and her group ultimately decide to go face-to-face with the occupying force and try to drive them out. First, they must rescue several of their group members who have gone missing, something which they successfully do.

Eventually, after seemingly constant trials and tribulations, Ellie and her group successfully manage to destroy the bridge that would have allowed the occupying force an easier route into the rest of the country. But that victory does not come without a cost: the lives of two of their friends.

Tomorrow When the War Began is reflective of the time period in which it was written. It is a novel firmly rooted in history and popular culture. First and foremost, it is a novel meant to entertain its readers. While it has many important and complex themes (like dealing with violence and trauma at a young age and making the best out of a bad situation), the novel has little academic value. Ultimately, Marsden's novel is about friendship, banding together to accomplish a goal which would be impossible alone, and using limited resources to accomplish a very difficult goal.

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Tomorrow When the War Began Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Tomorrow When the War Began is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Study Guide for Tomorrow When the War Began

Tomorrow When the War Began study guide contains a biography of John Marsden, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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Tomorrow, When the War Began

John marsden.

War, Law, and Morality

As the title suggests, war is central in John Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began . After a group of Australian teenagers return from a camping trip in the bush to find their small town invaded and taken over by an unknown foreign power, they fear it is the beginning of World War Three. The small group of seven, including Ellie and her best friend, Corrie , find their houses abandoned and their families missing…

Family, Friendship, and Love

Family and friendship are motivating factors for all of the characters in Tomorrow, When the War Began . When Ellie and her friends return from their week-long camping trip in the bush, they are devastated to find their families have been taken captive during some type of invasion. Ellie and her friends must know if their families are safe, and they are willing to do anything in order to find them. As the war unfolds…

Coming of Age, Transformation, and the Loss of Innocence

At its core, John Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began is a coming-of-age story. Ellie and her friends are just high school students when an unknown foreign power invades their native Australia, and even though they aren’t yet old enough to legally drive, they must face the invading power alone in the bush—without their parents. As Ellie and her friends evade the encroaching enemy soldiers, they are constantly reminded of their childhood, which, though only…

Writing and Storytelling

While they are certainly lesser themes within Marsden’s novel, writing and storytelling are nevertheless important aspects of Tomorrow, When the War Began . The story is told through Ellie , an Australian teenager nominated by her friends to record their experiences after their country is invaded by an unknown foreign power. Ellie is the best writer among her friends, and they elect her as Australia’s Poet Laureate when they fear their small group of eight…

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