Tomorrow, When the War Began reminds us that even in times of chaos and trauma, the human spirit will always triumph. Do you agree?
In times of chaos and trauma the novel shows us that the human spirit will always triumph. Despite having their world turned upside the group rallies together to help one another fight the enemy. Instead of losing hope, dropping everything and surrendering, they fought for what they thought was right. After confronting unimaginable adversity the characters find a new depth within that they didnt know existed. Their actions demonstrated what individuals can accomplish when faced with overwhelming disruption to their everyday lives, while having to fight for survival.
The novel Tomorrow, When the War Began shows that the characters have to go through the chaos and trauma of having to change from teenagers to growing up and making mature decisions and choices. They also have to change beliefs and principles in order to survive. One major change is in Robyn, at the start of the novel she refuses to pick up a gun, let alone kill someone. But when she is faced with saving her friends she pushes all her fears and her faith away, and shoots the invaders. Robyn, in an extreme effort to help Lee was able to pick up a whole photocopier and move it out of the way, she then picked him up and was able to take him to a safer place. This took a lot of courage and shows that the human spirit will triumph when put in a difficult situation. "Robyn did most of the talking. She'd already been their unofficial leader when they left, and it was interesting to see how much she was running the show now." (pg. 221)
In the novel, there is also chaos and trauma in the relationships within the group, especially with Ellie. Ellie is caught between her feelings for Homer and for Lee. When she finds out that Homer is in love with Fi, she pursued her feelings towards Lee. She finds out that Lee also has feelings for her they explore their feelings further. This relationship theme is further explored when Corrie gets shot. Kevin and Corrie give up trying to save their families and turn themselves in so they can have access to a hospital. This decision was agonising and put them through a great deal of distress while trying to decide what to do. "'I won't pretend the thought doesn't scare the skin off me,' Corrie said softly. 'But it's what we have to do. We'll never sleep again at night if we don't.'" (pg. 174)
As the plot develops the characters are put through traumatic situations causing their leadership skills to change dramatically. One major change is Homer, at the start of the novel he is the funny group clown kind of guy and at the end of the novel he changes to a brave, strong leader. He just suddenly takes control of everything and this surprises the group. Homer was becoming more surprising with the passing hour. (pg. 104)
By the end of the novel we see that the human spirit does triumph as the characters do not loose hope or ever give up. It shows that in times of hardship it is amazing what a person can do and it is often not until a person is tested to their limits by experiencing adversity that real growth takes place. As occurred with the characters in the novel confronting chaos and facing traumatic events requires individuals to dig deep to discover what they are truly capable of achieving in order to survive.
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