The Human Spirit in Tomorrow When The War Began Essay

Tomorrow When the War Began reminds the reader that even in times of chaos and trauma, the human spirit will always triumph. Discuss.

The novel, Tomorrow When the War Began written by John Marsden shows the human spirits ability to triumph reigns true, even in the midst of trauma and chaos. Values and morals may change, but victory will still befall anyone who follows their heart. Ellie Lintons character is tested when she comes home to find the family pets dead. She must choose between right and wrong in her follow-up actions, battling through trauma and distress. Then her best friend, Corrie, witnesses her home being destroyed. It is in the groups human spirit and empathy for each that keeps them strong. Ellie again questions herself and her actions when she blows up a lawnmower to save her friends. She battles with her decision and believes she is a murderer. Although the choices she makes may deliver pain and trauma to others, her human spirit shines through the chaos to help her succeed. Through the characters in Tomorrow When the War Began, Marsden shows the human spirits ability to grow and triumph.

Ellies decisive ability and her morals are thrown into chaos when she arrives at the family house and finds her dogs dead. She remains in a leadership position when she finds the eldest pet still alive and tells the others to help it while she runs inside to see what had happened to her parents. As Ellie wrote after the traumatic incident, I knew that nothing sp awful could have happened to the dogs unless something more awful could have happened to my parents. Although she says she had lost all rational thought. She still made good decision when the tragic events that had happened were unravelling before her. They lay beside their little galvanized iron humpies, flies all over them, oblivious to the last warmth of the sun. Even though Ellie was facing the beginning of the worst time in her life, she was gaining victory over the trauma which could have affected her in a much more devastating way.

Corrie McKenzie was left shocked and distressed when she witnessed the destruction of her family home. The house was spread all over the paddock; hanging from trees, clinging to fences, lying on the ground. Her emotional trauma spilled over, her body devoid of any control. In Ellies words, Corrie was on the floor, hiccupping, and thrashing around like a fish on a line. Her pupils had rolled back so far into her head that you couldnt see them anymore. Nothing would ever calm her. The event injures her mental state and causes an important change in her life. It took her a few hours to regather some reason and she was still emotional days later. However she tried not to let it affect any of the plans that were both set up and in the planning stages, and her human spirit allowed her to carry on with them and do her job within the group. She shows mental capabilities far beyond her years in times of distress and trauma.

Ellie once again questions her decisions and her character in the aftermath of her defence attach on the enemy troops. She blows up a lawnmower to save herself and her friends from what would have been curtain death. The screams began from the other side of the wallripping the night apart. What seemed to be a murder, causing her mental trauma, actually saving her friends lives. She battles with herself and her actions everyday. I felt like my life was permanently damaged, that I could never be normal again, that the rest of my life would be just a shell. Despite what she puts herself through, she made the right decision. She saved three people, herself and two of her best friends, and by the conclusion of the novel she understands the choice she has made. She is battling an enemy force that is harming her friends, family and herself, and that her human spirit reacted in a way to save them.

In conclusion, John Marsdens novel, Tomorrow When the War Began,the characters show that the human spirit prevails over chaos and trauma, as long as their heart has their priorities in order and their head separates good from evil, and fair from unfair.