Characterisation of Homer in Tomorrow When The War Began Essay

In the novel Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden a character that surprised me throughout the text was Homer Yannos, one of the teenagers that go away camping only to return and discover that their country of Australia has been invaded by a foreign power. Homer and the other six teenagers must mature to the war and learn to survive. Throughout the novel Homer surprised me as he displayed great courage in all situations, taking initiative in order to survive. He also was able to turn the negative crisis that is the war into a positive by firstly building stronger relationships and proving that there is more to him than what he has been so incorrectly labelled.

Homer is described at the beginning of the book by Ellie as wild and outrageous and that he didnt care what anyone thought. Ellie writes about a variety of pranks Homer pulled such as stealing work mens ladders and playing Greek roulette. After the teenagers have discovered Australia has been invaded however Homer quickly matures to the war and steps up to be a leader. He encourages and supports everyone in the hardest times of their lives and plans logically, for example the groups decisions to use Hell as a base and to blow up the Wirrawee Bridge were both thought of by Homer.

When Homer and the others realise their country has been invaded Homer stays calm and helps everyone else out. His mind set changes and he is no longer joking around but thinking of possibilities that will increase the groups chance of survival. After the first trip into town and the lawnmower incident has occurred everyone is feeling shocked and depressed, though Homer is not physically helping them he mentally encourages them in a way that gives them hope of survival Homer was becoming more surprising with every passing hour. It was hard to remember that this fast-thinking guy, whod just spent fifteen minutes getting us laughing and talking and feeling good again, wasnt even trusted to hand out the books at school. Homer has already come to understand that in order to survive the group needs to not only be physically prepared but also mentally prepared; he helps out in this way giving them enough energy and motivation to keep going. Once Homer had the group feeling better he again started planning. He knew they had to have somewhere to go that they knew was safe. Homer announced his plan to the group. His plan was to pack up as much essentials as they could take and head back down into Hell That was Homers genius. He combined action with thought, and he planned ahead. He sensed, I think, that inaction was our enemy. Homer rationalised that Hell was a good place to make their base. It was sheltered and discrete plus unknown. Hell is not an easy place to access and the group felt safe there which was important to the mentality of the group and making sure they are comfortable and not constantly worried which can very quickly drive them all to paranoia. Homer is surprising in the way he realises that survival is not just a physical thing. He used the natural human instinct to want to survive and took it that step further into more logical thinking in order to protect his friends. This instinct is within all of us but what triggers it may be different for every individual. It is surprisingly Homer the prankster whose survival instincts kick in first.

In this novel Homer is able to make positive reactions from negative scenarios. Homer is able to do this with his relationships within the group. Though the war is a trying time for them Homers relationships just grow stronger as they realise they are so interdependent. It comes as a surprise not only to the reader but also to all the characters in the book when Homer takes a liking to Fiona Maxwell better known as Fi. In the novel Fi is described by Ellie as an exotic butterfly she is very delicate and graceful. The very opposite to Homer, however Homer is still very taken with Fi, it takes a while but with Homer maturing and becoming more sensitive towards the war the way he acts towards Fi changes as well and she begins to like him back Yes I do(talking about liking Homer). I didnt at school, but honestly, he was such a moron there. If anyone had said to me then Id end I liking him, well, id have paid their taxi fare to the psychiatrist. He was so immature. Fi never expected to like Homer and as the war develops so does their relationship. On the mission to blow up the Wirrawee Bridge their relationship is yet again thrown into a new light showing how serious it has become. Fi and Homer are talking to each other on the walkie-talkies whilst Ellie and Lee listen in. Fi then tells Homer she loves him to which he replies he loves her too. For Homer to say that to anyone was pretty good; for him to say it with Lee and me listening was amazing. Those few small words show how much care Homer and Fi have for each other. Fi and Homers relationship can be compared even in the world today. Even in war torn countries such as Afghanistan many people still love each other, we do not get to pick when, where or who we fall in love with and it shows just how strong relationships can become in times of crisis.

Homer lastly surprised me in the book by the way he overcame the stereotype/ label he was so wrongly given. The way Homer changes from constantly joking around to being serious shows that there was another side to him that no one ever really noticed. It was not until the invasion when Homer really begins to change when he sees how much his friends need support. Homer, are you on something? Sorry? You keep going like this, youll lose your reputation. Arent you meant to be just a wild and crazy guy? This is the first time Robyn has seen Homer in action and she can immediately notice the difference. Soon everyone is noticing the whole other side to Homer and how they had got it all wrong. Whilst Ellie ponders things in the depths of Hell, Homers suggested base she comes to realise that even though her and homer were like brother and sister even she had just been seeing what she wanted to see and not digging any deeper It was the same with Homer, the way for all those years hed been hanging a big sign around his neck, and like a food Id kept reading it The way in which Homer was judged is like the common phrase Dont judge a book by its cover meaning first impressions are almost never correct. People looked at Homer and saw what they wanted to or what other people had told them. They did not take the time to look further in, like reading the book properly, to discover the real Homer. The way that Homer so smoothly and maturely changed was very surprising as the readers first impression of him is that he will never stop joking around.

The way in which Homer changed made it more possible for him to develop a steady relationship with Fi and help the rest of the group slowly mature to the war as he has. Homer continued to be surprising throughout the book whether he was cheering the group up, learning to survive or planning to blow up the Wirrawee Bridge. The changes in Homer bring along further actions that add to the interest of the novel making it less predictable for every reader.