Tomorrow When the War Began Jhn Marsen - Change Theme

“We’ve all had to rewrite the scripts of our lives the last few weeks.” This quote best represents the theme of change. In literature, a theme is defined as a recurring element which helps the audience receive a deeper meaning, a deeper understanding about the text and most importantly about the fundamental ideas in life. John Marsden’s novel, Tomorrow When The war Began is about the lives of seven teenagers during the invasion of Australia. In this novel there are many themes to convey messages to the reader, but the most important and recurring theme portrayed by the author in this novel is change. The theme of change is majorly viewed regarding the situation and environment, development of Homer and Ellie’s personalities and the change in Ellie’s perception.
The change to the characters’ situation and environment is clearly revealed by Marsden. At first the characters were just normal teenagers living peacefully in boring old Wirrawee town but suddenly they were left in an unfamiliar situation of war. At the start of the novel, after Ellie introduced the characters, she said, “we’ve all had to rewrite the scripts of our lives the last few weeks.” She was speaking in first person but she represented her friends as well and indicated that everyone and everything had changed significantly. They had also acknowledged and accepted the fact that their lives will never be the same. Marsden also fixated to the settings of Wirrawee to show change. We saw Wirrawee as a quiet, small rural town. The evidence of change was shown when the invader bombed Corrie’s house. “The house came apart in slow motion. Bricks, wood, galvanised iron, glass, furniture, all erupting in every direction. Where the hose had stood was now black.” From this, we can see that Wirrawee which was once peaceful and beautiful was now a place of desolation. The author listed objects to emphasise the effect that it will never become like what it used to be. The change caused to the situation and