How Does Tommo Create Tension In Private Peaceful

The novel Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo is about a soldier named Tommo Peaceful remembering his life/memories over the course of one night in a French barn. Set during WW1 the novel is told in first person through Tommo’s perspective in flashbacks of his childhood and present time. The chapters of the novel are structured at different times of the night slowly making its way to dawn, this builds suspense for the end of the novel and makes the readers think Tommo is about to die however, as the story unravels we find out that it's not Tommo but Charlie (Tommo’s older brother) who is going to die. The author has done this to make Charlie’s death more effective and heartbreaking for the readers as they would be more saddened by the grief of a brother losing his brother than a mate/friend losing a
There is also loyalty between them and since they both went to and have been brought closer by the war therefore they are brothers in arms. These elements all work together to show the strong relationship between the narrator Tommo and his brother Charlie, and since we are shown Charlie through Tommo’s eyes we are saddened by the death of Charlie as it makes it more heartbreaking for us and makes us believe war was unjust.

Private Peaceful portrays the injustice and brutality of war which Morpurgo accomplishes through Charlie. From this novel I have learnt how unjust, brutal, and futile wars are and the negative impacts of war on people affected by it, for example soldiers like Tommo and Charlie were forced to leave their homes and loved ones to fight for their country, some without their will. Many of these soldiers are killed either as heroes fighting on the battlefield or by court martial for reasons such as cowardice, desertion, sleeping at their posts or like Charlie’s case. Personally I feel this is really unfair adjust because of the actions of some individuals or groups, a war begins