The Story of Tom Brennan

Many in Mumbilli believed Daniel’s sentence was too short. Would a longer jail sentence achieve justice? discuss. The novel “ The Story of Tom Brennan” by J.C. Burke, is about the Brennan family in the aftermath of a fatal car crash in which Daniel Brennan was drunk behind the wheel taking the lives of two of his friends and paralysing his cousin. Giving Daniel a longer jail sentence will never give him the chance to fully move on and start doing good for others. Daniel is already punishing himself in his thoughts as he struggles to come to terms with what he has done.
Keeping him locked up will not bring back Nicole or Luke and will not make Fin Better either. Keeping Daniel locked up will never give him the chance to move on with his life and start helping others. Daniel did deserve to go to jail, but he does not deserve to be locked up forever. He needs the chance to move on and prove to everyone who looks down on him that he is much more than just drunk Daniel Brennan who killed two people and paralysed another. Daniel proves to be a positive influence on the life of others when he helps one of his inmates, Theo, overcome his suicidal tendency. Daniel also said that he would “make it up to all of you” by doing this Daniel is showing a change and demonstrating a growing maturity that was lacking before and on the night of the accident. He is also overcoming a challenge, which once he could not overcome even a mere hill near his house that the family called
Daniel’s Whine. The hill represented challenges and problems which he was once not willing to take on. Helping others this growing maturity that is beginning to evolve during his jail sentence is proving he is overcoming challenges and using his maturity to face problems.
Keeping him locked up would only minimise his potential to prevent others in the community from making a tragic mistake like he did and suffering through much more than just a jail sentence. Daniel is already