Tom Brennan Journey
For an individual to gain the rewards of new experiences they must first step out of they’re limits and boundaries and into a new world. In this world there may be obstacles, hardship and often rejection, in the end this move will be positive and an individual will find that through pathways of hardship and misadventure, Horizons will be broadened. The idea of experiencing new pathways is conveyed through the novel “Tom Brennan” by “J.C. Burke” as well as “Redgum’s” “Only 19” and the film “Green street hooligans” by “Lexi Alexander”.
“The story of Tom Brennan” explores through a first person outlook Tom Brennan’s life as he depicts a horrific Accident and the influence of life past the accident. Throughout the novel Tom is forced to change his entire life as his beloved town, school and rugby team associate the Brennan name with the waste that occurred due to his brother’s poor judgment.
“Burke” uses many themes throughout “Tom Brennan”, Possibly the most prominent is the fear of what lies ahead. As Tom moves to an unfamiliar town and enters a new school unsure of what his new classmates have heard about him and his family. “The old man’d told me last night that Harvey (home room teacher) knew about the accident and Daniel and stuff. I didn’t feel comfortable about it,” This conveys the …show more content…
message that Tom is both afraid and uncertain about where his life will take him, Through the novel Tom is experiencing the fear of moving into a new life with new friends and new changes punctuated by the memories of the events of the accident and times leading up to Daniels trial.
Small scenes play a vital role in conveying the themes of the novel. One incidence of this that stands out is the scene where tom’s new school (bennies) plays tom’s old school st John’s. In the match Tom’s new school lose in a close game to his old school yet Tom feels as if “The siren rang for Full time, the score still 9-7(to st John’s) but you would’ve thought we were the winners.” I believe this is a metaphor for Tom’s perspective on life as his old life clashes with his new life, while his old life may be better he has come to terms with the fact that that is in the past now and that he must move forward with his current life regardless of his past. ”Suddenly today didn’t become the day I faced st John’s . Today became the day I kissed Chrissy Tulake.”
For a theme to work well and hence be powerful it must relate to a basic human trait or self consciousness. How many of the viewers out there have ever felt uncomfortable making a new decision? This is what encourages the responder to empathise with the main characters represented in bot “J.C. Burke’s” “the story of Tom Brennan” and “Redgum’s” “ only 19” .
Written by john Scubman in 1983, Redgum’s famous song “I was only 19” delves into the physical and psychological strains put on young men during the Vietnam War.
This song gives the story of one young man who through the outbreak of war takes a new path which ultimately leads him to Vietnam fighting for his country. As is “the story of Tom Brennan” the main character experiences a fear of what lies ahead but rather than the clique fear of death and destruction which the character seems reasonably naive to it is rather a fear of the ramifications and aftermaths of an event that changes the young mans life for ever. “And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the
jungle
Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row”. While the character returns in a reasonable physical condition, it is when he returns to his civilian life he struggles to reintegrate with people who do not share the same memories and experiences as the men he served with, and cannot fully understand the effect of those experiences. “And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep? And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?”
Ben: Yes that would be difficult for anyone to deal with, especially at such a young age, barely maturing from a child to an adult.
Jake: Yes that’s right. Also if we look back to “the story of Tom Brennan” Tom inadvertently is forced to move from the innocent world of the child to the more serious and often darker world of the adult. This is another theme used by “J.C. Burke” to show the influence one pathway can have on all other aspects of an individual’s life. Daniels accident causes Tom to almost instantly shift from a world where the most important decisions come from the rugby field, to a world of more sinister ramifications as Tom deals with the loss experienced due to the accident as well as the potential collapse of his family due to the events that occurred. “She didn’t see me, how could she under all those covers?” Referring to his mother who did nothing but lye around all day.
“Burke” outlines the change between child and adult by using flashbacks to punctuate the story. The novel starts with Tom experiencing life after the crash and his move from Mumbilli to Coghill. “The back page of the Billi weekly shows me throwing a dive pass to Daniel” it is these flashbacks that allow the responder to see the clear separation between Tom’s childhood thoughts and concerns and his adulthood. if we take a look at the film “Green street hooligans” by “Lexi Alexander” we see a young man who after being unfairly kicked out of university, finds himself half a world away living in England with his sister. After a short time he finds himself caught up in a violent “firm” and at first gets addicted to the exciting no fears life of these gangs, "I have never lived closer to danger, but have never felt safer. I have never felt more confident”. Yet like all good things this excitement must come to an end as he discovers what is truly important in life and that childish pride is not worth the serious consequences of this dangerous life. "Pete's life taught me there's a time to stand your ground, and his death taught me there's a time to walk away"
“Alexander” uses a deep sense of characterisation to create a connection with the characters between both the main character Matt as well as the audience. "You don't run, not when you're with us. You stand your ground and fight!".
These texts have given me the idea that to truly reap the rewards of new experiences it is critical for an individual to step out of what they know and walk different pathways. Something else that I have picked up on is the fact that taking new pathways and new experiences is not always a voluntarily thing, that sometimes through no choice of your own you can find yourself in the middle of a new experience (as in Tom Brennan) and no matter how good life seemed before you can’t go back now you must rather move on and attempt to make the best of your new life.
“The story of Tom Brennan” explores through a first person outlook Tom Brennan’s life as he depicts a horrific Accident and the influence of life past the accident. Throughout the novel Tom is forced to change his entire life as his beloved town, school and rugby team associate the Brennan name with the waste that occurred due to his brother’s poor judgment.
“Burke” uses many themes throughout “Tom Brennan”, Possibly the most prominent is the fear of what lies ahead. As Tom moves to an unfamiliar town and enters a new school unsure of what his new classmates have heard about him and his family. “The old man’d told me last night that Harvey (home room teacher) knew about the accident and Daniel and stuff. I didn’t feel comfortable about it,” This conveys the …show more content…
message that Tom is both afraid and uncertain about where his life will take him, Through the novel Tom is experiencing the fear of moving into a new life with new friends and new changes punctuated by the memories of the events of the accident and times leading up to Daniels trial.
Small scenes play a vital role in conveying the themes of the novel. One incidence of this that stands out is the scene where tom’s new school (bennies) plays tom’s old school st John’s. In the match Tom’s new school lose in a close game to his old school yet Tom feels as if “The siren rang for Full time, the score still 9-7(to st John’s) but you would’ve thought we were the winners.” I believe this is a metaphor for Tom’s perspective on life as his old life clashes with his new life, while his old life may be better he has come to terms with the fact that that is in the past now and that he must move forward with his current life regardless of his past. ”Suddenly today didn’t become the day I faced st John’s . Today became the day I kissed Chrissy Tulake.”
For a theme to work well and hence be powerful it must relate to a basic human trait or self consciousness. How many of the viewers out there have ever felt uncomfortable making a new decision? This is what encourages the responder to empathise with the main characters represented in bot “J.C. Burke’s” “the story of Tom Brennan” and “Redgum’s” “ only 19” .
Written by john Scubman in 1983, Redgum’s famous song “I was only 19” delves into the physical and psychological strains put on young men during the Vietnam War.
This song gives the story of one young man who through the outbreak of war takes a new path which ultimately leads him to Vietnam fighting for his country. As is “the story of Tom Brennan” the main character experiences a fear of what lies ahead but rather than the clique fear of death and destruction which the character seems reasonably naive to it is rather a fear of the ramifications and aftermaths of an event that changes the young mans life for ever. “And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the
jungle
Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row”. While the character returns in a reasonable physical condition, it is when he returns to his civilian life he struggles to reintegrate with people who do not share the same memories and experiences as the men he served with, and cannot fully understand the effect of those experiences. “And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep? And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?”
Ben: Yes that would be difficult for anyone to deal with, especially at such a young age, barely maturing from a child to an adult.
Jake: Yes that’s right. Also if we look back to “the story of Tom Brennan” Tom inadvertently is forced to move from the innocent world of the child to the more serious and often darker world of the adult. This is another theme used by “J.C. Burke” to show the influence one pathway can have on all other aspects of an individual’s life. Daniels accident causes Tom to almost instantly shift from a world where the most important decisions come from the rugby field, to a world of more sinister ramifications as Tom deals with the loss experienced due to the accident as well as the potential collapse of his family due to the events that occurred. “She didn’t see me, how could she under all those covers?” Referring to his mother who did nothing but lye around all day.
“Burke” outlines the change between child and adult by using flashbacks to punctuate the story. The novel starts with Tom experiencing life after the crash and his move from Mumbilli to Coghill. “The back page of the Billi weekly shows me throwing a dive pass to Daniel” it is these flashbacks that allow the responder to see the clear separation between Tom’s childhood thoughts and concerns and his adulthood. if we take a look at the film “Green street hooligans” by “Lexi Alexander” we see a young man who after being unfairly kicked out of university, finds himself half a world away living in England with his sister. After a short time he finds himself caught up in a violent “firm” and at first gets addicted to the exciting no fears life of these gangs, "I have never lived closer to danger, but have never felt safer. I have never felt more confident”. Yet like all good things this excitement must come to an end as he discovers what is truly important in life and that childish pride is not worth the serious consequences of this dangerous life. "Pete's life taught me there's a time to stand your ground, and his death taught me there's a time to walk away"
“Alexander” uses a deep sense of characterisation to create a connection with the characters between both the main character Matt as well as the audience. "You don't run, not when you're with us. You stand your ground and fight!".
These texts have given me the idea that to truly reap the rewards of new experiences it is critical for an individual to step out of what they know and walk different pathways. Something else that I have picked up on is the fact that taking new pathways and new experiences is not always a voluntarily thing, that sometimes through no choice of your own you can find yourself in the middle of a new experience (as in Tom Brennan) and no matter how good life seemed before you can’t go back now you must rather move on and attempt to make the best of your new life.