Tomorrow When the War Began

In John Marsden’s bestselling novel ‘Tomorrow, When the War Began’ the characters face a number of challenging tasks and situations that will change their lives forever. Some take on the role of leadership, all of them develop feelings and relationships for each other during the invasion of their country and they all change from the sad and deadly experiences.
A number of characters have to assume leadership roles in order for the group to survive. Prior to the invasion Homer had a terrible reputation and was not regarded as a leader. Ellie’s first impression of Homer is that he is a wild, outrageous and carefree teenager; she observes “He didn’t care about what anyone thought. He always seemed to be in trouble.”(p.15)Homer surprises his friends when he shows common-sense, intelligence and a newfound maturity. For example near the end of the book he listens to Ellie’s plan about blowing up the bridge to stop the invaders from searching the area. He then takes command of the plan and successfully blows up the bridge. Also at the end of the book Ellie argues that “If they ever did get back to school she’d nominate him for School Captain.”(p.267) Therefore this show’s that Homer changes a lot throughout the book.
Robyn is another one who takes on the role of leadership by risking her life to save Lee. I bet she had the hardest time coming to comprehend with this because she comes from a religious back ground. For example before the war broke out no one would have seen Robyn taking leadership and making plans to kill people. It was totally against what she believed in. Ellie’s impression of Robyn is that she is a quiet, helpful and determined person; she observes “I always thought of Robyn as fairly quiet and serious. She got effort certificates at school every year, and she was heavily into church stuff, but I knew there was more to her than that. She liked to win.”(p.13)So it is a big surprise to the others when she shows her bravery, intelligence and cool-head