Tomorrow When The War Began Analysis

In the book, ‘Tomorrow when the war Began, Written by John Marsden.’ Ellie gains our sympathy and support after she murders three people. Ellie does this for self defense, survival and to protect those around her. The murders occur when three of the eight main characters, Ellie, Kevin and Corrie, go into their main town called Wirrawee and are spotted by a few soldiers who chase them into a yard where Ellie then has to show bravery by blowing up a mower in order for herself and her friends to stay alive.

Ellie gains our sympathy and support after becoming a murderer. Ellie does this by describing her emotion throughout the book and jumping back to that exact event where she has to commit this dreadful crime. We feel that, because she did
this in self defense, she is considered brave and shows a very large amount of leadership. As the soldiers searched for the kids after being spotted at the showground, Kevin leads Ellie and Corrie into a backyard which seems fairly safe until three soldiers enter the yard and start firing. Ellie is forced to throw a Molotov cocktail onto a mower where it then explodes and kills the soldiers. Ellie feels terrible about this event as she is not used to this type of thing and doesn’t know that what she did, was perfectly right.
Self defense was used as a natural instinct to protect Ellie and her friends. Because Ellie is not used to living in a third world environment, she feels as though what she did was wrong and that she is considered a ‘murderer.’ All in all, this was a natural instinct of self defense and in the book, she makes us feel upset that she feels this way. Ellie protected the ones she loved and was very courageous through this act.