Tomorrow When The War Began Ellie Lindon

“True courage is when you’re really scared but you still do it.” (Pg. 256). Ellie Linton, the protagonist and narrator of the book ‘Tomorrow When The War Began’ is a typical farm girl who from one day lived the ordinary rural life of an Aussie teenager and the next week transformed into a brave, headstrong soldier. She first displays the characteristics of a soldier in her first actions of responding to war. This was the explosion of the ride on lawn mower in which allegedly caused the casualties of 3 invaders. She initially feels guilty, bad and wrong until a few wise and helpful words were recited. Subsequent to this, Ellie further developed her courage and stepped up to whatever was required of her in the dangerous situations that she and the group came across. This essay will be further discussing the development of courage Ellie endured in order to keep her and her group of friends alive.
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Before the sabotage of the lawn mower, Ellie personally started to feel brave and courageous after undertaking her first highly significant risk, which was when she stepped out from behind the tree near the show grounds.
During this event, she was accompanied by 2 of her friends Kevin and
Corrie.

Entering the range of the searchlights and subsequently fleeing back into the shadows, she does a short victory dance and thought “I was transformed by those four steps.” (Pg. 82).

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Despite her personal views, many individuals including myself believe Ellie’s first courageous action was her first response to war. After escaping a short pursuit from the invaders with 2 of her colleagues (Kevin and Corrie), they hide in the backyard of an individual’s house. Ellie strategically decides to ignite the ride on mower in order eliminate the search party.

Causing 3 casualties, she initially feels bad, sorry and guilty about what she had done until Homer inputs a few wise words into her head. “Don’t feel so bad. This is war now, and normal rules don’t apply. These people have invaded our land and locked up our families.” (Pg. 96). “The moment they left they’re country to come here they knew what they were doing; they’re the ones who tore up the book, not us.” (Pg. 97). From then on, she stepped up to whatever was required of her in every dangerous situation.
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With the exclusion of all the other courageous actions Ellie has executed, her love with Lee is also one of the greatest contributions to her development of bravery. With common sense, when love gets involved in dangerous situations, great courage is created and subconsciously used no matter what the circumstances. This courage is highly likely to not have only originated from her love for Lee, but her love for her colleagues as well. “They were the beats of my heart, the skin of my body, the breath that entered my mouth and nostrils. They were the beautiful friends who had taught me that love was the life-force.”

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In essence, Ellie who had transformed into a brave, headstrong soldier endured several traumatic but educational experiences since the beginning of the invasion. To illustrate, she first feels a mass amount of courage near the showground stepping away from the tree into sentry vision. She subsequently ignites a ride on mower in order to escape a pursuit and protect her 2 mates, Kevin and Corrie. Finally her love not only for Lee but also for her closest friends is a large contribution to her development of bravery. John Marsden