Themes in Tomorrow When the War Began
Theme Quote which shows the theme
Self Discovery “I’ve done it! It was a dance of courage. I felt then,
and still feel now, that I was transformed by those
four steps. At that moment I stopped being an
innocent rural teenager and started becoming
someone else…There wasn’t time to explore this
new and interesting me but I promised myself I’d
do it later.”
“I wanted to spend more time with this new homer,
this interesting and clever boy whom I’d know but
not known for so many years.”
Courage “That was the first moment at when I started to
realise what courage was.”
“We sat there, in silent agreement, three minds
working on one topic: how to get Lee away
from Barker Street despite his wounded leg.”
Sticking together “Although we’d agreed, so logically to split up
if we were chased, I knew now I wasn’t going
to do that. At that moment only a bullet could
have separated me from those two people.”
“We’ve got to stick together, that’s all I know.”
Sacrifice “Bertram Hubert Sexton Christie, believing
their injuries to be fatal and unable to bear
their suffering and knowing also that
medical aid was beyond immediate reach,
killed both deceased with single shots to
the head from a rifle.”
Challenging society’s values “Human Laws, Moral laws, religious laws, they seem artificial
and basic, almost childlike.”
Keep your friends close, but enemies closer “We’ve got to stick together, that’s all I
know…Humans do such terrible things to
each other…I just hope we can survive.”
Growing up/ Maturity “He’s changed so much, don’t you think?”
Survival “Her eyes seemed to fill her face with shock and horror.
‘We’ll have to take her into town,’ Homer said. ‘We
know the Hospital’s still functioning: We’ll have to trust
them to look after her. There’s no other choice.’
He was right. There wasn’t.