Julian



Hello. My name is Julian. Play fair by me and you may live...

I must admit, English is one of the few subjects at school that I enjoy. I am a skilled English student and writing stories is something of a hobby for me.


 * Here's my Bill Nugent story:**

I washed my face in a stream, trying to get the taste of bile out of my mouth. I stood up and shut my eyes while I passed the pile of corpses. I tripped and opened my eyes when I stood up, accidentally seeing the pile. I saw a man with vivid blue eyes. They looked identical to my brother’s. I froze, then closed my eyes, got up and kept walking. “That... you... you did what you had to, Bill. Just what you had to.” I whispered to myself. I reached my squad and sat down. “You look like you saw a Ghost, Bill.” Said one of the men. “No, it’s nothing. Nothing at all. Now, when are we going to go get Walt?” I asked. Sergeant Julius Pelton looked surprised. “What do you mean, when are we going to get Walt?” I was confused. “Well, we have to go find him, and we should probably do it before it gets dark.” “We’re not going to find Walt, Private. It’ll take too long. He’s a deserter anyways; he’ll either come back out of starvation or he’ll die out there. Either way, it’s not our problem.” Said Julius. I stood up. “This //raw//, Sergeant. I mean, I know he’s a deserter, but leaving him to die is just plain raw. He’s on our side, Goddammit!” I shouted. “Calm down, Bill.” Said John. “We’re about to leave a man to die, and you expect me to be //calm//?” I yelled. John put his hands firmly on my shoulders from behind and forced me down. “I said sit //down//, Bill.” He ordered. I sank down in submission and just sat there for hours, thinking of where Walt was. I’d told him to come back, goddammit! But he hadn’t listened. Now he was going to die. Eventually, I just drifted off into a fitful sleep. Images flashed through my head. Walt laughing over some silly joke about the Germans. Walt tackling me to the ground, seconds before a shell exploded over our trench. Walt running away from the firing squad. And in my imagination, Walt lying curled up in the woods, with nothing to eat, just waiting to die. A thought came through my head. //But then, we’re all just waiting to die eventually.//

//Gotta say, I don't think I did too well with the 'Language of the Times' thing.//

The Bayeux Tapestry:

**//__The Bayeux Tapestry __//**

(A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry.)

(According to this, King Harold is swearing on the bones of the saints that he will be loyal to King William; this has been established in recent years as probably being false propaganda.) //Background to the tapestry: // The Bayeux tapestry is a large tapestry sewn by French nuns, started in 1068 and unveiled in 1077. It was commissioned by King/Duke William for the purposes of propaganda. It is possibly (and quite probably) unreliable, because one of its main purposes was to show the population that William had a right to the throne (it has been discovered that this was most likely not the case). One of the major details was that King Harold swore allegiance to William, then took the power for himself, making him a perjurer (this is confirmed to be false). It was also designed to show to the population that King Harold was most definitely dead; if there was any belief that he was alive, then the seeds of rebellion would have been sown. And there could be no rebellion; William had gone through too much trouble to let England slip out of his grasp. The third major reason for the Bayeux Tapestry was to show that the Normans had invaded, and were going to be an occupying force for a long, long time to come. //What kind of evidence is the Bayeux Tapestry? // The tapestry is both primary evidence and secondary evidence. It is primary evidence in the way that it shows the weaving techniques (interestingly, it is not, in fact, a tapestry; it’s actually an embroidery) and materials available at the time (the materials used were tabby-woven linen and wool yarn for the embroidery); however, it is only //secondary// evidence of the Battle of Hastings, because the tapestry wasn’t at the Battle of Hastings (since there weren’t any nuns sitting at the side of the battle, sowing what they saw), and in fact was only started two years after the battle, by the order of King/Duke William, for the purposes of propaganda.

(In accordance with the first theory, the person on the left with the arrow in his eye is Harold; in accordance with the second, the person on the right with the sword through his abdomen in Harold.) //First Possible Cause of Death: // The first possible cause of death to King Harold is the most commonly supported – an arrow to the eye. This has been considered fact for hundreds of years, but recently various historians have purported that the second theory (explained below) is more likely. However, it is supported by the fact that the text ‘Here is seen the death of King Harold’ is directly above the man with an arrow in his eye. //Second Possible Cause of Death: // The second possible cause of death is a sword through the abdomen, which is more commonly purported by historians in recent years. It is more likely, since a sword through the stomach is a killing blow. An arrow through the eye, however, may not kill a man; it would blind him, but unless it pierced all the way through (which the arrow in the picture didn’t appear to do) it wouldn’t kill them. On the other hand, a sword through the stomach would pierce multiple organs, as well as breaking the spine; they’d be dead in minutes, if not seconds (depending on the exact location of the hit). //Conclusion //: The most likely cause of death for King Harold (in accordance with the Bayeux Tapestry) was a sword through the abdomen, which would cause serious internal bleeding, spine severance and rapid death. It is possible, however, that neither of the purported causes are correct; the most likely reason for showing Harold with a sword through his abdomen was to show the now-subjugated population that King Harold was completely and unequivocally dead.

**References: ** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bayeux_Tapestry (on the subjects of materials and dates) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">‘The Middle Ages’ Class Book (on the subjects of the possible causes of death) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/images/bayeux-cooks.jpg (picture 1) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">http://www.fischer-mellbin.com/Marcus/Marcus_Stories/Bayeux_Tapestry/Image5web.gif (picture 2) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">http://fits.depauw.edu/aharris/Courses/LoveAndWar/Images/Harold%20swearing%20fealty%20on.jpg (picture 3)

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 48px; line-height: 115%;">The Aztecs **


 * <span style="display: block; padding-bottom: 4.35pt; padding-left: 7.95pt; padding-right: 7.95pt; padding-top: 4.35pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">By Julian Lee ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Aztec Empire was a civilisation that existed in the Valley of Mexico from between (approximately) 1200 and 1521 (when they were conquered by the Spanish). The empire expanded quite rapidly during that time, soon encompassing all of Mexico, until they were defeated by the Spanish, led by Hernán Cortes. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Location and Timescale of the Aztec Empire **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1100: The Aztecs left their home in search of a new place to settle and build. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1195: The Aztecs arrived in what is today called the Valley of Mexico. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1250: The Aztecs settled at started building at Lake Texcoco. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1325: Tenochtitlan was founded, and the first Aztec temple was built. Many were to follow. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1370: Tenoch, the Aztec Priest-Ruler, died, and the Aztecs were then ruled by the Tepanecs. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1400: The Tepanecs were defeated, and the Aztecs rapidly expanded through the whole valley. ||


 * 1100 1150 1200 1250 1300 1350 1400 1450 1500 1550 ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1428: The Aztecs joined forces with the Texcoco and the Tlacopan to form the Triple Alliance. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1487: The Great Temple at Tenochtitlan was dedicated, and the Aztecs expanded south into Mayan territory. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11px; line-height: 115%;">1502: Moctezuma II came into power as the ruler of the Aztec Empire, which was – at that time – at its height. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1522: Tenochtitlan rebuilt as Mexico City, the Spanish capital of Mexico. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1519: Cortes arrived in Mexico; Moctezuma II, the ruler of the Aztecs at the time, was soon killed. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1338: Edward III’s claim to the throne in France causes the Hundred Years’ War. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1311: Duccio uses perspective in his artwork in Sienna, marking the first time the technique had been used in art. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">1517: Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation in Europe. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">A map of the Aztec Empire at its peak (around 1500). ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Socio-Political Structure of the Aztec Empire **


 * <span style="display: block; padding-bottom: 4.35pt; padding-left: 7.95pt; padding-right: 7.95pt; padding-top: 4.35pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">An ancient Aztec depiction of a Pîpiltin. ||


 * <span style="display: block; padding-bottom: 4.35pt; padding-left: 7.95pt; padding-right: 7.95pt; padding-top: 4.35pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The second class were the peasants or ‘Mâcehualtin’, who were actually far higher up in the class system than those in Europe, and were actually much closer to the Middle Class of Renaissance Europe. It is estimated that at the height of the Aztec Empire (the early sixteenth century, before the Spanish invaded), as little as 20% of the Mâcehualtin were engaged in food production, with the rest acting as warriors, artisans and traders, unlike the peasants of many other countries at the time. ||


 * <span style="display: block; padding-bottom: 4.35pt; padding-left: 7.95pt; padding-right: 7.95pt; padding-top: 4.35pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Aztec socio-political structure was actually not dissimilar to that of Renaissance Europe. At the top were the Aztec ‘Pîpiltin’, or Nobility. In the early stages of the Aztec Empire, this status was not hereditary (a major difference with the societies of the rest of the world), but due to better access to education, the sons of Pîpiltin usually had better access to education, and would thus become Pîpiltin far easier than the lower classes. This arrangement later changed (the exact date of change is not clear), and Pîpiltin became a hereditary class, although it could still be acquired by lower-ranking classes. Pîpiltin were often chosen by rulers to take the roles of everything from judges, to army commanders, to government officials. ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The third class were the slaves, or Tlacotin. An Aztec citizen could become a slave due to their debts, as a war captive, or as a criminal punishment. An Aztec slave could possess money, and even own other slaves. Tlacotin could buy their freedom, and be set free by becoming married to or having children with their masters. Normally, upon their master’s death, a slave who had performed valuable services would be set free; the rest would be passed on as part of the inheritance.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Aztec Empire was effectively ruled by a Tlatoani (translation: ‘speaker’), who ruled Tenochtitlan and consequently, the whole empire. Initially, he was elected from among the army commanders, but later on in the empire’s history, he was picked from the family of the previous Tlatoani.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Great City of Tenochtitlan **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Tenochtitlan was founded on the banks of Lake Texcoco in the year 1325 (based on the European Calendar). It covered an estimated 13.5 square kilometres on an island in Lake Texcoco. It was the core of the huge Aztec Empire, which ruled vast areas of land. It was from here that the Tlatoani ruled the whole Aztec Empire, and here that over 200,000 people called their home.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Ultimately, Tenochtitlan was all but destroyed by the Spanish (led by Hernán Cortes), and then rebuilt as Mexico City, which served as the Spanish capital in Mesoamerica. The sole remaining way of gaining what the city in total was like is via drawings made by European artists (most of the Aztec pictures were destroyed or lost during the Spanish invasion). Some ruins can also be seen in Mexico City, but most of them were lost, buried under the choking, burgeoning metropolis that is today the capital city of Mexico. ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">There were four main districts in Tenochtitlan. These were Flowery Place, Mosquito Fen, Herons’ Home and in the centre, the Sacred Precinct. These districts were linked to each other, and to the mainland, by a network of small canals and causeways of pounded earth; these causeways ran above the surface of the lake. Clean drinking water from the lake was brought into the city by a large stone aqueduct.


 * <span style="display: block; padding-bottom: 4.35pt; padding-left: 7.95pt; padding-right: 7.95pt; padding-top: 4.35pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Another artist’s impression of Tenochtitlan, showing the large stone aqueduct; the large cream-coloured area in the middle is the Sacred Precinct. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">An artist’s impression of Tenochtitlan, showing the Great Temple (upper left), along with many other aspects of the city. ||


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Religion of the Aztec Empire **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The religion of the Aztec Empire, like most other religions in Mesoamerican regions, was focused around the Sun, along with several other, lesser gods.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Aztecs believed that the Sun required sacrifices of blood and human lives, or it would die, bringing about the end of the world. They pricked their ears every morning, collecting two drops of blood to offer to the gods, and sacrificed prisoners regularly; often, one of the primary reasons for declaring war was simply to acquire prisoners to sacrifice. For special occasions, astounding numbers of sacrifices were made; at the completion of the Great Temple in Tenochtitlan, //twenty thousand// prisoners were sacrificed. It took a total of four days to finish killing them all.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">During the sacrificial ceremony, the priest performing the ceremony would cut a long slit in the victim’s belly, just below the ribcage. Afterwards, the priest would reach into the slit, navigate their hand past the many internal organs contained in the ribcage and grab the victim’s heart, pulling on it firmly to disconnect the various arteries, and then wrench it out of the victim’s chest, raising it up above their head, showing it to the sun god. After this, the now-dead victim’s head would be cut off and rolled down the steps of the temple, leaving a long trail of blood. Most Aztec temples’ steps were extremely heavily blood-stained. ||
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Inside the temples, there were often large skull racks, which would display the skulls of the many sacrifice victims who had met their end at the temples. When real skulls were not available or convenient, skulls carved out of stone were used (as seen on the left).


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">A row of skulls carved into stone, as seen in a shrine outside the Great Temple in Tenochtitlan. ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Mesoamerican temples doubled as tombs, serving a purpose other than sacrifice. Tlacotin and their wives were often buried inside, and most rulers attempted build an awe-inspiring temple to remind people of their reign. These temples, which often contained valuable relics, were ransacked by the Spanish during the fall of the empire.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Expansion of the Aztec Empire **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Aztec Empire began quite humbly. They left their home (the exact location of this home is unknown; it could have been as far North as what is today known as the Southern US) and journeyed for over ninety years until they reached the Valley of Mexico. They soon started building at Lake Texcoco, and in 1325, Tenochtitlan was founded. The Aztec Empire required a great deal of resources to maintain its power, and these resources were acquired through war. Huge cities such as the capital, Tenochtitlan, required constant tributes to be paid in order to feed their many citizens.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Aztecs believed that thousands of sacrifices needed to be made each year to keep the gods and the Sun happy, and preferred prisoners to sacrifice for obvious reasons. Often, wars would be started with surrounding civilisations for the primary purpose of acquiring prisoners for sacrifice. This lead to great conflict, and war became a core part of Aztec life.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Each Aztec ruler was required to start his reign over the empire by proving his worth with a battle; it was his duty to win glory by acquiring new land for the empire and seizing captives for the necessary sacrifices. Rulers such as Moctezuma I led the drive to conquer new lands, and the empire grew faster than any in history, bar the Mongolians and a few other short-term empires.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">A modern-day depiction of an Aztec warrior. Soldiers like these would have led the Aztec’s conquest of Mexico. ||

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">During the 1400s, the empire grew astoundingly rapidly, to the point where the Aztecs ruled almost all Mexico. Conquered cities were – unlike most empires – not ransacked and burned, but actually allowed to continue with their traditional way of life, as long as they paid tribute to the Aztec empire. These cities were normally controlled by garrisons of Aztec soldiers, and were linked to Tenochtitlan via large numbers of officials, e.g. tax collectors and scribes.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Early on, the Aztecs pressured two other city-states, Texcoco and Tlacopan, to join them in what would become known as the Triple Alliance. Over the next hundred years, this Triple Alliance would control the vast majority of Mexico, and stood undefeated – until the Spanish arrived…


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">The Fall of the Aztec Empire **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">1493 was, albeit indirectly, the beginning of the end for the Aztec Empire. It was in this year that Christopher Columbus arrived back in Spain after his ground-breaking journey across the Atlantic. He told of an awe-inspiring ‘new world’, filled with gold and riches. Fascinated by Columbus’ tales, a group of Spanish soldiers sailed to Mexico in 1519, hoping to make their fortunes and return home rich. They were led by the now-famous nobleman Hernán Cortes.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">At first, they were greeted peacefully by Moctezuma, ruler of the Aztecs. For six days they toured around Tenochtitlan, admiring its bountiful wonders. Then, in an instant of stupidity, the peace came crashing down around them.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">A group of Spanish men found a room with a bricked-up door in the palace and being bored, they destroyed it. Inside the room was amazing amounts of gold, silver, and jewels. They were elated; here at last was the treasure that Columbus had spoken of.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Shortly afterwards, hearing that the Aztecs had sacrificed two of his messengers, Cortes took Moctezuma as a hostage, and began to crush statues of Aztec gods, demanded the end of the human sacrifices. The Aztecs were shocked when Cortes burned alive the Priest who had killed the messengers. After a complicated series of events, Cortes left the city, chased by the infuriated Aztecs. He lost over half his men and many of his new-found Mexican allies, the few who had not yet been defeated by the Aztecs.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Combining with the enemies of the Aztecs and gathering his reinforcements, Cortes led an assault on the Aztec Empire, his goal being to take Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs fought to stop Cortes’ men and their allies for two years. His force now numbered around 1,000 Spanish (many of whom were armed with guns, which gave them an astounding advantage over their Aztec enemies) and close to 150,000 Mexicans. He marched on Tenochtitlan, devastating many Aztec cities along the way and crushing the armies that desperately tried to stop him.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">He eventually reached Lake Texcoco in 1521 and built several ships, which he armed with cannons that proved devastating against their opponents. The Aztecs fought tenaciously, battling for every inch of ground in the blood-soaked streets, using the corpses of their comrades to form barricades with which to stop the Spanish, but eventually, the Aztecs could fight no more.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Cortes and his men fought their way to the city centre, slaughtering everyone they met. With the fall of Tenochtitlan, all Aztec resistance ended, and the European diseases (which the Aztecs had no immunity to) ravaged their populations. Within fifty years, there was no trace of the great, unstoppable Aztec Empire.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 115%;">Bibliography **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Picture of the Aztec Pyramid:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Map of the Aztec Empire:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">First artist’s impression of Tenochtitlan:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Second artist’s impression of Tenochtitlan:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Aztec picture of a member of the Pîpiltin:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Depiction of an Aztec warrior:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Photo of an Aztec skull carving:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Information on the society:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Other information:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Booklet, as written by:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Macdonald, F.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">And now for some TWTWB work.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Task 1 **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">1: (The events of this occur during late Chapter Eighteen and Chapter Nineteen. It’s an alternate version of the story where they decided to get their parents back, and the consequences of their attempt. All events before their conversation on what to do next are completely unchanged.)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">“So, I suppose that these are our three choices,” said Homer. “We can either sit here in safety, or go and try to rescue our parents, or try to help our country in the war by attacking the enemy.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">I thought for a second. “You know that standing around here is going to drive us all crazy,” I said, and got murmurs of assent from the rest of the group.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">“Personally, I don’t think that God would like it if we just started killing people for basically no reason,” Robyn added.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Kevin, as usual, rose to the argument. “They’re the enemy, Robyn. I hate ‘em. I say that we kill as many of them as we can.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Corrie sighed. “I only want to see my parents again.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">I nodded. “Me too. I mean, the longer we wait, the better set-up the defences around Wirrawee are going to get.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Homer sighed. “They’ve got machine guns trained on the entire car park. We’d need a miracle to get in. Seriously, an attack is suicide.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">“Our families are in there, Homer!” Fi yelled, exasperated. It had been ages since she’d been this angry; I think that the fear for her life, and the fear for her family’s lives, had finally gotten to her. “What, so you’d just leave your parents and brother to become slaves?”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Homer put his head in his hands. “You know what our parents would say. They’d say that the most important thing is for us to stay safe. They //certainly// wouldn’t want us trying to rescue them in Rambo fashion and getting killed doing it.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Homer had a good point there. Our parents would obviously say that it was too dangerous, and to stay put.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Lee spoke up then from his position on the rock. His voice was quiet, but firm. “It’s not their choice to make,” he said. “We’re our own people now. There’s no adults out here, nobody giving orders. All we can do is what we think is right. And what I think is right is for us to go save our parents.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Homer finally gave up. “Well, that’s it then. The majority have spoken. Let’s grab our stuff and go.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">--

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Ten hours later, in the dead of the night, we crept through the town like rats in a storeroom, darting from shadow to shadow, not staying in the light for more than a few seconds. We approached the showgrounds slowly, carefully, knowing that a single wrong move could mean death.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Homer’s plan had been simple. There was a cluster of cars parked close to one of the entrances. If a few people made a distraction, the rest of us could dash through the cars, and slip into the Showground. After that, we had pretty much no idea what to do.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Corrie and Homer had been the ones we’d decided to get to create the distraction. It had been a tough decision to make; we knew that whoever created the distraction was practically accepting a death sentence. I was sort of scared for them, but it was mixed with a weird, guilty feeling of relief that I hadn’t been the one going. I felt ashamed and selfish for it, but it was still there, in the corner of my mind.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Eventually, we reached the showgrounds. I hid behind one of the cars that was closest to the exterior perimeter, as far away as I could get from the fence, .22 target pistol clutched in my white-knuckled hands. A few guards were present outside the entrance. Corrie and Homer disappeared into the trees, carrying my dad’s .308 rifle and the 12-Gauge, along with a few basic supplies for lighting a fire; some petrol, and a couple of matches.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">I waited there for what must have been a few minutes, but felt like hours. Then, unexpectedly, I heard a loud bang. For an instant, I thought it might have been a gunshot, but I quickly realised that it was too deep – it was the sound of petrol exploding. A few instants later, smoke rose out of the trees. I heard shouting from inside the stadium, and the guards standing outside ran to find the source of the smoke, assuming that they were under attack. Seeing that the coast was clear, I started running.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">That was when it all went wrong.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">I heard a brief //whoosh// and then a colossal bang, then a shockwave followed by burning heat. I quickly realised that one of the cars behind me must have exploded. I looked up and saw a streak of smoke from a rocket as a second car exploded, closer to me this time, causing my skin to come up in blisters as the flames burnt me. Gunfire exploded from inside the fence, and glass shattered from windows around me. There must have been guards inside the compound that we didn’t see!

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">“We have to get the hell out of here!” shouted Lee from behind me.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">A second later, I watched horrified as a burst of red came from Lee’s chest. He collapsed onto the ground, and I instantly knew that he was dead. As I turned and ran, Kevin took a bullet in the head, and dropped like a sack of potatoes.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">It seemed inconceivable that these two people, two people who’d been with me through this whole nightmare, one of whom I was in love with, were so suddenly ripped away from life, gone from this mortal coil forever.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Fi looked like she was in shock, but I grabbed her wrist and hauled her with me as I ran, staying low, weaving left and right through the parked cars, bullets going past our heads. It felt kind of like I was in a nightmare. If I was in a film, I’d start saying ‘wake up, Ellie’, but I wasn’t, I knew that this was real, and I knew that I was going to die.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Eventually, we made it into the streets, and ran like hell. It was only then that Fi collapsed. I grasped her hand, which was clutching her stomach, and found it slicked with what seemed to be oily, black liquid in the darkness. I knew exactly what it was.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Fi was sobbing in pain as I somehow dragged her into a shop – a jewellery store, to be exact. It was obvious that there was no way for her to survive.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">“Please, Ellie,” she begged. “I… I don’t want you to die too… please run…”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">I recalled the story of Betram Christie. He killed his wife and child so that they wouldn’t have to die slowly and painfully.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">There I was, standing in a jewellery shop, my best friend dying in front of me, contemplating whether to shoot her or not.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">I made my decision, and curled my free fist in resolve.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">The sharp crack echoed through the night.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">--

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">So here I am, sitting under the counter of the jewellery shop, the body of one of my closest friends only four feet away. A quick look outside and I realised that there were soldiers everywhere in the streets around me, opening shop doors, literally ripping the place apart to find me. Our distraction fire must have caused more damage than we thought; I think they’re assuming that we were highly-trained SAS troops.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Nothing could be further from the truth.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">I don’t know if Homer and Corrie are still alive. I know I’ll never get to find out.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">It’s the end. To anyone who’s reading this, if you find my mother and father, please, tell them that I’m sorry, and that I love them. And don’t forget the sacrifice of my friends, please. I’m trying not to cry over the paper now.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">I’m scared. I don’t want to die. I didn’t want my friends today. But now I’m alone. And now, I’ll always be alone.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 17px;">Wait… I hear footste

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">2: The question ‘is murder wrong in war’ is a debate that has raged in the mind of nearly every soldier since the dawn of time. However, in many ways, this can be considered a rhetorical question, for one simple reason: right and wrong are purely inventions of the human mind. As said by Ellie when she sees the dragonfly eat the mosquito, the predator uncaring of its prey’s pain – “Yet humans hated mosquitos too, using words like ‘vicious’ and ‘bloodthirsty’ to describe them. All these words, words like ‘evil’ and ‘vicious’ – they meant nothing to Nature. Yes, evil was a human invention.” This quote shows her coming to the understanding that //there is no such thing as evil// – just what we conceive as evil. However, based on conventional human morality, murder is not ‘wrong’ in war – you merely do what you must to survive, and to allow your friends to survive. You must make the decision as to whether you care about your friends more than you care about others, and what you are willing to sacrifice to allow your friends to live. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">3: If the enemy refused treatment to Corrie, they would be completely justified in doing so, and most certainly in the right. Ellie and Corrie killed people – some of whom may have been friends of the doctors – and the doctors would have been allowed to do so. As I said above: in war, right and wrong all depends on perspective, and to the friends of those who Ellie and Corrie killed, Corrie is evil and deserves to die – yet to Ellie, she’s a nice friend who should live to a happy old age. It’s all a matter of opinion, and neither are in the right, or the wrong. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">4: There is no such thing as a ‘clean’ war. This is fact. War is war, nothing more to say. The invaders may not slaughter civilians, but many will die brutally on the battlefield, and lie there to die alone. No war is clean. Ellie begins to understand this in the book, as she watches people begin to die around her, and she realises that war isn’t the heroic, brave thing that it looks like on TV; it’s dark, it’s horrifying, and there’s no higher authority to say that what she’s doing is right. As she says after she detonates her improvised petrol bomb: “I was so filled with horror. I felt that my life was permanently damaged, that I could never be normal again, that the rest of my life would just be a shell.” This is her understanding that a war – //any// war, even the supposedly ‘clean’ one in her own country – was violent, brutal, and left psychological scars too deep to be erased. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">5: The enemy were completely justified in invading, in my opinion. To put ones’ self in their shoes – they were poor, they were hungry, they had little to no resources, and they needed food and materials. On the other hand, there’s a rich nation, with far more food than they eat, getting rich, living comfortably, refusing to share their wealth. This is the classic setup of any rebellion novel, and certainly an instance where they had little choice but to invade; they simply wanted to gain food from those who had – albeit indirectly – oppressed them for so long by refusing to give them a share of their astounding wealth. Giving Australians menial roles was actually //more// fair than what had been happening – a vast, overcrowded nation with little food condemned to lives of harsh physical labour, or a comparatively small group of people being given the same jobs, as a form of payback for refusing them food and resources.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Task Two:

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">1: The question ‘who is the leader of the group’ actually has multiple right answers, for the different elements of the group are leaders under different circumstances. There are three separate leaders of the group, each leading a different aspect. Ellie is the leader of their group in a sort of detached way; she tells their story, and explains their view, why they did the things they did; justifies their actions for them, in a way. She records what they did for posterity, to stop them from being damned by future generations. On the other hand, Homer is the practical leader of the group. He’s shown as physically the best fighter, has a good head for strategies and plans, and appears to be able to give orders effectively – an instance of this is actually given at the start of the book: ‘I told them to go away, and Homer backed me up, so I finally have some peace’. This quote explains that Homer seems to hold a great deal of authority. Lastly, Robyn is the moral leader of the group, constantly reassuring them that what they’re doing is right. She says that as they are not killing with ill will, but rather for a very valid and moral reason, what they’re doing is okay with God, and God forgives all.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">2: In the group of protagonists in Tomorrow, When The War Began, Robyn shows the most courage. She’s described as being a nice, quiet girl who wouldn’t have the slightest intention of killing a single living thing, yet she steps up to the challenge and never fails the group, doing whatever is required to help her friends achieve their goal. She //maintains// her personality of being a kind, deeply religious person without any belief in revenge and unnecessary killing, but still fights and firmly protects her friends from harm, no matter what she has to do.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">3: In Tomorrow, When The War Began, many tests of friendship lie ahead for the group. The first of these will be romantic relationships; they will ultimately prove stressful and may tear the group apart. The second, and somewhat darker, test is of their morality; they may begin to not only question their own actions, but each other’s actions as well, and this may lead to either resentment of each other’s purity of will, or anger at their dark and ruthless actions – or, indeed, both, if Robyn continues down her present path. The last major test will be of life and death itself; the death of a group member will strain them all in the extreme, and possibly lead to irrational hatred if their death was remotely preventable (and even if it wasn’t; humans always try to find someone, anyone to blame other than the victim).

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">4: John Marsden included the story of Bertram Christie in the novel because it was a significant analogue to what the characters were going through. Bertram Christie killed his wife and child out of love, and the main characters are killing their enemies to protect each other and save their parents, both with the same motive – they love them and they don’t want any harm to come to them. A second reason for including the tale is best summed up by the quote at the end – ‘He had to come all the way down here to Hell to finally be free’. This also directly references the main characters’ decisions – they had the choice of surrendering to the enemy and being in a calm, controlled environment, or they could be down in Hell and free, alone save for each other but able to make their own decisions without fear of judgement – the exact reason that Christie came down to Hell to become a hermit, and live out his life in solitude.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Task 3

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">1: Overall, Ellie is a reasonably reliable narrator J <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">, for the first-person. She certainly doesn’t lie about her feelings and actions in regard to some of the worse things she’d done, and accepts that she and the others were prepared to kill people – and, indeed, have. As she said, ‘I’m not holding back. I told them I wouldn’t’ – she states at the beginning that she wouldn’t lie about the things they did, although she also said ‘I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do this’, which plants a small seed of doubt in the reader’s mind about whether what she’s telling is the whole truth, or just most of it. She also writes in first-person, not pretending to know what the others were thinking, although this has the disadvantage of her not knowing what motivates them. Its status as a retrospective narrative J <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;"> allows both greater accuracy as she has time to think about her actions, but also lessens the accuracy since she’s liable to forget. She is also heavily biased J <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;"> towards her point of view, which makes her unreliable in many ways. In addition, the reader is inclined to feel the same way she does because of the way she writes; she is unsure of and dislikes Chris, and thus, the reader holds the same opinion.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Quotes are well-embedded and used, but there could be more.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">2: The foreshadowing does make the story somewhat more believable in a way; it was very subtle and didn’t break willing suspension of disbelief in any way. The most obvious example is after they’ve seen all the planes flying overhead and Lee says ‘It’s probably the start of World War Three. We’ve probably been invaded and we don’t even know.’ This is rather overt, although he is correct – they //were// invaded. A much more subtle example is when she hears someone on TV saying ‘We have a wimp for a foreign minister! He’s weak, he’s gutless, he’s the next Neville Chamberlain!’ This is a very accurate parallel between the Chamberlain’s desperate attempts to appease Hitler and the foreign minister’s implied attempts to make peace between Australia and the ‘enemy’, which ultimately resulted in Australia’s failure to effectively counter the attack due to the amount the foreign minister had cut from the defence budget. It is rather effective foreshadowing, indicating that invasion wasn’t entirely unexpected but was still considered unlikely, and still not breaking the willing suspension of disbelief.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Task 4

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">1: Over the course of Tomorrow, When the War Began, Homer went through the most change. Before the war, he was a laughing person who never took anything at all seriously, and whose skills with making mayhem and escaping from trouble were used for his own amusement. However, as soon as the war started, these exact same skills made him the most useful member of the team. Previously, his experience with planning had been used for the purposes of pranks; now, it’s used for guerrilla raids, such as destroying bridges. This sent him from being a miscreant outcast to being a valuable soldier – although whether this was a positive change is certainly in question.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">2: Homer’s skill with planning raids such as the assault on the bridge and rescuing Lee certainly qualifies as genius. These skills make him a skilled combatant and commander, and are evidence of a great intelligence, albeit one rarely seen unless under the most stressful circumstances.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">3: The question of whether or not Ellie is a good person is a very difficult one to answer for several reasons. Ellie’s motives are good – she simply wishes for a happy life and for her parents and friends to be safe and happy – but her actions are questionable to say the least. She kills many in order to achieve her goals, and is prepared to do anything it takes to achieve victory. She does feel regret for her actions, but not enough to stop her from performing these acts of murder. However, the final decision as to whether or not she’s a good person is up to the reader – the reader must decide whether her ends justify her means or not.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">4: Chris should not have been allowed in the group for several reasons. He was a serious liability, and presented a substantial risk to the group. He was an extra person, and thus, an extra mouth to feed; he was lazy and tended not to do any work; he actively stole cigarettes and alcohol; and he took drugs. These factors all combined into making him a significant danger to the group, with little to no payoff to keeping him around. When he fell asleep on duty was clear evidence of this; Ellie’s line “If we take it easy any more, we’re dead” shows that she understands that they’re at war and they need to be on constant alert, something that he most certainly was not. He definitely should have been left behind, and in bringing him, they made one of the worst mistakes they could have made – but doing so //was// the right moral decision. And if they’d left him behind, could they have still been called human?

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Task 6

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">1: Ellie’s idea for the mower bomb came when Corrie bumped her leg on it, and Kevin mentioned that he nearly did too, Ellie realised that she could use it as an explosive because it would have petrol in it. She was frightened and panicked, but still managed to think clearly enough to remember that petrol was explosive, and if they could light it, then it could potentially save them – albeit at the cost of the soldiers’ lives.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">2: Marsden uses two major techniques to create a great deal of tension in the scene. The amount of description (e.g. ‘we could hear the crunch of gravel under soft menacing feet’, which serves little purpose to the story but to show that the enemy are getting closer and to lengthen the scene) he uses to explain what’s going on stretches out the scene for several pages, when it could be done in half a page, giving the reader a feeling of ‘what’s going to happen, what’s going to happen, what’s going to happen’ over those pages. He also shows what’s going on in Ellie’s head over the course of the scene, as she gets more and more worried (‘I was struggling to get air, to breath’) and this has a similar effect on the audience, who are inclined to feel the same way as Ellie does over the course of the story, since Ellie acts as something of an audience surrogate.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">3: Marsden takes great care in ensuring that the reader doesn’t care too much about the soldiers who die over the course of the story. He is careful to make them seem like anonymous creatures hunting Ellie and the group; she sees their torches, she hears their voices, but they aren’t named, and (until the very end) their faces aren’t seen, and even then, their features aren’t described; likewise, their emotions, the tones of their voices, aren’t described, giving the audience the subconscious impression that they don’t have feelings.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">4: We do not condemn Ellie for killing over the course of the book for several reasons. Firstly, as described above, the readers do not identify with the soldiers, and thus, it seems like she’s killing anonymous enemies, instead of human beings. The second reason that we don’t condemn her is because she feels horrified at what she’s done (‘I felt guilty and ashamed at what I’d done’), which shows that she was only doing it to survive, instead of out of any form of malice, and even then, she feels bad about doing it, proving that she’s not a complete monster or a cold-blooded murderer.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">5: Marsden shows the ‘Welcome to Wirrawee’ sign as a piece of irony on several levels. The first of these is that Wirrawee is now a battlefield, controlled by the anonymous ‘enemy’; the main characters are now branded as terrorists in there, and the troops inside are trying to kill them – they are no longer welcome in Wirrawee. The second level is because ‘Welcome to Wirrawee’ is a happy expression, showing that Wirrawee is a happy, comforting place to be – but now, it’s a warzone, a dark, gloomy place filled with violence and death. The reason why he describes them as going like ‘bats out of hell’ is a metaphor; Wirrawee now seems to be hell on Earth, and they’re getting out of there as fast as they can to escape it.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Task 7:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Part One **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I believe that the link between Heart of Darkness and Tomorrow, When The War Began is very obvious. The premise in Heart of Darkness is what happens to human beings when all order of society is removed, and this is very much what happens to the protagonists in Tomorrow, When The War Began. However, the difference between the two books is that in Heart of Darkness, the humans begin to behave brutally and immorally, acting only for personal gain, while in Tomorrow, When The War Began, the protagonists are still able to make good and moral decisions, despite the circumstances. John Marsden likely included it as a direct point of contrast, and to subtly point out his idealistic views with comparison to the extreme cynicism of Heart of Darkness.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Part Two **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">The Vietnam War is mentioned many times throughout the book, and is often used as a point of fear among the protagonists. The protagonists often recall the horror stories they’d heard of it, and frequently wish that they would never have to do some of the things that they had heard of happening in that war. One possible point of comparison is that America pulled out of the Vietnam War, and now refuses to help Australia when they are in need, as we are no longer ‘strategically advantageous’ to them, much as Vietnam was no longer strategically advantageous to America when they retreated. However, the main point of relation is simply the horrors of both wars, and the protagonists’ wish not to have to endure them themselves.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Task 8

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I’m kinda surprised that Ellie asked me to do this. I mean, I can’t write half as well as her or Chris. I never expected to have to write. But she asked me to do it, and, well, I can’t say no to her.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Wait, no, I don’t mean it in that way. We’re just friends; either way, she has eyes only for Lee. That’s a fact. Besides, Fi and I are pretty much a couple now, not that I’d ever had picked us for it a few weeks ago…

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">But that’s not what I’m here to write about. She asked me for my perspective on our assault on the bridge, and that’s what I’m going to give you. So here’s how it went down, starting from when I ran off from them to go execute my part of the mission. Hope they like it…

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I found myself hating the fact that I seemed to get the easy, safe jobs. I was the leader of the group, the guy who came up with plans, and yet here I was, letting out cattle – something that I did every day on my farm – while the others were parking a petrol tanker right under the enemy’s nose. A bit of a dissonance of roles, and not one that I felt terribly comfortable with. Lee felt the same way, evidently, although he was supressing his irritation far better than I suspect I was. My legs ached from all the walking – I was cursing the fact that we’d hidden the bikes on the side of the road earlier in order to stay quiet in the paddock. They really would’ve liked to be able to just jump on a motorbike and ride all the way there now. Of course, that would have made way too much noise.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I heard a rustle in the leaves beside me, and Lee and I jumped about four feet in the air. It turned out to be a possum. A freaking //possum//. I suppose that that just goes to show how much I’ve changed. A few weeks ago, I’d just have kept right on walking, but now, the slightest sound could mean I’m about to encounter an imminent hail of bullets. But then, this is the world we live in now.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I kept on walking, not allowing myself to breathe a sigh of relief. Time was of the essence, and if I failed, the whole mission fell apart.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">It felt like an eternity before I reached the gate to the paddock. It creaked slowly and horribly open, and I felt sure that someone would hear me, but I had no choice. Eventually, it was completely open, and I walked in… only to immediately stick my foot in a cow pat.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I was taken back to my farm, where I’d done exactly that a thousand times before. I swore repeatedly – albeit quietly – shook it off my boot, and kept walking.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Eventually, I found the cows. They were all dozing, standing up; I’d always wondered how they could get to sleep like that. I certainly don’t know of anyone who could sleep standing up.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I walked around to the back; it took a few minutes, as there were a //lot// of cows. Eventually, Lee and I worked out a place to hide in the bushes; we were concealed from all angles.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Due to the difficulty of finding cattle prods – there was only one, which was weird – I also took a camera. Repeated flashes will do just as much to get a cow going as an electric shock will.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">We lay completely still, until I heard Fi’s voice over the radio, asking if we could hear her. I fumbled around a bit in the darkness until I found it, and then hit reply. “Yes, we can hear you Fi, over,” I replied quietly, not wanting to attract attention.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“How’s Lee?” Fi asked.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Fine,” I replied.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Where are you? Over,” Fi inquired, finally remembering to use it like a radio and not a phone.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Where we said we’d be. How about you? Over,” I stated.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Yes, the same. We’re about to try to get in. It looks okay. They’ve got plenty of what we want. Over.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Okay, good. Call us back when you’re in business. Over.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Bye,” Fi whispered. “Love you.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I was shocked to hear those words. Could she really mean them? Did she really…? //To hell with it//, I thought. //I might not even live through this anyway//.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Yeah, I love you too Fi,” I replied, and cut the line. I briefly began to ponder what my words meant, but stopped myself. This was no time for thoughts of romance.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“So, you and Fi? Really?” Lee asked incredulously.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I nodded. “I’m just as surprised as you are,” I replied. “And besides, you and Ellie aren’t any more likely.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Lee laughed softly. “Okay, I’ll stop teasing about you and Fi if you agree not to comment for the rest of this mission on Ellie and I.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I nodded and then got back to focusing. We seemed to lie there for weeks, and yet nothing happened; no convoy.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Soon, Fi’s voice came over the radio, informing us that they’d been delayed. “Ellie wanted to climb a tree,” she explained, and Lee and I laughed.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Ellie and her trees…” I muttered, and cut the line. Then I got back to staring at the road.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Still no convoy for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, Lee and I agreed that we had to go through with it anyway, to get it done before dawn.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I picked up the radio to call them, clicked down on the ‘speak’ button… and nothing happened.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I tried again, with the same result.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Lee, I think it’s busted,” I whispered.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“What?” Lee asked. “How can it be busted?”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“I don’t know,” I said, “It just is.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Lee tried everything to fix it, including more or less ripping it apart, but to no avail. Eventually, we worked out that we’d just have to do it and hope that Ellie and Fi worked it out. I stood up and made my way to the cattle silently.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I turned on my cattle prod, found the cow closest to the back, apologised briefly, and then slammed the cattle prod into its back, while Lee set off his camera, resulting in an effect not dissimilar to machine-gun fire. The cow made a loud groaning sound in pain, and started moving forward. The action spread, speeding up faster and faster, moving like wildfire through the animals. They began walking forwards, and with another jab, they began running for their lives, making a hell of a ruckus, far more sound than I’d expected in the first place; it’d never bothered me when I was working on the farm, but now, in the still, empty night, with possible danger all around me, they made a //huge// noise.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“That’ll wake the neighbours,” I muttered as a bit of self-humour, and then a thought occurred to me.

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">The soldiers //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">They’d have heard the animals – that was sort of the whole point – and if they saw Lee and I, or Lee’s camera flashes…

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I looked at Lee. “Now’d be a good time to move our asses out of here…” I muttered to him.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">He nodded and started half-running, half-limping. I followed him, slowly as so not to leave him behind; we may not have been the best of friends before all this kicked off, but we were in it together now. And I don’t think I could forgive myself if he got caught, not in the least because of what Ellie’s reaction would be. She was the closest thing I’d ever had to a sister, and she was beginning to crack slightly; Lee’s capture could push her over the edge. I began to wonder if they thought that I was cracking as well. I couldn’t allow that to happen to myself; as my father would say, there’d be time enough for me to feel sorry for myself when all this was over, or when I was dead. Whichever came first.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Eventually, we found the bikes, exactly where I’d left them. We picked them up, and Lee reached for the ignition. I swatted his hand away.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“No! They’ll hear them. We need to stay quiet until we blow the bridge,” I whispered.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">He nodded and we walked off, wheeling the bikes alongside us. Eventually, we saw the bridge; the cattle were thundering over it, and just as planned, the soldiers were on the sides of the bridge, not paying attention.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Then a second sun seemed to rise.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">An enormous pillar of fire rose out of the bridge, high into the sky. It was truly impressive. From someone who’s been blowing stuff up for fun all his life, I can honestly say that it was a brilliant experience. Lee’s face was shining with excitement.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">“Come on, let’s get back to the Fleet’s place,” I said.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Lee agreed. “Food sounds good right about now. I feel exhausted, even though I shouldn’t be.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I shrugged. “What can I say; it’s been a hell of a night.”

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">And that’s basically how it went down. Sorry that it wasn’t terribly interesting, but hey, that’s how it happened.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">I suppose I’ll give this sheet back to Ellie now, on the condition that she doesn’t show the others. I don’t want them finding out about the relationship between Fi and I.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">That’s all. Maybe Ellie will get me to write something similar to this in the future; maybe not. Who knows.

<span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">- Homer Yannos, Freedom Fighter of Wirrawee

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12px; line-height: 115%;">Essay

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">[Julian Lee]


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">What does __Tomorrow, When The War Began__ suggest loyalty, courage and goodness are? **

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Courage, loyalty and goodness are all generally considered to be positive characteristics for a human being. All three are heavily explored in John Marsden’s novel __Tomorrow, When The War Began__, on both the sides of the protagonists and the antagonists. Loyalty is explained to be a willingness to risk your life for others; courage is suggested to be the ability to do the right thing without fear for your own life, thus overriding your natural instincts of self-preservation; and goodness is given to be a lack of malice towards others.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Loyalty is regularly seen in action on the part of both of the novel’s factions. The protagonists appear to be most loyal to their parents; they repeatedly demonstrate their willingness to give their lives for their parents. However, their rational thoughts tend to take precedence over this, and they don’t attempt to free their parents as it is explained to be suicide to try; Homer states “We can have a go at getting our families out of the showground. That’s a tough one, probably way beyond our reach”, telling the reader that even though he really wants to get his family out of the showground, he’s accepting that they’re going to have to let them suffer in order to preserve their own lives. They are also extremely loyal to each other and very trusting of each other as well. They let Corrie go to the hospital in order to save her life, despite the risk that she would be forced to inform the enemy of the location of Hell; they believed that the risk of their own lives was worth saving Corrie for. Kevin, for instance, is very loyal to Corrie, even saying after Ellie suggested that they leave her at the gate and run, “I don’t give a stuff what’s rational and what’s logical. Corrie’s my mate and I’m not going to dump her and run”. He is willing to potentially give his own life to save Corrie, and certainly be locked up in the showgrounds. They are also loyal to their country, although not to the same extent that they are to each other or their families; they demonstrate their willingness to fight for their country, and attempt to help with the war effort. The enemy soldiers also seem to be very loyal to their country and people, enough to fight and die for it; they are trying to make it a better place by giving it greater wealth, thus giving their families better lives.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Courage is one of the major themes of the story, and a great deal of it is shown on both sides of the war. The protagonists repeatedly show their willingness to give their lives for their cause, and commit acts such as the destruction of the bridge at great personal risk. They are frequently shot at, but they push on, despite the fact that they’re enduring things they never thought they’d have to endure. Despite their best instincts telling them to hide from the enemy, they keep going; Fi even says “All I really want to do is to go down to the Hermit’s hut and hide under his mouldy old bed until this is over”, and yet she still brings up the bravery to participate in the assault on the bridge. They begin to question their actions, whether they could hold up under pressure, as said by Ellie; “I don’t know how I’d handle it if and when it all happened again”, but they tell themselves that they can and push onwards to complete their objectives. The enemy also shows courage, going to war in a country they’ve never known, fighting, watching their comrades die around them and continuing to battle the Australians to assist their country, to give it more room and wealth, and give its citizens improved living standards.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">Goodness is possibly the largest question __Tomorrow, When The War Began__ raises. Ellie and her friends commit very questionable acts, killing many to assist their country in war. They accept that they are willing to do whatever is necessary to free their country, and that they may not be able to live with their actions, but that is a given, obvious consequence. However, they are not taken as evil; they feel remorse for their actions, as opposed to being completely ruthless, and only do what they believe they have to in order to free their families. On the other hand, the ‘enemy’ are not evil either; they are only following orders from their commanders, and will likely be shot for disobeying orders; their commanders believe that invading Australia is the right choice in order to stop their country from overcrowding and starvation. The fact that their enemies are not evil throws the protagonists’ actions further into question; Robyn says “I can understand why these people have invaded, but I don’t like what they’re doing and I don’t think that there’s anything very moral about them”. She is justifying her actions by saying that she understands their motives, but doesn’t believe that their means are in the right. Ellie herself refuses to think about when she blew up the mower, killing three soldiers, in order to stop herself from feeling too guilty; this is left up to the reader as to whether this is a good or bad action.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 21px;">In conclusion, these three characteristics of loyalty, courage and goodness are all questioned in Tomorrow, When The War began, and seen on the parts of both factions. John Marsden subverts and inverts them repeatedly, but one message remains throughout the book; they are all good characteristics, present within every human being on Earth, be they an invading soldier following orders from their commanders to make their country a better place, or an ordinary high school student fighting as hard as they can to save their family.