Literary Devices in Tomorrow, When the War Began
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
A group of teens in rural Australia takes off for a few days' leisure, but when they get back, home is missing all its hominess. This story basically takes place in two places: Hell and a small tow...
Narrator Point of View
The narrative voice is all Ellie. She is tasked with writing down everything the kids have been through in order to leave a record of their experience of the invasion. So she writes from her point...
Genre
Young Adult LiteratureThere isn't a doubt about the fact that this book is for teens. The characters are pretty much all teenagers, stuck asking for permission to go camping and borrow cars and all...
Tone
Ellie calls 'em like she sees 'em when it comes to writing down the story of what she and her friends have been through since the invasion, so even though she's writing a document that all of her f...
Writing Style
Most of the time, this book reads like Ellie is sitting in front of us, talking away, telling us the story in a regular teenager way. She doesn't try to make it sound formal, just natural and belie...
What's Up With the Title?
Well, Shmoopers, this title is tricky. Tomorrow, When the War Began isn't exactly written in a grammatically familiar way: "Tomorrow" points to a period of time that hasn't happened yet while "bega...
What's Up With the Ending?
The very last thing that happens in Tomorrow, When the War Bean is that Kevin leaves to drive Corrie—who's been shot—to the hospital. As they leave, Ellie thinks that she understands why Kevin...
Tough-o-Meter
It's super easy to get swept up in Tomorrow, When the War Began—this book is a total page-turner, with nary an S.A.T-word or confusing plot twist in sight. It's the kind of book you sit down to r...
Plot Analysis
The Unhappy CampersA group of teenagers go camping in Hell, and when they get back, everything is different—by which we mean everyone has disappeared. While the kids are away, another country inv...
Trivia
John Marsden, our author extraordinaire, was going to be a lawyer, but dropped out of school when he thought it seemed too boring.(Source.) Marsden doesn't mess around when it comes to reading and...
Steaminess Rating
In between action scenes and battle wounds, Ellie finds herself in smooch city. Actually, Ellie and Lee get a bit steamy in a tent, and do a little more than kiss, too, but it's nothing a thirteen-...
Allusions
C. S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia (2.58)Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (4.2)Robert C. O'Brian, Z for Zachariah (4.39)