The Nature and Morality of War. Tomorrow When the War Began

Tomorrow When the War Began is a novel by John Marsden about seven teenagers who came back from their camping trip to discover their country has been invaded and their family and friends have became prisoners of war. John Marsden provides readers with a deep insight into the nature of war and its morality. Many ideas and questions are raised in the text regarding the rights and wrongs of the actions the teens carried out during war. John Marsden repeatedly stresses that the code of mortality is a guide to living during peacetime and in certain situations such as war, the individual should use their instinct to judge what is good or bad, right or wrong. In the novel, we see invading, killing, looting and stealing which is all against the human code of morality but it’s a nature of war. John Marsden also highlights through the the of language that people change in war. The text throughly explores the nature and morality of war.

One of the nature of war is Invasion. In the novel, the teens returns from a hike to discovered Australia has been invaded. Invasion is morally wrong from the eye of the United Nations. However, invasion is portrayed differently in the text. Chris says they are “trying to keep a “clean” invasion”. The prisoners are mostly treated well, “the people who were in hospital the day of invasion have been kept there, and looked after”. This invading country is attempting to keep an low profile so they will not attract the attention of the United Nations. “They don’t want to attract a lot of heat from them” which is “pretty smart” according to Homer. This country has invaded Australia because they are less fortunate where people are “packed in like battery hens”. These invaders are invading because there country might not provide enough resources for it’s citizen. John Marsden has created a happy and peaceful environment at the beginning of the novel to make contrast and emphasise the effect invasion had on the people and the place. The question...