‘Is Ellie wrong to have killed the soldiers?
In the novel, ‘Tomorrow When the War Began’, by John Marsden, throughout the ending, including chapters 7/8, 11 and the last chapter killings of the soldiers occur. It focuses on the question, ‘Is Ellie wrong to have killed the soldiers?’ In some instances Ellie is right to kill the soldiers, for example; Ellie was right to have killed the soldiers as it was in self-defence; it was either they kill her or she kills them. To protect her friends from the worse she made a hard and terrible discussion to take another person’s life. In other instances Ellie is wrong to kill the soldiers, for example; Ellie could have just wounded them and give them a chance to retreat instead of killing them.
In chapters 7 and 8, more than one act of killing occurs, the first is the dead of most of the pet and farm animals which is unusual as most animals could have been used as source of food and a companion and the second is different, Ellie is forced to kill the soldiers as they become a fret to her and her friends. Wirrawee is their home where they should be able to feel safe and welcome but instead felt fear and terror. In hell they had the comfit of safety by the shelter which protected them from the war outside although it was enclosed.
The group of friends return home from their trip to find no one home and Ellie’s puppies have died of thirst and hunger and the mother is in a weak condition also the cow was found unmilked which can result in disease and maybe lead to death if not treated quickly, this shows that the soldiers will neglect the animals who are in need of help. This proves Ellie is right to kill the soldiers because the soldiers should have some common sense even though looking after the animals isn’t their responsibility.
Ellie battles to draw upon her courage as much as she battles the invaders. ‘That was the first moment at which I started to realise what true courage was up until then, everything had been unreal, like a night-stalking game at a school camp. To come out of the darkness now would be to show courage of a type that I’d never had to show before, never know about. Maybe I could do this dangerous and terrible thing’. (pp 81) This shows Ellie has had to realise what true courage is to do this.
Also in chapters 7 and 8, the soldiers keep together, moving through the garden, firing into anything that could have concealed a person: a bush, a barbecue pit, a compost heap. The first killing occurred when the soldiers grew closer and the group had to act quickly by using a ride on mover which they pushed into the soldiers, without giving them the chance to run away, killing them. If the soldiers were given the chance it would have been the group killed instead of the soldiers. Through self defence they protected themselves. In some cases the chose of weapons could have been similar in the fact that the soldiers used guns but Ellie in her fearful state used a lawn-mover. The next killing of the soldiers occurred in chapter 11, which involved a truck as it was a part of their plan and the had to kill the soldiers as they planned to return to hell and hide out there for awhile. Ellie uses a quote from the bible ‘and the greatest of these was love. My fear came from love. Love for my friends. I didn’t want to let them down. If I did, they would die.’(pp 141) This shows how strong Ellie’s love for friends is which she relies on and gives her courage to kill the soldiers and keep her friends safe.
Before they acted on their plan, a part of it was, ‘if we have a car waiting, she said, in a place where it’d be hard for them to follow, or hard for them to use their guns, then we transfer to that... And either head out to Ellie’s, or hole up in town another night’ (pp 140), this shows that Ellie and the others have thought long and hard about their discussion and haven’t rushed or thought lightly about it.
The final killing was in the end last chapter, the plan was to move the cattle onto the bridge except they had to hiss like a snake makes to startle the cattle until the sentries were at the right end of the bridge apart from the soldiers hanging off the bridge while they were firing at Ellie. In this instance, Ellie is right to kill the soldiers as they did fire at her first. They couldn’t see the tanker, as it was tucked very nicely in under the bridge. The bridge lifted about five metres at the tanker end. Ellie was wrong to have killed the soldiers as it caused so much damage to the bridge and the second explosion and a massive fireball caused all to go on fire. The whole park seemed to be burning, let alone the bridge. A plus side was Wirrawee’s been waiting for a new bridge for a long time. Also the weapon used could have been different as the soldiers used gun and Ellie blow up a tanker, this is similar to the first killing.
In the novel, there is evidence that the question ‘Is Ellie wrong to have killed the soldiers?’ which can be answered in one way or another as there is one than one side of the story except in the novel where the reader is only given Ellie’s side of the story. It is not wrong or right to agree or disagree about the question as people have their own unique opinions but Ellie is right and wrong as there are life’s lost and the outcome would be similar even if Ellie didn’t because it would be the group who die.