Explore The Central Themes In The Story Of Tom Brennan

One of the first things that causes Tom to be disconsolate is when he is forced to leave the bear in the mountains. Blue Elk says, “If you do not tell the bear to go away, we will go back and leave him chained to that tree” and then after they get back to the school it says, “The boy did not talk, and he walked as though he was in a daze” (64). One of his teachers, Miss Ellis, says, “Thomas is an unhappy boy and hard to reach” (66)… Another thing that happens is when he tries to run away and finds that his lodge has been purposely burnt down. “He stood among the ashes and whispered his sorrow chant… For small griefs you shout, but for big griefs you whisper or say nothing. The big griefs must be borne alone, inside” (70). Then he heads back down the valley, and meets Benny Grayback at the foot of Horse Mountain. The only thing he says is, “I will go back” (71) and it is in English. The next thing that contributes to Tom being completely numb is when he has to make the bear go away a second time. Winter is over, and the bear is wandering the school grounds in the moonlight looking for him. At first, when Tom tries to tell the bear to go away he is screaming at him, but all of a sudden Tom puts an arm around its neck buries his face in its fur, and cries. Then he yells at the bear, “Go, or they will kill you. They do not need guns to kill…

This powerful characteristic that transitional phases possess have the potential to be a rewarding experience, as they provide an individual with the opportunity for growth and knowledge development through newfound relationships. In ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’, Tom exhibits this through his bond with Chrissy following the dark trauma he endures caused by his brother Daniel. Initially, Tom feels detached from his own identity as he refers to himself in third person “I missed…simple Tom Brennan”, emphasising his deteriorated mental state. However, the relationship he forms with Chrissy is instrumental in his recovery as he begins to find himself again. His passionate tone in “Today I kissed Chrissy Tulake, I felt like Tom Brennan” epitomizes how this bond empowers him to assert a stronger sense of personal identity. Burke, therefore, is able to reveal how transitional

In ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’, the protagonist confronts a traumatic incident which compels him to undergo a physical relocation and sudden emotional change. The transition Tom predominantly faces is sudden as moving into the town of Coghill where he has to deal with social alienation and the horrific trauma inflicted through past events including Daniel’s anger and selfishness which hinders his physical and mentally growth and development. Tom experiences flashbacks of the ‘usual’ Australia Day with his family showing the complete paradox with what is now their reality and horror juxtaposed towards his flashback of the tragic accident of his older brother Daniel: “Running towards the car. Running into the headlights. Running into the silence of death.” The anaphora and repetition of ‘running’ highlights his emotional and physical devastation which emphasises the initial stages of the novel and negative connotations of ‘death’ assumes the setting. As a result of the crisis, Tom responds rather opposing towards transferring to a new setting of Coghill. Depressing motifs are frequently implied throughout the novel to express the feeling of despair and sadness: “There aren’t words to say how black and empty pain felt. It was deeper than the

At the onset of the book, Young Tom has just been released from prison and is interested in making up for lost time and enjoying himself. He is a strong family support during the journey but is among the first to begin reaching out to a larger family. At the end he has focused on the plight and abuse of all the homeless farmers and recognizes that they must

Facing transitions and dealing with dramatic change has a influencing aspect on family and personal relationships, through the text we see the dynamics of relationships and roles of family shift to meet the needs of each individual as they face the challenge of moving in to the world before them. the manner in which the various members of the Brennan family relate to each other, as well as the horrible

Characters in ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ and how they deal with aspects of growing up or transitions into new phases of life and a broader world.

Individuals respond in various ways to transitioning into a new phase of life and society, these transitions can be challenging and confronting. They can also be transformative and thus some individuals accept and others reject because it’ll often initiate a series of consequences that may accelerate one’s personal growth and involuntarily change one’s perspective and/or attitude. These ideas are manifested in J.C Burke’s, ‘The story of Tom Brennan,' a move about the transitions that characters face after an indelible accident. In correspondence to the short story, ‘Neighbours’ by Tim Winton and is about a young couple moving from the city to the village and finding it difficult to reside with the European migrants.

The first portion of the novel deals mostly with Hewes life and why he lived the life that he did. Young’s portrayal of a young Hewes, ever defiant, immediately causes a reader to reminisce of his or her own childhood. It soon becomes evidently clear that “where one ended up in life depended

Characterisation is a vivid description of a person's appearance and character. This is presented through their actions, speech or thought. The novel 'A New Kind of Dreaming' by Anthony Eaton uses characterisation to portray the issue of abuse of authority and power through the antagonist Sergeant Butcher. Sergeant Butcher is a powerful high ranked policeman in the isolated town Port Barren. The author urges us to question whether we would report the crimes with the repercussions that would follow, or to keep quiet.

Tom never does anything without doing it to the fullest, good or bad. Tom has an overall extremely short temper, assertive,confident and aggressive nature. Tom’s wild, emotional, and uncaring attitude end up getting three people killed. Tom in the end is ultimately concerned with himself and his lavished ,intense, and high paced

Flashbacks to Tom’s previous rugby games with his brother re-affirm the loss he feels towards his old life. Tom feels the need to have everything the way it once was, and Coghill can’t replicate the joy he found in the endless afternoon training sessions with Daniel and his father, nor the adulation of the local community.

The parents have played a very important role in Daniels life. They brought him up always showing him what's wrong and what's right, what choices to make, and who to trust. Being a parent means that you should always be in control of your children for as long as possible. Daniel was said to be the type that needed guidance even though he came across as a strong and independent. His mother knew this, but even she was scared of what he was capable of. When times got rough the parents backed off and let him make his own choices. That wasn’t the best move to make. The parents might have shown love and affection to Daniel but they truly couldn’t see what was going on. If only they had paid enough attention to Daniel maybe they could witness how badly he was coming off the rails. They could of helped him. Helped him to make the right choices.

• First half of the novel is about Tom’s descent and the second half is about Tom’s

Throughout the novel “The Story Of Tom Brennan” Burke cleverly employs an enormous amount of changes as a result of one tragic event. The event involves

After meeting Jim Casy and traveling to California with his family, Tom starts to change his idea of see others and the world. Well walking to his father’s house, Tom encounters Jim Casy a former preacher he knew. Tom takes a break and they catch up with what is going on with their lives. This is one of the first examples of how Tom is starting to be more social after being in prison for four years. During their talk Casy gives Tom the idea that,”Maybe all men got one big soul ever'body's a part of.”(Steinbeck 33) Casy tries to explain to Tom that he believes that everyone in the world are just one big family. This simple idea later makes Tom leave his family so he can go help others in need. Without meeting Casy Tom wouldn’t of become the man we see at the end of the novel. Another example of Tom changing as a character is in chapter 16 where he meets a one eyed mechanic. Tom feels bad for the guy and decides to