In the Midst of Death We Are in Life

“He carried Hell with him, as we all did, like a little load on our backs that we hardly noticed most of the time, or like a huge great hump of suffering that bent us over with its weight.” 

John Marsden's Tomorrow, When the War Began is considered modern classic and is taught in secondary schools all over the world. Considered a modern classic, the book (which is the first novel in the Tomorrow series) follows the lives of a group of Australian teenagers as they struggle not only with their rapid ascent into adulthood, but to respond to the surprise invasion and conquest of their country. Though written to be accessible to teenagers, Tomorrow, When the War Began discusses some very adult viewpoints and enables the series to be consumed and enjoyed by persons of all ages.

The best element of Marsden's work is the way in which he writes his characters. The main characters in the Tomorrow series are not your typical action heroes. Marsden favours characters that are believable perfectly ordinary people, who could be any one of us, who've found themselves in a nightmare situation. Their struggle to cope in a world gone mad forms the heart and soul of these novels. The structure and narrative draws in the reader, and it's all too easy to find yourself imagining being in their situation and wondering how you would cope.

Prominent themes throughout the book include the struggle with right and wrong, coping with loss, consequence, death and supporting one another.

“A few people would suffer, but a lot of people would be better off.'
'It's just not right,' said Kevin stubbornly.
'Maybe not. But neither's your way of looking at it. There doesn't have to be a right side and a wrong side. both sides can be right, or both sides can be wrong...” 

Written from the point of view of Ellie, the narrator, and therefore not covering anything that she has not observed, the book leaves large sections just sketched in for the reader to flesh out in their imagination. This enables the reader to become a participant in the story, creating their own image of what is going on around and with the characters.

The characters could be anyone of us, any group of young people in any western leaning country. They are people you can relate to. They are very human, very believable, very ordinary. When their lives are smashed apart they are forced to respond, change, grow and adapt. So by the end of the book every character has changed in a different way depending on how they cope with the situation. Throughout the story you find yourself immersed in their feelings, their uncertainty, their fears, their hopes, the drama of what they are experiencing. Ellie, Robyn, Fi, Homer, Chris, Corrie, Kevin and Lee can become real for the reader, and you can relate to them as you would real people. This is a common factor, I feel, in books that are successful in relating to a YA reader. The ability to relate to and understand a character plays an important role in the connection with young people and reading. It's can be an outlet for confusion, and is a reminder that there are all types of people in the world. With books you are never alone.

"Hell wasn't anything to do with a place, Hell was all to do with people. Maybe Hell was people."

Essentially, Tomorrow, When the War Began isn't a novel about war, but about how eight very ordinary teenagers respond to war. Faced with a hellish situation, aspects of their personalities start to emerge. They begin to protect and support each other, and they start to grow. Those who have kept their heads convince the others not to panic and others are completely overwhelmed by what has happened. Once of the nice things about this novel is how fallible the characters are. They all have their problems, they all have trouble coping and the lead swaps around as each finds something to contribute. It's a story that greatly illustrates the importance of teamwork and supporting one another.

“We'll never feel safe again, and so it's bye-bye innocence. It's been nice knowing you, but you're gone now.” 

Tomorrow, When the War Began is an important novel for young readers because it manages to teach a lot of moral lessons, as well as some of the realities of our world in 300 pages of a thrilling adventure story. It highlights the importance of courage, and the heroism of ordinary people. Courage is one of the hardest of human virtues to characterise, it comes and goes, and depends on the situation and the person. Courage can run out and all people have their limits.

Reading is One Form of Escape. Running for Your Life is Another.

"All of the secrets of the world are contained in books. Read at your own risk."

Today I'd like to talk about a series that has played a pivotal role in my own life as a young adult. Though categorised as "children's novels", the saga is that has the ability to make an impact on all young (and old!) readers. Of course, the series that I am fortunate enough to be discussing is Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.

A Series of Unfortunate Events consists of 13 novels written by Daniel Handler under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket. It follows the lives of three children, Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, after the mysterious death of their parents. After being placed into and then escaping the custody of their villainous relative Count Olaf, they are pursued throughout all 13 books by Olaf and his henchmen, who wish to steal the children's vast fortune. As the series progresses it is revealed that everything is not as it seems, as they are faced with a variety of strange obstacles, people and places and begin to uncover more and more about a secret organisation only known as VFD. They discover and unravel several mysteries, but in the end not everything can be explained.

The story is narrated by Lemony Snicket, who works tirelessly to uncover the truth about what happened to the Baudelaires, though he finds the tale almost to sad and unfortunate for anyone to bear. With a cynical, yet humorous tone, he often urges the reader to put the book down and pursue more enjoyable and pleasant hobbies but his clever and unique way of writing keeps you drawn to the children's tale of woe.

"Grief, a type of sadness that most often occurs when you have lost someone you love, is a sneaky thing, because it can disappear for a long time, and then pop back up when you least expect it."

Perseverance is one of the key themes featured in ASOUE. The Baudelaires are portrayed as being admirable for their vitality. The siblings coping with loss is an important feature as it allows the reader to develop an understanding of grief, or relate to characters suffering with despondency. In The Austere Academy Snicket observes that “Friends can make you feel that the world is smaller and less sneaky than it really is, because you know people who have similar experiences.” Fictional characters are no exception to this rule. In a time where a young person may be feeling alone, being able to relate to someone has the capacity to be a great comfort. Throughout the series, Snicket seems to urge the reader to find courage in him or herself and in his or her friends and if not to challenge despondence then at least to take it with a grain of salt. It also looks at perseverance and bravery as playing key roles in the triumph over evil.

“Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like.”

As I briefly touched upon in Daniel Handler on Childhood, one of the important lessons taught by ASOUE is the importance of continually asking questions, and the reality that not all of these can be answered. Though the series is extravagant and sometimes ridiculous, there are many core elements that bring it back to reality and provide a lesson without the almost offensive tidy moralising implemented in many YA novels. "For some stories, it's easy. The moral of The Three Bears, for instance, is 'Never break into someone else's house.' The moral of Snow White is 'Never eat apples.' The moral of World War I is 'Never assassinate Archduke Ferdinand." (The Wide Window). While many of the critical plot points are given answers, Snicket explains that no story can be fully devoid of questions as every story is intertwined with numerous others and every character's history is shared in a great web of mysteries and unfortunate events that make up the world's legacy, making it impossible for anyone to know all the answers to every question. By leaving loose ends and questions unanswered Snicket provides a sort of comfort for young readers by reminding them that it's okay to be confused and bewildered by the world, because the world is a confusing and bewildering place. Though you may not think you're able to so easily slip into the shoes of three orphans stuck in the midst of a villainous plot, in the end everyone is able to relate to the feeling of being lost, confused and trying to find their place in the world.

"People aren't either wicked or noble. They're like chef's salads, with good things and bad things chopped and mixed together in a vinaigrette of confusion and conflict."

The mysterious organisation VFD is a main feature in the books. Exactly what VFD does is unclear, as its members go to great lengths to conceal all traces of their activities. However, it is strongly suggested that the main purpose of the organisation is firefighting, amongst many other humanitarian acts. There's also a great respect held for literature, and it is believed that people who read cannot be evil. In Daniel Handler on Childhood Handler mentioned that the question he is most often asked about the series is "Is [VFD] real? Is there really a secret society of literature?" to which he replies,"Yes, and you're in it."

VFD stands for humanitarianism and the importance of being well-read, and we're all members. However, it also stands as an acknowledgment that there are as many good people as bad people in the world. Though there are many observations of the distinction between good and evil, and how right will always come out on top ("Right, good temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” - The Reptile Room) as the series progresses it begins to display strong themes of moral relativism, as the Baudelaires become more confused during the course of the series about the difference between right and wrong, feeling they have done wicked things themselves and struggling with the question of whether the end justifies the means. Evil characters are shown to have sympathetic characteristics and often have led difficult lives. Similarly, good characters' flaws become major problems. Almost every major character in the books has lived a life as difficult as that of the Baudelaires, especially the villains. In The End Count Olaf, a past member of VFD, observes that he's "no worse than anyone else", and it is an unsettling moral lesson to think that, in some ways, he may be right.

These complex moral views along with a myriad of other themes drives ASOEU and has resulted in it being an exceptional piece of literature that has a lesson for all readers. It's a reminder of some of the realities of life, tied up in a bizarre tale about three orphans who've done nothing to deserve their fate but keep their chins up regardless.

For those who read last weeks entry, the answer is of course D. Life is a nightmare, so why not have one?

Daniel Handler on Childhood