"...an enlightening book about growing up and discovering who you are" SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
             Do you agree with this statement? Give examples from the novel to support your answer.
            
             Life itself is a journey full of relationships and events that lead to wisdom and understanding. Without these life-teaching relationships and events one may never accomplish growth or maturity. It would lead to an empty shell of a person, never truly feeling passion, love, or peace. John Marsden's novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, is an enlightening novel that demonstrates a group of adolescents who incur life-teaching experiences that allow them to grow and become mature, responsible adults. These experiences are unlike that of regular adolescents, and consequently lead to the early growth and maturity of the characters in the novel.
            
             The better a person develops an understanding of themselves and of the people around them, the better they will be able to develop intimate relationships. This was strongly the case with Ellie and Lee, two of the main characters in the novel. Ellie realised that she was intelligent, logical, and also a bit sensitive. So, naturally, this is what she desired in her partner. This is why Ellie chose Lee. Lee had all of the same characteristics as her, as well as extreme intensity and seriousness that she lacked in herself to keep her grounded. Ellie and Lee did not have an ordinary teenage relationship. Their relationship had progressed, almost, to that of an adult.
            
             The entire novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, was based on the event of an invasion of Australia, and a group of seven adolescents being confined to a hideaway referred to as Hell. This required a lot of maturity on behalf of the seven adolescents. They were forced to rapidly learn how to manage their camp, and take charge of everything, from gathering food and supplies, to protecting each other from the invaders. They learned how to survive without the ...