Family, Friendship, and Love Theme Analysis

Family and friendship are motivating factors for all of the characters in Tomorrow, When the War Began. When Ellie and her friends return from their week-long camping trip in the bush, they are devastated to find their families have been taken captive during some type of invasion. Ellie and her friends must know if their families are safe, and they are willing to do anything in order to find them. As the war unfolds and the young group searches for their families, they become more dependent on each other and their friendships. In addition to the lifelong connection between Ellie and her best friend, Corrie, romantic relationships blossom between the friends as well and new-found love is realized. The group of friends rely on one another to survive, and they are even willing to kill to keep their close-knit group together. In the absence of family, friendship is family, and it is all Ellie and the others have to keep them going in a world they no longer recognize. Through the portrayal of friendship in Tomorrow, When the War Began, Marsden ultimately argues the value of love and implies that friendship can be just as crucial—and as tricky to navigate—as family ties.

The importance of family and friends is well established in the novel, which identifies love as a motivating force, especially during the uncertainty of war. Like Ellie and her all friends, Fiona desperately wants to find her family after the war breaks out. “If I could get my family and friends back, healthy, I’d let these people have the stupid houses and cars and things. I’d go and live with my parents in a cardboard box at the tip and be happy,” she says. Fiona doesn’t care about the outcome of the war, as long as she is reunited with her family and friends. After Lee is shot by enemy soldiers and Ellie and her friends must find a way to escape, Ellie is filled with an intense fear that is rooted in love. “Love for my friends,” Ellie explains afterward, adding, “I didn’t want to let them down. If I did, they would die.” While Ellie is undoubtedly afraid for herself, it is the lives of her friends she is most worried about. At the climax of the novel, when Ellie and Fiona blow up the petrol tanker to slow down the enemy soldiers, Ellie is nearly shot as she flees the scene. As Ellie runs for the safety of Fiona concealed in the bushes, she is “reeled in” by their “friendship, love, whatever you want to call it.” The love Ellie feels for Fiona gives her strength to keep running, even when it seems she can’t go on.

Despite the closeness between Ellie and her friends, their friendships are complicated by several disagreements and arguments along the way, which implies that love and relationships aren’t always easy. Ellie and her friends bicker about trivial things, like Ellie’s bossiness, Homer’s tricks and pranks, and Fiona’s aversion to work and labor. Most of their fights, however, are “really stupid,” as Ellie supposes most fights are, and aren’t enough to seriously threaten their connection. Corrie and Homer get into an argument when they are deciding what to take with them into the bush to escape the war. Corrie wants to take family photo albums and her mother’s diaries, but Homer argues they can afford only the necessities, such as food, extra clothing, and blankets. This argument, like the others, blows over, but it also reflects the inherent importance of family—and how Homer and the other group members are standing in as Corrie’s family right now. The group’s most serious argument occurs after Lee and Robyn fail to return to the bush, and Ellie and the others fear the worst. Homer insists they must separate into two groups to look for them, but Corrie is reluctant. She begs for them to think of another way, but Homer won’t concede. He wins the argument by claiming they must get Lee and Robyn back by any means necessary, which again underscores the importance of their friendship and connection.

By the end of the novel, Ellie and the others are certain that their families are being kept safe by the enemy soldiers, but there is no way to get to them without surrendering, and there is no end to the war in sight. Without her family, Ellie finds strength in the love she shares with her friends. “We’ve got to stick together,” Ellie says, “that’s all I know. We all drive each other crazy at times, but I don’t want to end up here alone.” Their future and that of their country is uncertain, but, Marsden thus implies, it is their friendship and shared love that will sustain them.