TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN (CHARACTER LIST)

Ellie Linton
Ellie is described as fairly short, and strong in mind and body, having worked on a farm for all her
life. She is an only child, and so has become an 'adopted' sister of their closest neighbours' son,
Homer Yannos. Ellie knows Homer's sexist, immature ways, and always feels that she must match
Homer yell for yell, and never let him get the better of her. She is very stubborn and headstrong ("I'll
never call you a stupid obstinate slag heap again Ellie" - Homer), which gets her into trouble with her
friends and also endangers her life at one point. Everyone has good and bad sides to their
personality and Ellie is no different. Her loyalty to her friends, love of her family and intelligence are
amongst these. She also loves the Australian bush and her life on the land somewhat prepares her
for the rugged lifestyle she is forced to live during the war, but only just. Along with Homer, she is
also looked on by her friends as a leader of sorts and the others also come to rely on her for ideas.
This is as well as writing about her experiences, which the group at first encouraged, but later it
became a way of working things out. Ellie sees herself as a very indecisive person. She has scruples
over every little decision made. Whether to open that can of peaches, or wait until they really need
it, whether or not it is dark enough to light the fire, whether to wear boots or bare feet to travel
down the shallow creek. The others tend to think that she knows exactly what she wants, and seems
so sure of herself.
Ellie develops throughout the series from an outgoing, down-to-earth farmer girl, to a die-hard war
machine.
Marsden writes about Ellie as an old friend, as he would himself. He has given her compassion,
strength, logic. She thinks about death, what it feels like, whether you hear the bullets before they
hit you? Do you ever see or know who kills you? Ellie refuses to die without a fight, part of her sense
of pride, and she wants to see whatever it is that ends up killing her
Her traits are very human and she controls herself very well, usually.
Homer Yannos
Homer Yannos can be described as a reptile, troublemaker, problem, slob, loud mouth, macho, wild,
crazy, immature; Homer Yannos is all of those things. He is also; a leader, a thinker, a planner as well
as careful, innovative, caring, supportive, brave and indomitable. Homer Yannos is big, dark, about
seventeen years old, and Greek. His favourite hobbies before the war were pulling pranks on
unsuspecting bystanders, winding up the girls at school so they call him names like 'sexist', and
generally being a huge pain that refuses to like sport. His parents are both Greek farmers, and he has
one brother, George, a serious, vain older brother.
In his teenage years Homer Yannos has built a front to hide behind, a front as a disrespectful,
insensitive, uncaring guy. Homer has a very forceful, even domineering, personality and while he
despises weakness he also has a lot of trouble dealing with others who also have strong characters.
One of the constants of Homer's life is his competition with his best friend, Ellie. They compete
continually and have done so all their lives. At the same time, Ellie really is the best friend he has in
the world, someone who respects and admires him, a respect and admiration that he returns.

Homer is a very laid-back guy. He jokes about his Greek heritage, and even makes up games about it.
Homer grows up fast. When danger rears its ugly head he is quick, responsive and reliable.
Homer's character is developed throughout the story from an immature, young farming boy to a
mature logically thinking Australian guerrilla.
Fiona Maxwell
For those who like stereotypes, Fiona Maxwell is behind the eight ball. She is set up to fail in the
environment the group finds itself in. She is unassertive, pampered, with no real knowledge of
camping or the bush. She is someone who has never done a day's hard work in her life and even she
knows it.
Even she doubts she has what it takes to resist, to survive. But Fi is not a stereotype, instead she
makes me wonder about just what courage really is.
We are all a mix of strengths and weaknesses, and while Fi is a great carer she needs someone to
provide leadership
Some may get the impression that Fi is not very brave, just someone who hung around in the
background and lets the others do the fighting. One of the constants of the series is how regularly Fi
looks and acts frightened. But when you look more closely at the character of Fi you may reverse
your impression. Fi, is routinely terrified, but may well be the bravest of them all. Despite her
continual terror she keeps performing, she keep going, she keeps her perspective when others are
losing theirs. She is cursed with a memory she can't control, that throws messages of horror into her
mind, but she is the one who controls her actions, not the horrors she can't push away
With the start of the war, Fi seems to be the weak link in the team's line-up, but as the team
discusses what to do Fi's qualities start to show through. She decides to act, despite her fear,
because she can't cope with the thought of doing nothing. Then at the next decision point, whether
to start active resistance, she is obviously terrified but she again decides to go ahead, because she
can't bear to let her friends down. She will even then, put her life on the line for them.
Fi does have her limitations, plenty of them, but she plays her part. She normally takes on
supporting and nurturing roles, but when the situation requires she will try just about anything,
regardless of what she thinks she can do. She does not want to let the team down. Not really a
combatant, Fi fights and kills when the situation is desperate:
Fi defers to no one in courage, be it the cold courage to continue to function calmly when you mind
is full of horror or the hot courage required to climb through a tiny hatch into a burning and wrecked
vehicle in the middle of a firestorm to rescue a friend, or on one other memorable occasion, to risk
everything to save Ellie, her closest friend. Not bad for a pampered girl from town.
Lee
Lee can be described as solid, dependable, loving, passionate, considerate, caring, listening, thinking,
mature, indifferent, withdrawn, introverted, aggressive, vicious, murderous, and maybe even
psychopathic. Lee starts as a fairly common character type, a highly intelligent introvert. A nerd for
want of a better term, but a music nerd rather than a computer one. He does not have good social
skills but has all the normal human emotions, which he therefore tends to keep bottled up inside.
This, of course, means that when he finds an outlet, such as music or combat, the interest is intense.
A fairly typical obsessive type personality. Until the coming of the war Lee had two major escapes.
Music piano and violin at which he excelled. And war/horror movies which he would watch

when he couldnt sleep. He was obviously quite a lonely boy. With the camping trip Lee is exposed to
quite a different environment and quite a different group of people. An outsider to start with, he fits
in well and is certainly part of the group by the time they return home. In the initial response to
what they find Lee is strong and sensible. Fundamental to Lees character is pride, and its flip side,
shame. Lee is shamed by what has happened to his country, his family and to him. He is desperate to
strike back, to carry the war to the invaders and make a difference.
Lee, can usually been seen as the calm one, but that calm does not last. Lees shame grows into
hatred, a hatred whose flowering allows him to easily be the most aggressive of the team, routinely
advocating attack when they consider options. On the other hand, Lee is highly intelligent and cares
very deeply. He can see what is happening to him and is frightened by it, but he is not in control of
what is going on. While he is subject to depressions and a tendency to disappear within himself, he
does his best to support those around him.
Lee becomes suicidally aggressive he wants revenge but there are some complicating factors.
The first is that he doesnt want to die for nothing he really wants to hurt the enemy and that cuts
down on the available options. The next is that he wants and needs the support of his friends but
he loves them and risking their lives is quite different to risking just his. The third is that he really
doesnt want to die. Of course he feels the pull of the suicidal gesture who wouldnt in his
circumstances? But whenever the fat is in the fire, he fights to survive. Time and again.
In Lee, the urge to destruction and the will to live are in sharp conflict.
Robyn Mathers
Robyn is clearly an extraordinary person, but also one of the most stereotypical.
Robyn is a young woman who is physically short and nuggetty, but graceful and well balanced, who
is normally calm and quiet but loves to win and who is at her best in the toughest of situations. Her
actions when their world falls down around them keep them free. She is also compassionate and
caring, sometimes in a big way, but often just little things that make a big difference.
Throughout the eight months of life that we share with Robyn Mathers, the heart of her character is
her faith, and till the moment of her death she struggles with what it means to be a Christian in the
middle of a very ugly war. She shows understanding of why the Enemy may have invaded but at the
same time does not want them to succeed, preferring to resist and then, afterwards, seek to
improve things. She is not willing to use a gun, and when offered a weapon will decline to take it.
She will, however, participate in attacks that will result in deaths, so long as she does not have to kill
up close and personal and she will accept the emotional consequences of what she has done, which
are quite severe. Robyn Mathers is, to the last, the most noble and heroic of the eight.
Robyn is a very powerful character, Although in some ways she is seen as a less humanly figure then
the others, she maybe would have been accepted better if we could have seen some of her flaws in
action, rather than just being told about them in the abstract. However, she is a powerful and moral
character.
Corrie Mackenzie
Corrie is Ellie's very best friend, her mate, whom she had done everything with since she was a
toddler and who she plans on doing everything with when they leave school. Corrie is a plump-faced
redhead girl, very close to Ellie's age, who used to severely lack in confidence. She had advanced in
leaps and bounds since Kevin had become her boyfriend.

Corrie's determination also should not be under-estimated. When battling to find a way into Hell,
Corrie had been one of the leaders.
Corrie is anything but a wimp, she is intelligent and quick thinking. However, the war affects her
greatly. But in the end, Corrie does not let her fear stop her. She is driven by concern for her family.
Chris Lang
Chris is described in the book as a lightly built boy with intense eyes and a lot of nervous habits,
like coughing in the middle of every sentence. He wouldn't be into Commem Day or wood chopping
competitions; he was more into the Grateful Dead, Hieronymus Bosch, and computers. He was also
known for writing poetry and using more illegal substances than you'd find in the average police
laboratory. His motto was 'If it grows, smoke it'. Ninety percent of the school thought he was weird,
ten percent thought he was a legend, everybody thought he was a genius"
Chris Lang is a lesson in two parts:
First he is a lesson in the need to care for and look after each other.
Then he is also a lesson in the need to live your life to the full and be willing to pay the price
demanded.
Chris lacks the goad the others share of having his parents captive, as they are overseas when the
war begins. How well he gets on with them is unclear anyway as Chris is just about the opposite of
his father in every way. As small and lightly framed as his father is large and solid, as rebellious as his
father is straight laced, Chris is someone who obviously does not fit in and does not care.
Regarded as a genius by all at his school; and good friends with Ellie and the others, Chris Lang is
never able to apply that genius to their current situation. He never seems to connect with what they
are trying to do or the group he is in. He is a lonely, depressed boy who - surrounded by people who
are involved and willing to care withdraws from them more and more into his own head, into his
world of drugs (alcohol and cigarettes here), depression and poetry.
Eventually, his depression and unwillingness to engage defeats the others and they leave him behind
when they go down the creek to explore
Dying, and dying in such a futile and pointless way, is the most important thing he does in the series
and it affects them all, but none more than Robyn who cracks for the first and only time.
Chris is a lesson, a lesson in love and commitment and a reflection of potential lost.