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Sergeant “Horrible” Hanley
Mr. Peaceful is Tommo, Charlie, and Big Joe’s father, who is tragically killed in an accident when Tommo is a young boy. Not much is revealed about Mr. Peaceful, but he was a woodchopper and died as he saved Tommo from a falling tree in the forest, which ended up crushing him instead. Due to the positioning of his body when he died, it seemed as though Mr. Peaceful’s finger was pointed directly at Tommo, as if blaming Tommo for his death. Tommo certainly interprets it in this way, and blames himself for his father’s death until the very end of the novel, when Charlie reassures him that it wasn’t his fault and dismisses his guilt as “nonsense.” It is also revealed that Mr. Peaceful loved birds, and every time Tommo sees a bird throughout the story he is reminded of his father.
Tommo’s Father / Mr. Peaceful Quotes in Private Peaceful
The Private Peaceful quotes below are all either spoken by Tommo’s Father / Mr. Peaceful or refer to Tommo’s Father / Mr. Peaceful. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
He is on his back, his face turned away from me as if he doesn’t want me to see. One arm is outstretched towards me, his glove fallen off, his finger pointing at me.
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This passage recounts Tommo’s father’s death, as he jumps in front of Tommo who is about to be crushed by a falling tree. Tommo’s father is tragically killed instead. What is significant about the positioning of the body is that Tommo’s father’s finger is left pointing directly at Tommo. This is just an unfortunate coincidence due to the tree pinning him in a certain position (or perhaps Tommo’s father was pointing for Tommo to get out of the way), but Tommo interprets his father’s pointing finger as a symbol of Tommo being to blame for his death. If Tommo had Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum v
A swallow swoops over our heads all through the prayers, all through the hymns, flitting from window to window, from the belfry to the altar, looking for some way out. And I know for certain it is Father trying to escape. I know it because he told us more than once that in his next life he’d like to be a bird, so he could fly free wherever he wanted.
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At his father’s funeral, Tommo spots a swallow flying around the church. He feels that the swallow is the spirit of his dead father, trying to escape the church and move into his next life, so that he can “fly free.” All members of the Peaceful family smile knowingly at one another when the swallow flies out of the church, each wordlessly understanding that Mr. Peaceful is now free and happy in his next life. Later, Mrs. Peaceful tells Big Joe explicitly that his father is no longer in his coffin, but “in heaven up there (and) happy as the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint ap
Chapter 12 Quotes
It is the moment. I have to do it now. It is my last chance. I tell him about how Father had died, about how it had happened, what I had done, how I should have told him years ago, but had never dared to. He smiles. “I always knew that, Tommo. So did Mother. You’d talk in your sleep. Always having nightmares, always keeping me awake about it, you were. All nonsense. Not your fault. It was the tree that killed Father, Tommo, not you.”
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On the day before Charlie’s execution Tommo finally reveals to Charlie how guilty he feels about their father’s death. Tommo has carried this horrible secret with him throughout his entire life, and it has plagued him with guilt. He has never been able to properly move on from his father’s death. In fact, he felt so guilty that he never dared tell anyone, until he finally plucks up the courage to confess to Charlie in this scene. Charlie’s reaction is everything that Tommo needed to hear. He needed someone to dismiss his guilt as “nonsense” and to reassure him wholeheartedly Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi nece
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Tommo’s Father / Mr. Peaceful Character Timeline in Private Peaceful
The timeline below shows where the character Tommo’s Father / Mr. Peaceful appears in Private Peaceful. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: Five Past Ten
Tommo then thinks about his garden, and remembers burying his dead father’s belongings in the ground there. All of Tommo’s father’s things were buried in the garden...
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Tommo remembers his father. He recalls how it was just the two of them in the woods on the...
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...and realizes that a tree has started to sway. It is going to fall. His father tells him to “Run, Tommo!” but Tommo finds that he is paralyzed by fear. Tommo...
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...the funeral, Tommo, his mother, Big Joe and Charlie sit on the front row. Their father’s coffin is placed in front of them. A swallow swoops around the church throughout the...
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The Colonel steps up to the pulpit to make a speech about Tommo’s father, James Peaceful. During the speech, Tommo thinks of all the things his father used to...
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...gathered round the grave, Tommo wishes that the vicar would stop talking so that Tommo’s father could hear the birds singing one last time. Tommo’s mother tells Big Joe that his...
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...after the funeral, Tommo reflects on his “horrible” secret: that he has “killed [his] own father.” If his father hadn’t been trying to save Tommo from the falling tree, he wouldn’t...
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Chapter 2: Twenty to Eleven
...boys eavesdrop as he tells Mrs. Peaceful that the cottage, strictly speaking, was tied to Mr. Peaceful ’s job, and that technically the Peacefuls “have no right” to live there anymore in...
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Chapter 5: Twenty-Four Minutes Past Twelve
...how the Colonel came to their cottage and called Charlie a thief, and told Molly’s father that they shouldn’t let Molly see Charlie anymore. She tells Tommo how miserable she is,...
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...of letters he has sent Molly. She found them in Molly’s possession, and both Molly’s father and mother have read them all. She calls Charlie’s behavior disgusting, and then declares that...
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...with a gun in his hand. He has killed her. The Colonel is standing outside Mr. Peaceful ’s disused shack, from which Charlie and Molly have now emerged together. Molly screams at...
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Chapter 9: A Minute Past Three
...by a flare. Tommo presses himself into the ground and finds himself thinking of his father, and imagining himself apologizing to him for causing his death.
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Chapter 10: Twenty-Five Past Three
Tommo goes on sentry duty. He thinks about Charlie and his father, and tries to imagine them as stars in the sky. He wishes he had told...
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Chapter 12: Five to Five
Tommo finally brings himself to tell Charlie about the guilt he feels for their father’s death. Charlie assures Tommo that it “was the tree that killed Father, Tommo, not you,”...
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