Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Tomorrow, When the War Began, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
War, Law, and Morality
Family, Friendship, and Love
Coming of Age, Transformation, and the Loss of Innocence
Writing and Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
The local fuel distributorship is just six blocks away, and Ellie and Fiona find it easily enough, but they are nervous and keep bickering. Ellie wonders what they will be like when the action really starts. In all honesty, she is kind of nervous having to work with Fiona. Ellie is scared, but Fi is really scared, and at least Ellie is used to working outdoors around trucks. Fi is used to ballet lessons. Sure, Fi is better than she was, Ellie admits, and she respects Fi for it, but Ellie is still apprehensive.
Ellie is clearly worried that Fiona’s inexperience will get them captured or killed, which again reflects their young age. Ellie’s life on her father’s livestock farm means that she has experience with heavy equipment, but Fiona—the daughter of rich lawyers from the suburbs—has no experience in anything of the sort.
Themes
It is quiet at the distributor, so Ellie and Fiona stop to rest and call Homer and Lee on the walkie-talkie. Fiona tells Homer that they have made it, and there is plenty of what they need. Homer says they are set on their end, too. Fiona says goodbye, but she tells Homer that she loves him first. Homer is silent for a minute, and then he tells Fiona that he loves her, too.
The friends are careful not to give any information about their location or plan over the walkie-talkie in case they are overheard, which again highlights their careful rational thought and maturity. Fiona’s admission that she loves Homer again suggests that love and emotion can’t be avoided, even during war.
Themes
Ellie and Fiona slide between the gates that block the parking lot of the fuel distributorship and make their way to the front office. They can see the keys hanging on a pegboard behind the desk. Ellie hands Fiona a rock. She smiles and rifles it through the window. Ellie reaches in, unlocks the door, and opens it. The keys are clearly labeled, so they grab a handful and head to the parking lot. They select an old truck, that way the moon won’t shine off new chrome and paint. They climb to the tanker and check it out. It is nearly full of fuel.
Ellie’s choice of an old truck instead of a shiny new one again suggests that she is constantly thinking and approaching each situation rationally, like an adult rather than a child. However, they seem to enjoy breaking the window—especially Fiona, who has likely never done anything so destructive—which suggests they are still children at heart, even though the war has forced them to grow up so fast.
Themes
Ellie and Fiona get into the truck, and Ellie starts it up. No brakes, she says. They will have to find a different one. They try several others, but Ellie can’t get any of the breaks to work. She says they will just have to take the first one and risk it. They climb in and Ellie starts the engine again. She pulls out of the parking spot and suddenly realizes the truck has air brakes and she needed to wait for some pressure to build up. She is irritated with her mistake and drives in the direction of the gates. She breaks through on the second try and coasts down the street, toward the bridge.
Ellie’s mistake in forgetting about the air brakes again highlights her young age and inexperience. Ellie has some experience driving big trucks, but she certainly isn’t an expert, and her mistake here reflects this. Ellie is also very scared, which is likely distracting and making her feel rushed.
Themes
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Fiona suggests that she walk ahead and wave Ellie through the intersections, just in case patrols are coming from the other direction. She asks Ellie if she really thinks they can pull this off, and Ellie says she does, or at least she hopes they can. Fiona waves her through the first intersection, and then she turns around and frantically mouths the word: “Patrol.” Ellie parks the truck in the street and gets out. She quickly climbs a tree, and Fiona follows. Ellie thinks about her dad and how he said that people hardly ever look up. The patrol marches by and never once looks up. They walk right by the petrol tanker, presumably thinking that it has been parked there since the invasion.
Fiona’s suggestion that she move up ahead and assess the area for patrols reflects her sound decision making and growth. Like Homer, Fiona is constantly looking ahead for potential trouble. The sudden patrol is a reminder of the imminent danger they are in; however, the patrol’s failure to notice the tanker suggests that the soldiers are inexperienced, too, and are probably not the professional soldiers Mr. Clement told them about.
Themes
Fiona and Ellie wait to make sure there is enough distance between them and the patrol unit, and then they call Homer and Lee. They have been held up, the girls say, but they are back on track now. Fiona waves Ellie through two more intersections, and Ellie turns off the engine, intending to coast the rest of the way. Suddenly, she realizes her mistake; she doesn’t have brakes now. Ellie tires to start the truck again, but it stalls. She tries again, and when the engine catches, she jerks the wheel and nearly jackknifes. She turns the engine off again, this time pulling the emergency break to stop, and wonders why she didn’t do that in the first place.
Ellie’s mistakes are further evidence of her inexperience. She is jumpy and not thinking clearly, even though she obviously knows what to do, evidenced by the fact that she ultimately pulls the emergency brake. Still, the girls can’t be swayed in their determination to pull off their plan. Even after the scare with the patrol and Ellie nearly crashing the truck, they are still willing to go through with it, which again reflects their growing maturity.
Themes
Fiona jumps in the truck and asks what happened, and Ellie answers that she just “failed [her] driving test.” They call Homer and Lee on the walkie-talkie again and make the last of their plans. Then, Fiona and Ellie climb to the top of the tanker, loosen the caps on the tanks. They drench a length of rope in the gasoline, leaving only one end dry. They tie the rope to the top of the tanker and wait.
Ellie, however, still seems worried that she will ultimately fail, and this is reflected in her comment that she “failed [her] driving test.” Ellie clearly worries that she won’t have what it takes to succeed, but she perseveres in the face of this fear, which shows incredible maturity and courage on Ellie’s part.
Themes
