Tomorrow, When the War Began

by

John Marsden

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Homer Character Analysis

Ellie’s close friend, Fiona’s crush, and a member of the original group who goes camping in Hell before the war. Homer lives just down the street from Ellie, and since Ellie doesn’t have a brother, and Homer doesn’t have a sister, they fill this void in each other’s lives. Homer and Ellie’s close relationship highlights Marsden’s argument that friends can be like family, but this closeness also complicates their relationship. Ellie is jealous when it becomes clear that Homer has a crush on Fiona, and when Fiona reciprocates these feelings, Ellie feels like she is losing her friend and her brother. Ellie confuses this jealousy with romantic love, and while she eventually recognizes her mistake, it still causes her considerable stress in the meantime. Homer is described as a troublemaker, and he has little direction or responsibility in life before the war. Homer’s friends know him as kind of a screw up, and they don’t expect much from him. However, as soon as the war breaks out, Homer emerges as the unofficial leader of their group. Ellie describes Homer’s transformation into a responsible adult as one of the greatest surprises of her life, which speaks to just how much Homer changes during the war. Homer’s ability to step up and lead the group underscores Marsden’s claim that young people are capable of profound change and maturity, especially in times of great stress. Homer is often the voice of reason in their group, and they each look to him for guidance. It is Homer’s suggestion to hide out in Hell after the war breaks out, and it is his plan to steal the petrol tanker and blow up the bridge. Homer’s plan to blow up the bridge effectively eliminates one of the main highways used by the invading soldiers, thereby slowing their progress in taking over the country. Overall, Homer proves that one person can make a big difference in war, and, like many of the other characters, he also proves that there is often more to someone than meets the eye.

Homer Quotes in Tomorrow, When the War Began

The Tomorrow, When the War Began quotes below are all either spoken by Homer or refer to Homer. 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:
War, Law, and Morality Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

I went for a walk back up the track, to the last of Satan’s Steps. The sun had already warmed the great granite wall and I leaned against it with my eyes half shut, thinking about our hike, and the path and the man who’d built it, and this place called Hell. “Why did people call it Hell?” I wondered. All those cliffs and rocks, and that vegetation, it did look wild. But wild wasn’t Hell. Wild was fascinating, difficult, wonderful. No place was Hell, no place could be Hell. It’s the people calling it Hell, that’s the only thing that made it so. People just sticking names on places, so that no one could see those places properly any more. Every time they looked at them or thought about them the first thing they saw was a huge big sign saying “Housing Commission” or “private school” or “church” or “mosque” or “synagogue.” They stopped looking once they saw those signs.

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Homer, Fiona, The Hermit / Bertram Christie
Related Symbols: Hell
Page Number: 43-44
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

Robyn took over. “We’ve got to think, guys. I know we all want to rush off, but this is one time we can’t afford to give in to feelings. There could be a lot at stake here. Lives even. We’ve got to assume that something really bad is happening, something quite evil. If we’re wrong, then we can laugh about it later, but we’ve got to assume that they’re not down the pub or gone on a holiday.”

Related Characters: Robyn (speaker), Ellie, Homer, Lee, Fiona, Kevin, Corrie
Page Number: 63-64
Explanation and Analysis:

“Maybe all my mother’s stories made me think of it before you guys. And like Robyn said before, if we’re wrong,” he was struggling to get the words out, his face twisting like someone having a stroke, “if we’re wrong you can laugh as long and loud as you want. But for now, for now, let’s say it’s true. Let’s say we’ve been invaded. I think there might be a war.”

Related Characters: Lee (speaker), Ellie, Homer, Fiona, Robyn, Kevin, Corrie
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

Homer was becoming more surprising with every passing hour. It was getting hard to remember that this fast-thinking guy, who’d just spent fifteen minutes getting us laughing and talking and feeling good again, wasn’t even trusted to hand out the books at school.

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Homer
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

We’ve got to stick together, that’s all I know. We all drive each other crazy at times, but I don’t want to end up here alone, like the Hermit. Then this really would be Hell. Humans do such terrible things to each other that sometimes my brain tells me they must be evil. But my heart still isn’t convinced. I just hope we can survive.

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Homer, Lee, Fiona, The Hermit / Bertram Christie, Robyn, Chris
Related Symbols: Hell
Page Number: 284
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Tomorrow, When the War Began LitChart as a printable PDF.
Tomorrow, When the War Began PDF

Homer Quotes in Tomorrow, When the War Began

The Tomorrow, When the War Began quotes below are all either spoken by Homer or refer to Homer. 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:
War, Law, and Morality Theme Icon
).
Chapter 4 Quotes

I went for a walk back up the track, to the last of Satan’s Steps. The sun had already warmed the great granite wall and I leaned against it with my eyes half shut, thinking about our hike, and the path and the man who’d built it, and this place called Hell. “Why did people call it Hell?” I wondered. All those cliffs and rocks, and that vegetation, it did look wild. But wild wasn’t Hell. Wild was fascinating, difficult, wonderful. No place was Hell, no place could be Hell. It’s the people calling it Hell, that’s the only thing that made it so. People just sticking names on places, so that no one could see those places properly any more. Every time they looked at them or thought about them the first thing they saw was a huge big sign saying “Housing Commission” or “private school” or “church” or “mosque” or “synagogue.” They stopped looking once they saw those signs.

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Homer, Fiona, The Hermit / Bertram Christie
Related Symbols: Hell
Page Number: 43-44
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

Robyn took over. “We’ve got to think, guys. I know we all want to rush off, but this is one time we can’t afford to give in to feelings. There could be a lot at stake here. Lives even. We’ve got to assume that something really bad is happening, something quite evil. If we’re wrong, then we can laugh about it later, but we’ve got to assume that they’re not down the pub or gone on a holiday.”

Related Characters: Robyn (speaker), Ellie, Homer, Lee, Fiona, Kevin, Corrie
Page Number: 63-64
Explanation and Analysis:

“Maybe all my mother’s stories made me think of it before you guys. And like Robyn said before, if we’re wrong,” he was struggling to get the words out, his face twisting like someone having a stroke, “if we’re wrong you can laugh as long and loud as you want. But for now, for now, let’s say it’s true. Let’s say we’ve been invaded. I think there might be a war.”

Related Characters: Lee (speaker), Ellie, Homer, Fiona, Robyn, Kevin, Corrie
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

Homer was becoming more surprising with every passing hour. It was getting hard to remember that this fast-thinking guy, who’d just spent fifteen minutes getting us laughing and talking and feeling good again, wasn’t even trusted to hand out the books at school.

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Homer
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Epilogue Quotes

We’ve got to stick together, that’s all I know. We all drive each other crazy at times, but I don’t want to end up here alone, like the Hermit. Then this really would be Hell. Humans do such terrible things to each other that sometimes my brain tells me they must be evil. But my heart still isn’t convinced. I just hope we can survive.

Related Characters: Ellie (speaker), Homer, Lee, Fiona, The Hermit / Bertram Christie, Robyn, Chris
Related Symbols: Hell
Page Number: 284
Explanation and Analysis: