The Call to Adventure

Ellie Linton's call to adventure occurs when her and six of her friends return home from a week long camping trip to a large, vegetated sinkhole known as "Hell." During the camping trip the group sees a large number of military planes flying through the night without lights on. They talk about it the next morning, but don't think it's of much importance. When they return they find that all the people are missing and their pets and livestock are dead or dying. Fearing the worst, they break into three groups to investigate Wirrawee's situation. They confirm that Australia (or at least, Wirrawee) has been invaded and local citizens are being held captive by the occupying force. 

"In the house nothing was wrong, and that was what was wrong. There was no sign of life at all. Everything was neat and tidy. At that time of day there should have been food spread out on the kitchen table, there should have been dishes in the sink, the TV should have been chattering in the background. But all was silent." (Marsden 56)

The Ordinary World

In the book Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden, the protagonist is Ellie Linton. Ellie's ordinary world is her home. She was born and raised on a cattle and sheep farm not far from the edge of the country town of Wirrawee, Australia. She lives a simple life in the country and she loves it. There is no place in the world that she would rather be.

I chose this image because it shows what Ellie's ordinary world is like. A normal, small, rural town.

"But in spite of our isolation, our unglamourous life, I loved being a rural. Other kids couldn’t wait to get away to the city. It was like, the moment they finished school they’d be at the bus depot with their bags packed. They wanted crowds and noise and fast food stores and huge shopping centres. They wanted adrenaline pumping through their veins. I liked those things, in small doses, and I knew that in my life I’d like to spend good lengths of time in the city. But I always knew where I most liked to be and that was out here, even if I did spend half my life headfirst in a tractor engine, or pulling a lamb out of a barbed-wire fence, or getting kicked black and blue by a heifer when I got between her and her calf.” (Marsden 78)

Free Choice

The book that I am currently reading is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. The big question that I have for this book is, Why is it so important to Mr. Bennett that his five daughters, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine, and Lydia, are trained in the deadly arts (killing zombies)?

I understand that he wants his daughters to be able to protect themselves, but to him it's more important that they can kill zombies than it is that they're happy. The girls are looked down upon by many important people due to the fact that their first instinct is always to kill. They don't really care much about how they look or act around anybody because their father taught them that it isn't as important as fighting.

"Elizabeth lifted her skirt, disregarding modesty, and delivered a swift kick to the creature's head, which exploded in a cloud of brittle skin and bone." (Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies page 28)