Break Of Day Analysis

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Pages: 3

The novel Break of Day is based in WW2, on the Kokoda trail. The author, Tony Palmer, uses three main themes throughout the novel. These themes are bravery, family and death. In the flashbacks of Murray Barrett, a soldier marching to Isurava on the Kokoda trail followed by hundreds of Japanese soldiers, family appears to be the most common theme. For example, the hard times they have to move through whilst working on the farm. The first challenge seen in the novel is in the chapter labeled “Paddy”. This is seen in the tension between Murray, Will and their father as they all decide which of the boys will shoot the family dog. This scene also represents death and bravery, death showing when they dog has been shot, and bravery shown when Will …show more content…
One of these named cases is when Uncle Jack protects Murray’s mother from a strange man who threatened to beat her. Another man with a lot of strength and a love for his family was Mr Barrett, the father of Murray and Will. He could be an example for bravery and family combined, because when a boar escapes its pen and attacks Murray, he saves Murray and injures himself in the process. The Creswell’s are also an example of family, but they are not exactly a positive example. The show the negative side of what can happen to a family when one family member, in this case their mother, passes away. To deal with the grief, their father starts drinking and one of the boys even runs away for a while before Uncle Jack finds him at the seaside. All of these exhibits are from Murray’s earlier years, but they all send a strong message.

Death can change the course of one’s life, and Murray Barrett has seen a lot of death. The war is something where death is a normal thing and it is easily looked over. Both Murray and Will fight later in the second world war, whilst their Uncle Jack faught earlier in the same war. The effects of WW2 affect Uncle Jack so much that he gets cancer and dies. Murray’s father dies too, but he dies in a fire instead of cancer. The way death changed Murray’s life was it took away all of Murray’s role models, and caused him to