Tom Brennan Analysis

Words: 1095
Pages: 5

In every life there are critical moments when people have to move from one world to another. Any move into the world challenges long-held attitudes and beliefs, but when there has been no choice those challenges can appear to be even greater. Two texts that explore this notion are The
Story of Tom Brennan by J.C. Burke and the client story, ‘Motherly
Love’, on the Vision Australia website.
116 Cambridge Checkpoints HSC Standard English
Background given to Tom Brennan
– events are discussed alongside their impact, to break the plot summary
Second text is linked with the word same
Sometimes events in our lives do not go as we expect and this leads us into new worlds. This is what happened to Tom Brennan and to Merryn
Hawkins. Tom Brennan lived
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The same sudden change occurred in the life of Merryn Hawkins when she realised that her daughter Gabbi was legally blind from birth. Like Tom she had to find an inner strength but also like Tom she had to reassess her life.
Closer discussion focusing on the challenge Quotation is explained and characters are discussed J.C. Burke keeps us in suspense in her novel about Tom, not giving us the full story until we know Tom better, so we share the challenges he faces in his new world. The Prologue starts with a time and a date when
“my father, Joseph Brennan, closed the door for the last time”, emphasising the impact of the forced move of the family. Their new home is in their grandmother’s house, filled with paintings of saints and suggestions of sin. Daniel is clearly the source of the problem but the author reveals this slowly, keeping us wanting to know more.
The impact on
Tom’s world is discussed Technique of first person is explained Everyone deals with the grief of Daniel’s crime in different ways. We see just what an impact one member of the family can make on the others.
Mrs Brennan becomes lost in her depression, falling so deep that her son
Tom becomes embarrassed by how she smells. Grandmother prays
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It shows a young boy who has two pathways.
He can be lost in the bad experience around him and be pushed “back into the big black hole” or he can emerge stronger and find the strength to overcome his challenges. He learns to make new friends and he finds through their support that he can manage. His intense dislike for his grandmother grows into respect and he even makes her a chicken coop.
Being removed from his old life he is able to look back and reassess what happened and he starts to realise that he has not been so happy. When he is going to play a match with his old mates, he says that he didn’t know which ones “wanted to spit in my face”. Sometimes we need to be away from our lives and have our attitudes and beliefs challenged in order to be able to see clearly. Tom’s perfect brother was not so perfect and Tom and his sister Kylie only feel better when they speak about their guilt.
Confession helps them to overcome the challenges they face and to accept their new world. Eventually Tom Brennan feels healed enough to fall in love.
Conclusion links both texts,