Tomorrow, When The War Began - Chapter 4

In English we have began our book study on Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden. The book is set in Australia and is described as the story about 7 teenagers entering a place called hell for a 5 day trip, only to return to hell. At the moment I'm at chapter 4 and I'll probably writing a blog post similar to this one after each chapter.

Do I think the way they handled the snake situation was appropriate?
I don't know much about getting snakes out of your sleeping bag but, the way they handled it seemed appropriate. They all calmed down, thought the situation through, and made some sort of plan to rid of the snake. Although they ended up losing the snake and freaking out they still had some sort of plan. I think the plan that one of the characters had about drowning the snake wasn't very appropriate though.

Ellie claims that ‘Hell’ is only a label and that people label things all the time, often ignoring or overlooking certain labelled places or things. She then comes to the conclusion that ‘Hell was people’. Is she right? What’s your opinion, on labeling and Hell?  
I think Ellie is right in a sense that a place isn't necessarily Hell unless someone claims it is. People are usually the ones that decide if something is Hell or not and, as the group go further and further into "Hell", we learn that it isn't that bad and rather a label that was placed on it without any further investigation. She also states that "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." This can be interpreted as Ellie saying that what people claim is Hell when, in reality it isn't. So, in a sense, Ellie is right in the way people are Hell as they label things that aren't necessarily Hell. 

My opinion on things such as labels is that for some people it's necessary while, for others they don't think they're completely necessary. Personally I like labeling myself and who I am (Jewish, student, lesbian, kiwi, etc) but if I met someone who didn't like labeling themselves I wouldn't be crappy about it cause if that's what they're comfortable with then cool. I'll respect that cause in the end I don't really care whether you label yourself or not. I also believe that some people forget that labels aren't a permanent thing for everyone, i.e I'm not always going to be a student, that's going to change someday or I'm not going to always be a teenager. Labels shift and change for people and you should experiment with labels.

For the Hell part of the question, I was raised Jewish and there isn't really any Hell at all in Judaism. The concept of Hell is less of a physical thing and more shame/embarrassment that you have. This sort of links back to Ellie's definition of Hell being people, rather then a place. Although I was raised religiously, I don't really fully believe in Heaven, Hell, and all that jazz. In conclusion, to me, Hell isn't really a thing. 

What is especially peculiar about the planes that flew over Hell? 'Their ---, their ---, their --- frightened me.' Do these characteristics have any significance? 


Corrie and Keven are the the only couple in the group, but the trip was supposed to bring friends closer together. So why does Homer's interest in Fi seem odd to Ellie? 
Ellie was surprised by Homer being interested in Fi because Homer is described as being tough and not being taken seriously when it comes to emotions. This is proven when we learn Ellie's thoughts on Homer's feelings, "So after a while we started believing him when he said he was too tough to have emotions. It seemed funny that Fi, the most delicately built girl in our year, looked like being the one to bring him undone, if that's the right way to put it." This shows the Homer isn't one to catch feelings so, when he does, it's seen as odd.

Fi brushes off the planes coming back from Commemoration day. Why do you think they were flying over Wirrawee?
We're told earlier in the book and on that page that Wirrawee hold a show day that also lands on the same day as Commemoration day. These planes are suspected by the character to be flying over to show off and perform for those at the show. The fact that the characters have a reason to believe the planes are there by Fi saying "You know they have all those flypasts and displays and stuff."

Robyn claims there were dozens and dozens of planes flying over them. What is Lee's response? Is his suggestion reasonable? 
Lee responds by suggesting it might be the start of World War 3 by saying 'It's probably the start of World War Three,' said Lee. 'We've probably been invaded and don't even know it'. I think Lee's response was more of a joke rather then a serious suggestion as the group's reaction to this response is fairly light-hearted. I think his response was somewhat reasonable.