The Theme Of Bravery In Tony Palmer's 'Break Of Day'

Set in World War 2 “Break of Day” is a historical fiction written by Australian author Tony Palmer which follows Murray Barrett, a coward, through war. Tony Palmer depicts themes of bravery, family and death in his novel. He states that even someone considered a coward can learn to have courage throughout a journey. Palmer portrays the view on family that people can grow, change and adapt to support and care for their family. Death is illustrated as unjust and unfair before the war, and when over exposed to the theme of death, casualties become small and insignificant. In this essay we’ll be going in depth about the themes of bravery as something that under the right circumstances anyone can have, Family is something that we adapt to, that affects us, and that death can be justified. …show more content…
When Murray was younger, he was a coward, he was too scared to shoot Paddy. Murray’s family was too poor to just have a dog around for nothing, which made Murray afraid. He was afraid of loss. When Murray got told he was a coward like his uncle by none other than Sid Archer, he committed a cowardly action. He went to punch him. He let his emotions get the best of him, he let his fury blind him and it wasn’t until after the incident that he realised he had, in fact, not punched Sid, but his brother Will. But when he had the choice to run away from the war, or stay with Sid, he stayed. To fight alongside his arch nemesis, while there were many Japanese soldiers, is what made him brave. In the time of war, Murray became