??? The story of Tom Brennan??? provides a valuable lesson for all adolescents growing up, facing challenges, going out into the world and how different people respond to those challenges in different ways. In a similar way the related text ??? Edward Scissorhands??™ provides us with a greater knowledge and understanding of issues relating to growing up and transitions into new phases of life.
Tom??™s transition into the world is a hard one, he moves initially feeling angry, disconnected, frustrated, depressed, lonely and guilty because of the role that Daniel had in the accident. They left Mumbilli early so no one would know, if they were to stay Tom wouldn??™t of been able to move on from what happened. Tom isolates himself to see his renewed self, the audience sees this transition when he speaks to his sister Kylie about what happened and how he feels. The use of flashbacks by J. C Burke is a great technique, flashbacks stimulate a readers curiosity.
Tom only gets flashbacks in the first half of the book, therefore he stops having them when he begins his journey ??? into the world??™. Guilt is another technique used to relate to Tom??™s struggles to move on into the world, its quotes ??? that night was etched into the bones of my skull???, which makes the readers assume he won??™t transition. He has to let go of his past in order to move into the future.
Tom experiences a flashback of the accident, showing how much it??™s getting to him, he is clearly struggling to move past this challenge. In chapter 4, Tom isn??™t close to transitioning. We know this because of the flashback, he relives the night of the accident in his head which shows he can??™t move past it. Tom also sends a letter to his best friend Matt telling him that they had moved, in the letter Tom sounds really upset, and openly blames Daniel for everything, showing again he isn??™t close to transitioning. The use of first person, makes the reader view everything exactly how Tom feels, we can tell how disjointed he is feeling throughout the chapter.
Another technique is guilt, once again, it shows us how much is can stunt the progress for someone to move on from something that??™s happened. In the letter to Matt, we can tell how bad Tom felt for what happened, and is blaming his brother resulting in him not being able to move past it. To be able to move on you have to successfully put certain aspects of the incident behind you, something that Tom isn??™t doing. Tom starts feeling better about himself, but still hasn??™t let it all go. In chapter 12 Tom is preparing a scrapbook for Daniels birthday, which shows that he is closer to getting his head around things and closer to transitioning.
His dad also tells him that they sold the house in Mumbilli, which makes Tom a bit happier because he thought that no one would want to live in their old house knowing what happened, but it shows that others have moved on and don??™t hold a grudge on the family. Tom starts to show signs of a positive attitude, he makes the scrapbook for Daniel and even though throughout the chapter he has second thoughts about giving it to him, in the end he decides that giving it to him could help both of them, he states ??? if he has to face the future, so do I???. A simile is used in this chapter that reads ??? with each memory I touched I felt it again ??“ that pain, like a sledgehammer slicing through your heart??? the effect of this is that the reader can tell how much the incident effected Tom at the time, as well as how much it still gets to him. This chapter shows that when you have support of the family with you its easier to get passed a huge incident like the one in ??? the story of Tom Brennan??™. Even if you feel like you??™re finally ready to move on, it might not take much to drag you back down. In chapter 17 Tom starts to show a lot of signs that he is getting through and just about ready to start his transition, he starts realising he has friends near him and he feels good about it because he can trust someone again.
Tom goes jogging with Brendan and while they are out Brendan tells Tom how he knows that Chrissy likes him. Tom also wants Brendan to help build his grandmother a chook pen, this shows that Tom is close to Brendan and feels he has someone to trust again despite what happened. However, during a football match against Tom??™s old school, St Johns, someone from that team calls Tom a ??? killer??™, which makes him upset, but Chrissy helps him recover. The author uses realization as a technique, Chrissy and Tom go somewhere together and as a result Tom forgets about the incident at football and states ??? today was the day I kissed Tulake rather then the day I faced St Johns???, this shows that he has found something that makes him feel better about himself, which can assist in transitioning. Finding a distraction can aid in moving passed the incident that got you down to begin with.??? Edward scissorhands??™ is a film made about a man created with scissors for hands, it is about his journey as he learns to transition into the human world.
Edward had lived alone for so long, in a house that nobody visited until someone found him and rescued him for being alone, they took him into their home and teach him how to live like a normal person despite the fact he has scissors as hands. People that live in the town are against him living there as they assume he is a killer, but as they learn to cope with him, and begin to get to know him they aren??™t against him which allows Edward to move forward and move towards transitioning ??? into the world??™. It is shown that Edward isn??™t too keen on the idea of moving into the world at first by use of expression shown by him, he is very obviously uneasy about it, considering people perceptions of him. Although as time goes on and people warm to his existence his expressions change, he becomes more positive toward the idea of transitioning. Although the transition is hard, with the help of those around Edward was able to move into the world, and didn??™t have to live alone. These texts show that growing up and transitions in life can be supported by family, friends and connections with wider social groups. ??? The story of Tom Brennan??™ shoes this by Tom??™s slow recovery but only getting through with the help of the people close to him.
It??™s the same in ??? Edward Scissorhands??™, when the town accepts him he is able to transition into the world. Even if times are really hard, with support of close people beside you, you can get through the problem and make your transition.
