Not your fault. It was the tree that killed Father, Tommo, not you. They tell me he walked out with a smile on his face as if he were going for an early-morning stroll.
They tell me that he refused the hood, and that they thought he was singing when he died. Private Peaceful. Plot Summary. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does.
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Theme Wheel. Everything you need for every book you read. The way the content is organized and presented is seamlessly smooth, innovative, and comprehensive. Tommo Peaceful is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. Tommo is a kind boy who is fiercely loyal to his brothers Charlie and Big Joe , as well as his mother, Mrs. By the end of the novel, Charlie assures Tommo that the death was not his fault, and Tommo finally comes to terms with the loss of his father.
In an effort to prove his own bravery, he enlists to fight alongside his brother Charlie, even though he is technically too young to fight at just fifteen years old. Tommo loves Molly, so he is jealous of Charlie in particular. Tommo later also falls in love with a girl called Anna in France, although she is killed not long after they meet.
Tommo also loves his family, and their letters buoy him throughout the war. Charlie is a great inspiration to Tommo throughout the novel, often inspiring Tommo to be brave by example of his own courage. Charlie is in fact executed because he refuses to leave Tommo on the battlefield when Tommo is too injured to walk, demonstrating great courage and brotherly loyalty. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:.
Chapter 1 Quotes. Related Themes: Grief, Guilt, and Family. Page Number and Citation : Cite this Quote. Explanation and Analysis:. Related Symbols: Birds. Page Number and Citation : 10 Cite this Quote.
Chapter 2 Quotes. Related Themes: Courage. Page Number and Citation : 20 Cite this Quote. Chapter 7 Quotes. Related Symbols: Church Towers.
Related Themes: The Injustice of War. Page Number and Citation : 97 Cite this Quote. Chapter 9 Quotes. Chapter 10 Quotes. I am not. Chapter 11 Quotes. Chapter 12 Quotes. Chapter 13 Quotes. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance. Chapter 1: Five Past Ten. An unnamed man later revealed to be named Tommo decides that he must stay awake for the whole night. Charlie offers Tommo a piggyback ride to make him feel better.
Charlie always understands when Tommo is feeling He spots Tommo , the only new boy, and warns him that at school, Mr. When he is Tommo remembers his father. He recalls how it was just the two of them in the Suddenly, Tommo hears a sound above him and realizes that a tree has started to sway.
At the funeral, Tommo , his mother, Big Joe and Charlie sit on the front row. During the speech, Tommo thinks of all the things his father used Chapter 2: Twenty to Eleven. He thinks to himself that it is a good job that Grandma Wolf Tommo recalls one evening when the three boys, Charlie, Tommo , and Big Joe, had just gone Tommo is losing the fight, Molly comes over to Tommo after the fight and carefully cleans up his wounds.
She then tells Tommo that she She comes home with Tommo and Charlie nearly every day after school, and it seems like she never wants to The Colonel arrives, and asks to talk to Mrs Chapter 3: Nearly Quarter Past Eleven. In the present day, the teenage Tommo finds that there is a mouse sitting next to him. The mouse leaves, and Tommo Peaceful is no longer working. Tommo , Charlie and Molly often roam the countryside after school. They swim and race through the One day, Molly and Charlie take off all their clothes and go swimming together, but Tommo feels too embarrassed to join them.
Eventually, a few days later, Tommo decides to take Chapter 4: Ten to Midnight. One evening, Charlie and Tommo go poaching, but they have to go without Molly, as she is still ill with Charlie and Tommo return home and tell their mother everything, to which she promises that the Colonel will They have a particular favorite, a dog named Bertha.
She had a different beauty now, a Again, Tommo starts feeling left out with Charlie and Molly, because they are outgrowing him. Molly moves Tommo barely sees Molly anymore because she works so much, and when he does see her Tommo has his humbugs confiscated at school, and the spiteful Mr.
Munnings gives him six strokes He has stolen Bertha the dog, because the Colonel said The teenage Tommo interjects that Charlie should have been happy there, as he loved the animals and the One day, Charlie sends Tommo with a letter instead. As he is turning to leave, Tommo spots Molly frantically waving to him from a window.
She sneaks out, and they meet One afternoon, Bertha goes missing for a long time, and Tommo , Big Joe and their mother go looking for her. As Tommo is about to give Chapter 6: Nearly Five to One.
Teenage Tommo remembers how when he was younger, he would turn coins in his hand because he Everyone races to the church tower. Charlie falls over, so Tommo goes up first, and eventually reaches the top of the stairs, where he finds Big On an evening a few weeks later, Tommo and Charlie come home from work to find Molly crying in their house, being comforted Tommo finds that he avoids spending time with both Charlie and Molly after the wedding, as Others follow him.
Suddenly a toothless old woman standing He is filled with shame at himself, Tommo immediately decides that he will go with Charlie. At not even sixteen, Tommo knows he Only two days later, Charlie and Tommo leave for the war. He is homesick and longs for the safety of his childhood. Throughout his life, Tommo has been bullied, not only by other kids at school but also by adults, including his army officers.
Consequently, Tommo has realized early in his life that he only has himself and Charlie to rely on. He originally enlisted in the army because an elderly woman in the village called him a coward, but Tommo proves himself to be a good and brave soldier. It appears that he has some kind of shell shock or PTSD as he is beginning to relive the scenes of death in the trenches even when he is not actually there. When he is shot in the trench, he feels as if he were dying and is actually relieved.
Saving Tommo leads Charlie to disobey an order and ultimately results in a death sentence for desertion. After he returns home, Tommo takes Charlie's place as a father to his child and as a partner to Molly—ironically, the girl he has loved since his childhood. Charlie is Tommo's older brother and protector.
As a child, he looked out for his brother; as a soldier, he has done the same, but unfortunately, he is being to be executed by firing squad for standing up against a dangerous order. Charlie has a strong instinct to protect and preserve life, whether by hiding Bertha the dog from the Colonel or by saving Captain Wilkes' life.
Charlie is tough but sensitive and loyal to his brother, although he is aware that having a relationship with Molly, whom Tommo loves, will hurt him, hence the need for secrecy. Charlie is a good, courageous young man who deserves much better than the fate handed down to him; despite being considered a coward due to his crime of desertion, Charlie is, in fact, incredibly brave.
Molly is the novel's version of the girl next door. She and the Peaceful boys have grown up together; she is a bit of a tomboy and does all the things that they do.
Molly is thrown out of the house by her strict, harsh parents when she tells them she is pregnant; as a result, she is forced to grow up even more quickly. She eventually marries Charlie and has his child. Molly asks Tommo to take care of Charlie when they go to France because she knows that, despite the fact that Tommo is younger, he is also more careful and less likely to put himself in danger.
Peaceful is the mother of the three Peaceful sons and fulfills the duties of this very demanding job very well. With no time to mourn her husband's accidental death due to fear of losing their cottage, she is forced to take a job that keeps her away from her children for the majority of the day. She is unaware of Grandma Wolf's cruelty, and when she learns that physical punishment used on her children, she speaks out on their behalf.
She takes in Molly after she is rejected by her own parents and becomes a surrogate mother to her as well. Peaceful is also shown to be remarkably clever, such as when she hands the Colonel a bunch of money after Charlie steals his dog, Bertha.
Big Joe is chronologically the oldest of the Peaceful brothers, but he has the mind of a child due to the case of meningitis he suffered as an infant. He is oversensitive and easily upset, as shown by his choice to run away after the trauma of seeing Bertha brutally shot and killed; he is unable to process emotions, and his only reaction is to run from them.
Despite his simplicity, he is also gentle, loyal, and loves animals. Tommo and Charlie adore him and help their mother card for him. Grandma Wolf is the great-aunt of the Peaceful children. She is supposed to care for the boys whilst their mother is at work, but her idea of care involves physical punishment and cruel bullying. She seems ready to side with anyone against the boys and seems to relish the idea of corporal punishment.
She dislikes all children, especially Tommo and Charlie, though she tolerates Molly. It is eventually revealed that she was the Colonel's lover, and after the Colonel's wife dies, Grandma Wolf unofficially takes over her position at the Colonel's estate. Tommo nicknames her "the Wolfwoman," which alludes to her monstrous qualities.
The Colonel is the local land-owner and the most powerful man in their village. He is rather insensitive and harsh: after Tommo's father dies, the Colonel tells them that they need to leave the cottage because it is tied to their father's job.
However, he eventually allows them to stay after Mrs.
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