Tom Brennan Quotes

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A Ticket out of the Past
By (Teresa) Yung-Ching Chuang

Life is like an ascent, the more you climb, the higher you will get. J. C. Burke skilfully undertakes this philosophy as a source of inspiration for ‘The story of Tom Brennan’. It is not another crazy adventurous tale with a heroic storyline that seems unrealistic; the novel is about individual representation as Burke insightfully illustrates the long and slow journey of Tom Brennan, navigating through his road of self-discovery that eventually leads to his destination and achieves his “ticket out of the past” (Burke, pg 182).
The catalyst of the novel is a traumatic car accident causing two instant deaths and one paralysation. However, the star of the story isn’t the driver Daniel,
Teenage drink driving is typically an overlooked social issue which is cleverly depicted in ‘The story of Tom Brennan’. The National Council on Drugs statistics have shown that “almost one in eight deaths of people aged under 25 is due to alcohol”. This statistic highlights the commonality of drink driving amongst adolescents, thus, allowing further resonation for readers. Burke intentionally places frequent flashbacks throughout the novel to ignite curiosity in the readers. The novel soon reveals that not only did Daniel’s illegal action cause him to “lose his spirited outlook on life” (Burke, pg 123), but also uprooted everything Tom once had. Nevertheless, lesson by lesson, the tragic incident succeeds admirably in teaching Tom to overcome
After the traumatic event, the Brennans are continuously mistreated, causing them to feel they are “no longer wanted” (Burke, pg 1). After feeling ostracised by the township, the alienated Brennan family are driven to leave the town of Mumbilli at 4:30am. With hardly any peer support, Tom begins to lose his sense of security, resulting in his transformation into an unconfident teen who is afraid of public opinion. It is no wonder that Tom is unable to move on in his new town as he is being held back in fear of revealing his past. Burke tactfully illustrates Tom’s emotional kaleidoscope through phrases such as “I felt the knot snap” and “my guts landing at my feet” (Burke, pg 172) when reflecting on the accident. On the contrary, with encouragement from family members, Tom begins to step out of his comfort zone and face the future that is to

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