Tom Brennan Character Analysis

The new phases of life and social context is predicated through the sum of feats and experiences as crises and adversity are usually the greatest motivator which propel individuals to become better than they were before. J.C. Burke’s ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ (TSTB) is an example of the transitional process through entering a new, unknown area which acts as a catalyst for beneficial change. Obstructed by turmoil both mentally and physically, the protagonist Tom Brennan relieves his severe life in the town of Coghill achieving new standards in conjunction to Lisa Forrest’s article ‘Testing new waters after leaving the swimming pool’ (TNWALTS) is another type towards transitional change that explores the personal crisis and career changes over

the years, as how an individual can go through life through different ways and clasp the feats as a portal into another ‘world’ which in this case follows her career changes. On the contrary, the scene from Frank Darabont’s film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (TSR) acts towards a different paradigm to transitional change, as the transition of time has placed the individual through emotional turmoil feeling lost, confused and sad, and through physical and mental transition through the time in prison over the years had he felt truly at home through the course of life affects transitions and their impact upon individuals.
The entry into a new world encourages motivation and perseverance which is needed in order to adapt to the new conditions which the protagonist obtains new opportunities for growth and development learning from experiences and situations. In ‘TSTB’, the protagonist tackles an unprecedented distressing incident which compels him to undergo a physical relocation and sudden emotional change. Faced with social alienation and the horrific trauma inflicted through past events and. Tom experiences flashbacks of the ‘usual’ Australia Day with his family showing the complete paradox with what is now their reality and horror juxtaposed towards his flashback of the tragic accident of his older brother Daniel telling as he was “Running towards the car. Running into the headlights. Running into the silence of death.” The anaphora and repetition of ‘running’ signifies his emotional and physical state which is emphasised in the initial stages of the novel and negative connotations of ‘death’ assumes the setting and reveals the traumatic experience. As a result of the crisis, Tom responds rather opposing towards transferring to a new setting of Coghill. Depressing motifs are frequently implied throughout the novel to express the feeling of despair and sadness: “There aren’t words to say how black and empty pain felt. It was deeper than the darkest hole” Tom showing his psychological turmoil expressed through the hyperbolic tone.
Despite the initial transition towards into the new world of Coghill, Tom demonstrates the gradual process of assimilating towards a new phase of life along with built relationships with Chrissy Tulake, the symbolism of ‘water’ is utilised to define Tom’s healing process as overcoming his adversities and suggests his old self is coming back, The reoccurring imagery and motif of water in the line: “The water was cold and fresh. Somehow it felt full of promises” shows Tom’s change in mentally and also physically as he takes a swim, whereas all the training he did towards the end was worth every part by forging and rebuilding himself allowed him to heal progressively along with his new relationships with Chrissy and Brendan who introduced him to the waterhole. The impact of sport has taken a link towards Tom’s transition: “Get Tom to take the backs, ‘Tom, these fellas will learn a lot playing with you.” Encourages Tom to create new relationships with the people in his team and has shown that his experiences apart from the adversity suffered previously, has allowed through the progression of time to withdraw from social alienation towards gaining trust in his new team.
Comparably to ‘The Story of Tom Brennan’ where the protagonist has failed to assume a new life due to the conditions setting him back including emotional and social barriers.

Lisa Forrest’s news article ‘TNWALTS’ demonstrates her ever changing life and the difficulties faced, whereas she wanted to pursue her own goal and reality despite her initial career within the Olympic waters: “I was pursuing my personal goal – to be something more than just an Olympic swimmer.” Implies her mindset and seriousness psychologically as Olympians are revered around the world as top class athletes as she retires from professional swimming and into the world of journalism. “Managing transition is part of life. Some transitions we choose, some are chosen for us” in which the formal tone describes the phases in life which fuels the drive towards change in impact of careers and what everyone thinks best in terms of personal matters. Transition can range from being a positive or negative feeling, as “If we are to help them slipping from transition to depression” the negative connotation of ‘depression’ shows the properties of transition and how it can link towards the impact of transition, through the sacrifices made from the once Olympian to another phase in which she

enjoys.
The scene from Frank Darabont’s film ‘TSR’ reveals transitions of time and the advancement of technology: “I once saw an automobile once when I was a kid, but now they are everywhere” signifies his prison time length and shows the transition of the world being more industrialised as “The world got itself into a big damn hurry” along from his shift of jobs to bagging groceries is evident as he tries to keep up shows his physical transition deteriorated from the time spent in prison as he has gotten old.

Recuperating from the time in prison shows the state of mind stricken from the life imprisonment through the lines: “I have bad dreams like I’m falling and wake up scared, it takes me awhile to remember where I am” shows he is used to the time in prison as he views that prison was a ‘home’, as transition is present as the impact of the life in prison led to his uneventful demise from the zoom out scene engraving ‘Brooks was Here’ is symbolic of his suicide as he hangs himself shows the transition as he decided to take himself out the way it is done in

prison.
It can be seen that transition has an impact which is exemplified on individuals from the works J.C Burke, Lisa Forrest and Frank Darabont’s has each delivered, Burke portrays the consequences of events which triggers an impact on its protagonist through the use of informal and colloquial language of the course of the novel. Which is also produced through Forrest’s article ‘TNWALTS’ urging the readers to ‘step into another world’ despite setbacks, reflecting on what we truly want to do, and Frank Darabont’s ‘TSR’ implies the harshness through the transitions of time and how it can lead to severe consequences as we move on. They demonstrate that these phases are worth to struggle for, but for whatever purpose as they move towards the new world.