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The Soldier Boy Jim Martin Character Analysis

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The novel “The Soldier Boy” is a true story of Australia’s youngest known ANZAC, Jim Martin who led a short life which achieved much. He experienced a wide-range of what life had to offer in the early 1900s, much of it vastly different compared to the life teenage boys lead today. Although, it was tragically short, he is now seen as a figure to whom today 's teenagers can relate to and his legacy appeals to a new generation through this book and continues to foster the Anzac legend. There are many similarities and differences between the life the protagonist led and the lives teenage boys now lead due to the cultural changes present in Australia and timeline. Multiple themes and values presented within the text. This essay will compare and contrast …show more content…

In World War I, Australia confirmed its national identity of courage, spirit and “mateship.” Mateship is an important concept in Australia that can be traced back to early colonial times. Mateship was definitely a strong factor in that time especially when person is in the battlefield sacrificing their life and with only their mates to be there for them through obstacles. Jim Martin only had his mates when he was facing turmoil in the battlefield. The importance of male 'mateship ' during conflicts is remarkably strong. Their strong bond together was taken in with pride along with the sense of righteousness from defending their freedom. This was shown in a statement in the novel, “Each battalion had its own spirit and self-identity, to which men held with a fierceness of pride and loyalty that lasted down the years.” Despite having a strong bond towards his mates, he didn 't trust anyone the secret he kept until he died. He was not even able to receive any letters from his family due to complications. Mateship today won 't be as strong as back in Jim Martin’s day that they would die for each other. In modern time, it is completely different due to the fact that we have technology and the media controlling people’s minds. In this current era, teenagers make fake friendships by 'befriending ' strangers online. Media and the amount of followers are more important to most teenagers as opposed to true friendship and people who are always there for you. It is not always the case, some do find true friendship more important than the amount of followers or likes a person can get on your social media account. Most teenagers participate in such things like this because the idea of fitting in is really important when it comes to this stage of life. A similarity would be that there are still cases that strong emotional bond and support when it comes to your friends are still seen and growing. It may not be as strong as before but it is slowly growing to a great

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