“Sometimes Fi seemed like an exotic butterfly.”
Nom : Fiona Maxwell
Age : 17-19 ans
Livres : Apocalypse x7, The Ellie Chronicles x1
Origine : Australienne
Fiona est le modèle d’Ellie et sa plus proche amie. Alors que la guerre fait rage, Ellie trouve refuge en la personne de Fiona, remplissant le vide béant laissé par la mort de Corrie.
Fiona vit dans une grande maison en ville, à Wirrawee, contrairement à la majorité du groupe, il n’est donc pas difficile d’imagine l’environnement surprotégé d’où elle vient. Et par là même, il était difficile d’imaginer Fiona en camping. Vous verriez plutôt Fiona dans un ballet ou fabriquant des arrangements floraux et servant du thé plutôt des activités physiques. (“Contrairement à nous, campagnards, elle vivait en ville et passait plus de temps à jouer du piano que suer et marquer des agneaux.”). C’est l’innocente, la naïve du groupe.
La guerre force tout le monde à changer, à grandir mais c’est en Fiona que s’opère la plus forte métamorphose : même apeurée, elle continue de se battre pour ses amis, sa famille et elle-même. Elle cache une force en elle qu’elle dévoile chaque fois que la situation le demande et pourtant, elle n’est que rarement capable de prendre position, elle ne tournerait jamais le dos au groupe et accepte les plans d’attaque sans se discuter.
Tout au long de la série, l’admiration d’Ellie pour Fiona ne cesse de grandir alors qu’elle est la seule à rester calme, la tête froide et gracieuse même alors que le monde tourne à l’envers. Elle reste fidèle à elle-même au fil de la guerre. Fiona est un personnage fascinant et complexe et comme les 7 autres, elle a ses limites, pourtant elle continue de se battre et tue même lorsqu’il le faut pour leur survie. C’est quelqu’un sur qui prendre exemple, je l’admire énormément.
Fi is…
“Fi was always a bit of a hero to me, someone I looked up to as the perfect person. When she did something wrong I’d say, ‘Fi! Don’t do that! You’re my role model!’ I love her beautiful delicate skin. She has what my mother calls ‘fine features’. She looked like she’d never done any hard work in her life, never been in the sun, never got her hands dirty, and that was all true, because unlike us rurals she lived in town and spent more time playing piano than drenching sheep or marking lambs.” (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Chapter 1.)
Fi’s naivety…
“‘What are two-minute noodles?’ Fi asked.
Lee and I looked at each other and grinned.
‘It’s an awesome feeling,’ Lee said, ‘to realise you’re about to change someone’s life forever.’
‘Haven’t you ever had two-minute noodles?’ I asked Fi.
‘No. My parents are really into health foods.’
I’d never met anyone who hadn’t had two-minute noodles before. Sometimes Fi seemed like an exotic butterfly.” (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Chapter 3.)
“‘Why were you standing in the creek?’ I asked Fi.
‘To get away from the snake of course.’
‘But Fi, snakes can swim.’
‘No they can’t … can they? Oh my God. Oh my God. I could have died. Thanks for telling me guys.’” (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Chapter 4.)
Fi is graceful…
“Fi looked fantastic, flicking her long hair out of her eyes and moving with the grace of a heron.”
[…]
But looking again at Fi, I was sure that she knew. There was something just a bit self-conscious about the way she was walking, and the way she stood there in the cooling sunlight, like a model doing a fashion shoot on a beach. I think she knew, and loved it.” (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Chapter 5.)
“Opposite Homer, sitting with her slender feet and her perfect ankles and her ballerina legs dangling in the water, was Fi. She still looked like she’d always done: ready to pour tea for your grandmother, and hand it over in a Royal Doulton cup. Or ready to step onto the cover of a Western Rose clothes catalogue. Ready to break another guy’s heart or make another girl jealous or make your own father go red and laugh and chatter away like he was twenty years younger. Yes, that was Fi: cute, pretty and fragile.” (The Dead of the Night, Chapter 1.)
“Across from him, and fifty metres in front, was Fi, who even now in her exhaustion walked gracefully, as though her feet needed only to brush the ground on each step to keep propelling her forward. She was looking around as she walked, like a wild swan searching for water. Not for the first time I wished I had a quarter of her style. When you looked at her you forgot that her clothes were as grubby as yours, her body as smelly and dirty. She had class without being conscious that she had it; that was her secret, and because I knew that, I would never have it.” (The Dead of the Night, Chapter 5.)
Fi on the war…
“‘I know what our parents would say,’ Fi said. ‘They’d say that the most important thing to them is our safety. They wouldn’t want us dead in exchange for them living. In a way we’re what gives their lives their meaning. But we can’t be bound by that. We have to do what’s right for us. We have to find meanings for our own lives, and this might be one of the ways we do it. I’m with Corrie; scared out of my skin, but I’ll do it because I can’t imagine the rest of my life if I don’t.’” (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Chapter 13.)
“‘I know logically we should do this and we should do that. But all I know is that the thought of doing anything makes my nose bleed. All I really want to do is to go down to the Hermit’s hut and hide under his mouldy old bed till this is over. I’m really fighting myself to stop from doing that. I suppose when the time comes I’ll probably do whatever I have to do, but the main reason I’ll do it is because I feel the pressure of keeping up with you guys. I don’t want to let you down. I’d feel so ashamed if I couldn’t match you in whatever it is we decide to do. I don’t think there’s any way we can help our families right now, so not losing face with you all has become my biggest thing. And what worries me is that I can’t guarantee I won’t pack up under pressure. The trouble is, I’m so full of fear now, that anything could happen. I’m scared that I might just stand there and scream.’” (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Chapter 18.)
Fi’s transition…
“‘Fi, I think you’ve become more free in a way. I mean, you think about your life before, living in that big house, going off to your piano lessons, mixing with the rich and the famous. Now you’ve been camping in the bush for months, fighting in a war, racing round blowing things up, looking after chooks and growing vegetables … It is a kind of freedom compared to what you used to have.’
‘I could never go back to that life,’ Fi said. ‘I don’t want to keep living like this either, of course. But if the war ended tomorrow, I couldn’t suddenly start worrying about flower arrangements for Mum’s dinner parties, and having the right paper for answering invitations. I don’t know what I’d do, but I’d try to find something useful, something that would stop this stuff happening again.’” (The Dead of the Night, Chapter 15.)
Fi’s determination…
“Fi seemed delicate and timid, and she even claimed herself that she was, but she had a determination I hadn’t recognised before. There was a spirit to her, a fire burning inside her somewhere.” (Tomorrow, When the War Began, Chapter 21.)
Fi is never fully understood by Ellie…
“That was Fi, walking alone through the dark night looking for enemy patrols, lighting a petrol-soaked fuse to blow up a bridge, riding a motorbike across country in a wild scramble to escape bullets.
I’d been awfully wrong about Fi.
And I still hadn’t got her figured out. After we’d blown up the bridge she’d been giggling, saying, ‘I can’t believe I did that! Let’s do some more!’ After Kevin drove away with Corrie unconscious in the back seat she cried for a week.” (The Dead of the Night, Chapter 1.)”
Fi is scared…
“‘I can’t stand the waiting.’ She looked too thin in the darkness, like a ghost. I touched her cold cheek and she gave a little sob. I hadn’t realised how scared she was. All the time we’d spent holed up in Hell had preyed on her mind. But we had to be tough when we were out here in the streets. We needed Fi if we were going to check the Hospital thoroughly.” (The Dead of the Night, Chapter 2.)