Assignment 12, Question 4: Gene reflects on Phineas’ impact on his life at the bottom of page 202 and top of page 203. In this passage, what do you think Gene means when he says “Phineas alone had escaped this” (202)? What did he escape? And did he do so by dying or by the way he lived his life? (see also page 204)

Because of the war, all of the boys at Devon, and indeed all over the world have developed a sad and dismal view of life which has been propagated by anything bad in their lives; Phineas, however, was able to “escape” this and maintain a positive outlook on life. In the beginning of the book, the war seems to be a distant and oppressive fog that has set over the rest of the world, but later, especially in the last chapter when the troops start to move into Devon, Gene realizes how connected to the war everyone really is, and how especially, how he is surrounded by it. It is a terrible thought to be connected to such violence and sadness, and would change anyone’s disposition to life.

            Phineas has gone through life with what seems to be constant happiness and ease. This is mainly what attracted the other boys at Devon to him. His confidence in himself and his talents are a testament to this ability of his to glide through life. As a result this, it is very difficult for Phineas to deal with hardship or tragedy. Both of which came crashing down upon him when his leg was broken after falling off of the tree, and then when Leper returned and made the war feel so unjustly real to him, and finally the last straw was when the idea that Gene, his best friend, a person whom he would think of as “part of him”, broke his leg purposefully. Gene realizes this when he reminisces, “Phineas alone had escaped this…. Nothing as he was growing up at home, nothing at Devon, nothing even about the war had broken his harmonious and natural unity. So at last I had,” (Knowles 203). Since Phineas lacks the life experience to deal with all of these unforeseen happenstances, he started to deny them. First it was Gene’s involvement in the accident, and then it was the war. After being his friend for so long, Gene knows about Phineas’ tendency to block things out; “… a way of sizing up the world with erratic and entirely personal reservations, letting its rocklike facts sift through and be accepted only a little at a time, only as much as he could assimilate without a sense of chaos and loss,” (Knowles 202). Phineas’ inability to see anything but the good in people is what endeared him to Gene, and eventually, what led Phineas to forgive him despite everything.

What does Gene mean when he says “I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war end before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there” (204). Who/what is his enemy? Why does he contradict himself there? What was his war?

In the quote on page 204, Gene is referring to his inner demons. Gene killed his inner demons at Devon, and one was jealousy. In the beginning of the novel, Gene admires Finny’s suave and carefree attitude.  However as the summer session continued, envy and admiration start to blur for Gene. Gene wishes he could be amazing at something like Finny, but Gene takes this too far. After learning that Finny would “kill himself” if Gene became valedictorian, he takes that too far and is convinced that Finny is trying to steal the spotlight from him. Gene almost gets upset at Finny when he asks if he wants to see Leeper jump out of the tree. One quote that ticks off Gene is when Finny realizes that Gene has to work in order to get A’s. “It seemed that he had made some kind of parallel between my studies and sports… He didn’t know yet that he was unique.” (Knowles 58) This quote is important because it makes Gene even more jealous, because he realizes he has to work in order to succeed, while Finny succeeds in his own way without trying. These feelings of jealousy rise after this comment, and eventually culminates with Finny falling out of the tree.

            Gene contradicts himself because his enemy wasn’t a person; it was jealousy. Devon is an extremely competitive environment and jealousy is always waiting to strike the boys and poison their minds. Gene also never hated jealousy because it controlled him and fogged his mind. However, Gene’s subconscious was always at war with jealousy, because Gene knew that hiding the truth about the incident at the tree was immoral, but his envy refused to let him accept defeat. Gene’s jealousy was destroyed when Finny died, because Gene finally came to the realization that his envy for his friend died with him. Jealousy destroyed Gene’s admiration for Finny and destroyed one of his closest friendships.

Explore the implications and subtleties of the conversation with Mr. Hadley. What does he say about “manhood” (see what he says about the G.I.’s) and how does he feel about Brinker and Gene’s involvement in the war effort? (198-200) (Joey)

Mr. Hadley sees the war as the true test of manhood. He feels as though war-time stories are to be told to prove a man’s stature. When Mr. Hadley hears that Brinker is going to enlist in the Coast Guard, he goes on to say “make sure it’s the right thing in the long run” (Knowles 199). He also states “Your war time memories will be with you forever...people will get their respect for you from that” (Knowles 199). Mr. Hadley feels as though Brinker is not going to see much action in his branch of the military, which will cause a loss of admiration in future years. He also wants to be able to be proud of his son, and he feels that this can only be accomplished through Brinker’s actions in the war. Mr. Hadley is also firm in this belief of his, as seen in the quote “Times change, and wars change. But men don’t change” (Knowles 198). He even wants to join the war, but is burdened by his old age. Mr. Hadley is also afraid that Brinker will not live up to his expectations, for he has been giving Brinker the same lecture repeatedly. Mr. Hadley sees the war as a man’s greatest moment.

Is Finny's fall, and ultimately his death, something you can blame on Gene? Why or why not? If he is not to blame, then who is? -Reina

Finny falls twice in A Separate Peace but only one of the falls was directly Gene’s fault. When Finny falls for the first time and breaks his leg, his movements are limited from sports, to walking. This fall is Gene’s fault directly, because he shakes the branch. If he hadn’t shaken the branch, Finny would not have fallen because he is said to have perfect balance. “I took a step towards him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the branch.” (60 Knowles) Since Finny’s leg is hurt, his walking is not as stable as it once was. “sweat was running like oil from Finny’s face, and when he paused involuntarily tremors shook his hands and arms.” (112 Knowles)

Now that Finny is unable to walk properly, he has to be very careful not to fall (especially on marble.) After the trial on page 176, Finny storms out of the room enraged at Gene because Gene shook the branch. This fall was not Gene’s fault directly because he did not push him or want this to happen. He even thought the trial was a bad idea and did not want to do it. This fall is slightly Finny’s fault for not being careful enough but also Brinker who most likely knew that this situation would make Finny mad.

However, while both the falls were different in terms of whose fault it was, Finny’s death was mostly Gene’s fault. Had he not jounced the branch, none of these situations would have happened. Finny would not have fallen either times. While his death was unintentional and he did not want Finny to die, Gene still could have handled each situation better.

Is Finny's fall, and ultimately his death, something you can blame on Gene? Why or why not? If he is not to blame, then who is? - Rahul

Finny’s fall and death can be blamed completely on Gene. Some may argue that Brinker agitated him and that led him to rush out of the hall. Some may argue that the facts that Leper provided pushed Finny past his boundaries because he showed his hatred of the facts and how Brinker was trying to collect them so vigorously. “ ‘You get all your facts!’ I had never seen Finny crying before” (Knowles 177). However what led to this event and made everything spiral out of control was when Gene “jounced the limb” (Knowles 60). It is always the little things that add up to create the bigger things in life.

It could be said by some, that you can’t trace Finny’s death back so far however I think Gene is 100 percent responsible. His competitive nature and “ jounce” made Finny lose his leg mobility. When Gene and Finny were walking to the gymnasium together in the early part of the winter, Gene thinks to himself, “Phineas had moved in a continuous flowing balance. Obviously the accident this impaired Finny’s coordination and balance, and so therefore he must have had a harder time getting down the stairs. He hobbled now among the patches of ice (Knowles 111).  Secondly this lead to several rumors flying around. One can’t blame Brinker for wanting to clear things up. It may have been an awful way to do so, but that is just how Brinker is. Brinker means well however he carries out his ideas in an ill manor. Leper was just doing as he was told. He never wanted to harm anyone. It was Gene’s actions which made everything spiral out of control and eventually Phineas died because of Gene’s stupidity and jealousy

Explain the significance of the last paragraph: "I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family's strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case." (Rebecca)

          Gene feels that he is a part of Finny, and when finny dies, Gene feels a part of himself dies with him. After Finny falls out of the tree, Gene feels like his purpose is to be the part of Finny that he lost when he got injured. “Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,” and I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas." (Knowles 85) In A Separate Peace, Gene goes from being envious of Finny to being a part of him.
          Gene took away a bit of Finny in the accident, now Gene is repaying Finny by being that part and supporting him. Knowles shows that Finny has forgiven Gene through his language and tone. "'Well there's Finny here.' 'Yes,' agreed Phineas in his deepest and most musical tone, 'there's me.'"
           Finny would rather move on and forget about the accident than settle what happened like Brinker wants. When Brinker brings up the accident 'trial' Finny doesn't want to talk about it so he storms out. Finny re-injures himself, right when he is recovering, which undoes all the bonding and forgiving that happened between him and Gene. Brinker injures Finny emotionally and physically by bringing up the past. Gene doesn't cry at Finny's funeral because Finny dies with all their memories and a part of Gene. Finny was never one to feel sorry for himself, so he would never cry at his own funeral. Gene felt that he was a part of Finny so he shouldn't cry at 'his own funeral' either. Knowles uses the words "you do not cry in that case" to sound like one of Finny's 'Commandments'. Gene's language starts to sound like Finny's because they have bonded and become similar to each other. Gene envied Finny's lifestyle, so he made his own 'Commandments' to live by just like Finny. Gene lost a part of himself when Finny dies, just like Finny lost a part of himself when he fell out of that tree.

Anthony LaMonica, Assignment #10, Question #1: At the top of page 155, the snowball fight culminates with everyone turning on Finny. Why does this happen here and why now? How does this moment foreshadow events later in the chapter?

In the opening of this chapter we find out that Finny has organized a snowball fight. Gene was joined in the fight after Finny yells to him to join on his team. When on Finny's, Finny throws a snowball at Gene. "Finny had recruited me and others as allies, so that the two sides fighting it out had been taking form. Suddenly he turned his fire against me, he betrayed several of his other friends". After Finny turned on his allies, Gene and the others "ended the fight in the only way possible; all of us turned on Phineas. Slowly, with a steadily widening grin, he was driven down beneath a blizzard of snowballs". During this part, Finny was once allied with everybody, until they all turned on him. This part foreshadowed the investigation Brinker conducted on page 168. 

In my opinion the investigation is linked to the snowball fight because when Finny first goes into The Assembly Hall, where the investigation was conducted, everybody was his ally. "Finny got up with a shrug and walked to the center of the floor, between us and the platform". As Finny gets up, it made me think of the part during the snowball fight after he switches side and leaves his allies (Brinker and Gene) and moving toward the center, like switching to the other team. On page 168, Brinker says "Today we're investigating you... Investigating Finny's accident". Now, everybody has turned on Finny, just like they had during the snowball fight.

At the top of page 155, the snowball fight culminates with everyone turning on Finny. Why does this happen here and why now? How does this moment foreshadow events later in the chapter? assignment ten Caleb

At the top of page 155, the snowball fight culminates with everyone turning on Finny. Why does this happen here and why now? How does this moment foreshadow events later in the chapter?

Everyone starts to team up on Finny because he betrayed his teammates and started throwing snowballs at them. This is all in a playful manner though, and they end the game laughing and in a jolly mood. Later in the chapter, at the trail, Brinker demands to know all the facts about what happened on that mysterious day when Finny shattered his leg. He interrogates Finny, Gene, and Leper to the point of anger. Unlike at the snowball fight, people are actually very upset with Brinker and not just playing around. At one point Finny, Gene, and Leper are so furious with Brinker and his need to know everything about everyone, that Finny yells in his face, "You collect every f---ing fact there is in the world!" This shows how angry Finny is with Brinker and how Brinker is capable of getting on somebody's nerves without wanting to. The teaming up and betrayal of Finny and his teammates foreshadowed the trial where Brinker betrayed his so called "friends" and pushed them to the point of fury.

At the top of page 155, the snowball fight culminates with everyone turning on Finny. Why does this happen here and why now? How does this moment foreshadow events later in the chapter? assignmnet 10 Caleb

At the top of page 155, the snowball fight culminates with everyone turning on Finny. Why does this happen here and why now? How does this moment foreshadow events later in the chapter?

Everyone starts to team up on Finny because he betrayed his teammates and started throwing snowballs at them. This is all in a playful manner though, and they end the game laughing and in a jolly mood. Later in the chapter, at the trail, Brinker demands to know all the facts about what happened on that mysterious day when Finny shattered his leg. He interrogates Finny, Gene, and Leper to the point of anger. Unlike at the snowball fight, people are actually very upset with Brinker and not just playing around. At one point Finny, Gene, and Leper are so furious with Brinker and his need to know everything about everyone, that Finny yells in his face, "You collect every f---ing fact there is in the world!" This shows how angry Finny is with Brinker and how Brinker is capable of getting on somebody's nerves without wanting to. The teaming up and betrayal of Finny and his teammates foreshadowed the trial where Brinker betrayed his so called "friends" and pushed them to the point of fury.

Assignment 10: Discuss Leper’s return and its impact on Gene and Finny before Brinker’s trial. What does Leper represent now that he is back at Devon and what conversation does his return trigger between Finny and Gene? (see pages 163-164).

When the character of Leper Lepillier returns to Devon in chapter 11, he brings back the reality of the war and the powerful impact it has created, causing Finny to realize and admit the importance of his friendship to Gene. “ “Naturally I don’t believe books, and I don’t believe teachers,” he came across a few paces, “but I do believe -- it’s important after all for me to believe you. Christ, I’ve got to believe you, at least. I know you better than anybody.” (Knowles 163). While Finny has always appeared content to live in a world of glamorous and enchanting fantasy, one that Gene longed to be a part of, Finny is telling Gene of just how badly he needed him to be a steady counterweight to his imagination. This to him is especially crucial to Finny in these wild and confusing times of war. However to Gene, Leper also represents the fragile string that his relationship is built on, a string as weak and whimsical as Leper’s state of mind. As he mentioned when Gene came to visit, Leper was there in the moment that Gene jounced the branch, causing Finny that fateful fall that forever shaped his life. This painful secret that Leper knows of makes Finny’s trust and compassion in his friendship with Gene all the more ironic as it is predominantly based on a lie. The boys, especially Finny, also finally accepted the effects the war had brought on to them. The reappearance of their now mentally unstable friend finally put to an abrupt end all of their fantasies about the war time -- it was evident that Leper was no hero or general, and that despite all of Finny’s coaching, Gene would never actually compete in the 1944 Olympics. Leper is a painful dose of the pain of the real world, forcing Gene and Finny to re-examine the weight their friendship with each other carries; one hand of the scale light with love for each other, the other heavy with Gene’s dark secret of how he maimed Finny. 

Assignment # 10- Name two important events of rising action that Knowles uses to build up to the climax of the fall. If you choose the trial, choose a specific incident to discuss and how it leads to the fall.- Alexandra

       In chapter 11, it is very evident that Brinker suspects that Gene had something to do with Finny's accident. Brinker creates a mock-trial in the assembly hall late at night, and invites some other of the boys at Devon to force Finny and Gene to attend. He plants a "seed" of suspicion, yet there is no one who can really verify the facts, because no one was there besides Gene, Finny and Leper. Brinker states this, saying its "too bad" (Knowles 172) that Leper is not here to reveal the whole truth. However, nobody knew that Leper was actually on campus, besides Gene and Finny, until Finny disclosed this information.
       This led the the boys to go get Leper, who clearly described two figures on the branch the afternoon of the accident, one holding the trunk and one balancing on the edge of the limb. Leper, realized that he was being used by Brinker, saying, "I'm important, you never realized, but I'm important too. You be the fool now. Bastard." (Knowles 176). Without even actually accusing Gene, Finny realized, at that moment, that who he thought was his best friend, actually might've caused his accident. After discovering this, Finny rushes out of the assembly hall, stumbling down the marble stairs in frustration and anger.

Mango - Assignment 9 Question 2.

Explore the difference between what ‘escape’ means to Gene as opposed to what it means to Leper (see usage in context on the middle of page 143).

          For tonights reading, Gene and Leper meet in snowy Vermont, the location of the distress telegram. Leper attempts to explain why he abandoned the ski troop and is received with indignation. The past weeks at the Devon School have been filled with talk of Leper's enlistment. Leper is the school's connection to the war, to the action. As seen in an earlier reading, Gene is still intrigued by the idea of joining the war effort. On the train, after shoveling off the tracks, Leper announces that he will join. This sparks a rush of excitement in Gene, and opens a window for him to join.  When Leper announces his departure from the army, this slams the window right in Gene's face. His hopes of leaving Devon are diminished and he is left with no option but to stay or go and fight alone. In all, this conversation frustrates and angers Gene to the point of violence. For Leper on the other hand his decision to quit is connected to the entire future of his life. If Leper is considered insane and forced to leave, he will be in no position to find a good job or even have a partially successful way forward. Leper has made his choice as a form of survival as shown on page 144. "You can't get a job after that... You're screwed for life, that's what a Section Eight discharge means."

Assignment #9 Question #2 Explore the difference between what ‘escape’ means to Gene as opposed to what it means to Leper (see usage in context on the middle of page 143).

Leper and Gene think of 'escaping' in different ways. To Gene, 'escaping' is a bad thing, but to Leper it is a miracle or a good thing. Gene goes to Leper's house in Vermont, after he receives a telegram saying that Leper needs help. Once he arrives at the house, Gene and Leper talk about Leper leaving the army, which leads to Leper explaining how and why he escaped. Gene gets annoyed and angry at Leper because he is confused about what Leper is saying and why he had to come all the way to Vermont, when Leper's situation could have all been explained in a phone call."'What do you mean, you escaped?' I said  sharply. 'You don't escape from the army'"(Knowles 143). To Gene this 'escaping' from the army is new and like a foreign language. He's confused because Leper wanted to enlist and it was his choice, but now he hates it and has escaped.

Gene and Leper have two different definitions of 'escaping' because they think about the army differently. At the beginning of the novel, Gene knows that the army is hard and requires a lot of work, but now he is invested in believing that there isn't war. Finny has this idea that "there isn't any war."(Knowles 115), and Gene partially believes it. He is trying to make himself believe that there isn't a war because he wants to be Finny, but he still knows that there is a war going on. Before Leper enlists, he doesn't think that the army will be that hard and he thinks that he will be able to ski. Instead, he starts to get visions of people and things, and struggles to keep up in training, which leads to him getting a Section Eight Discharge. Leper says, "A Section Eight Discharge is for the nuts in the service"(Knowles 144).  When Leper starts talking about the army, Gene doesn't want to hear about it. Gene starts to yell at Leper, "Do you think I want to hear every glory detail! Shut up! I don't care!"(Knowles 151) It sounds like Gene is scared to hear about the army and Leper's thoughts. If Gene hears about the 'real army life' he will start to have trouble believing that there is no war. Gene thinks that if he starts believing in the war, he is betraying Finny. He is afraid of not becoming Finny. In the beginning, Gene has a more realistic view about the army than Leper, but now Leper has the more realistic view.

Knowles includes Gene's conversation with Leper in his book because it gives a new perspective about war and characterizes Leper more. Gene and Leper have different views about war and Gene starts to realize that Leper is actually crazy and he is an outlier at Devon. Leper's name shows how he is excluded from many friend groups and becomes an outlier. While Gene is in Vermont, he starts to realize how bad of an idea it would have been to enlist, and gets a new perspective about the war. He starts understanding that the war is real and it isn't just something all the boys talk about anymore.

Assignment #9 Since Leper is “section 8” (“for nuts in the service”), explore the irony of Leper’s statement “always were a savage underneath.” Take into consideration that Leper contacted Gene. Why is this important? (Anya Chung)

Although it is ironic for Leper (who is mentally unstable), to be calling Gene a “savage”, he is not far from the truth. Gene knows this as well. When Gene and Leper are eating lunch, Gene can feel Leper’s mother warming up to him a bit, even after Gene knocked Leper out of his chair. He knows this is because she thinks that he is actually a good kid on the inside, but he admits to himself that Leper was correct in believing that Gene is not a good person at heart. “Leper was closer to the truth.” (Knowles 146).

Leper chooses to contact Gene out of all the people at Devon because he believes that Gene will understand him the most. When Leper is telling Gene about his hallucinations in the army, Gene snaps. “This has nothing to do with me! Nothing at all! I don’t care!” (Knowles 151). Gene loses his temper because he doesn’t want to face the fact that perhaps Leper is right, and that Gene is just as crazy as him. Gene keeps repeating to himself on page 151 that he has no idea why Leper would be telling his story to him. Of course, this is untrue. Gene knows that Leper is telling him this because he thinks they are alike. Gene hastily runs away; he is horrified that Leper might be right.

Assignment #8, Question 2: Leper is the first of the boys to enlist. Based on the conversations and narration in the previous few chapters, what about this is ironic?(123-137)

Leper being the first boy to enlist is ironic because he is always taken-back by change at Devon. This is seen when Gene states “Leper stands out to me as the person who was most often and most emphatically taken by surprise by every shift in our life at Devon” (Knowles 93). When Gene and the other schoolboys travel to the railroads to shovel-out the tracks, Leper does not attend the trip. He rather goes touring, a form of skiing, to find a beaver dam near the school. Leper has no interest in covering jobs left empty during the war, and says to Gene “Have a nice day at it anyway” (Knowles 95). He also does not approve of speed skiing. He states “skiing isn’t supposed to be fast” (Knowles 95). However, after Leper watches a video of the United States ski troops, his instinct is to enlist. His feelings toward speed skiing adapts, as well. He states “And skiing had to learn to move just as fast or it would have been wiped out by this war” (Knowles 125). Leper is now open to change, a notion that he could not comprehend in the past.

Assignment 8, Question 5: The “separate peace” moment is shattered by the arrival of the telegram from Leper. Explore the significance of the timing of the telegram and the content. From was has Leper “escaped”? (123-137)

After his injury, Phineas became a more secluded version of himself. He still had the determination and perseverance of his old life, but he started to become more downcast and cut off. Gene started to realize this when after Phineas was back for several months and he thinks, “He drew me increasingly away from the Butt Room crowd…, into a world inhabited by just himself and me…, just Phineas and me alone among all the people of the world,” (Knowles 127). He has begun to deny the reality of World War II, because he cannot deal with more than one saddening event in his life at one time. Within time, however, he begins to come to terms with his injury. The ambitious winter carnival embodies this transition back to his old outlook on life, and Gene is excited to have his old friend back. “This is the first time Finny’s gotten going on anything since… he came back,” (Knowles 130). When the telegraph comes, he realizes that the world that he saw before, and that he has come to see again comprising of cheerful moments may not exist after all. The message shows a level of sincerity, and fright that even he, in all of his denial, can contend with. Also, Gene has been an integral part of Phineas’ recovery, and in the words of Gene, of Phineas, himself. Throughout his last couple of months at Devon, he has become especially protective of Gene as a best friend. “Phineas took no part in it, and since little else was talked about in the Butt Room he soon stopped going there and stopped me from going as well…,” (Knowles 127). In his telegraph, when Leper refers to Gene as his best friend, this throws another question into his life that Phineas is simply not prepared to deal with.

            Leper has always been thought of as a “wimp” by his classmates. After he joined the army, the boys at Devon were stunned because it seemed like such a daring act. However, after the telegraph he sent to Gene, they are simply flabbergasted. In the first line of his message, Leper writes, “I HAVE ESCAPED AND NEED HELP,” (Knowles 137); Leper had escaped from the war and from the U.S. military after enlisting.. The daring act implied in this line is in such contrast to the Leper that they have come to know that he seems like a different person.

Assignment #8 (123-137) The “separate peace” moment is shattered by the arrival of the telegram from Leper. Explore the significance of the timing of the telegram and the content. From what has Leper “escaped”?

            Leeper’s interruption of the Winter Carnival is similar to the war’s interruption of daily life. During the Winter Carnival, all the boys are having fun and are singing and dancing. This is where “a separate peace” is found for Finny. Ever since Finny has come back to Devon, he has been depressed and has not shown signs of his old charismatic self. However, during the Winter Festival, Finny jumps on the table and begins to dance. This Festival then becomes Finny’s “separate peace.” Before his tragic accident, Finny was able to find peace in sports. However, after falling out of the tree, Finny was bed ridden and could not play sports, the one thing that made him happy. Finny finally found happiness again at the festival, but it was short lived.

            Leeper’s telegram has a direct connection to the war. While most of the boys are celebrating, Leeper is off fighting in the war, but he abandons his fellow soldiers in what appears to be fear. The telegram interrupts the boys' celebration and happiness just like the war. The war has taken over Devon, and has prompted many to consider enlistment. Finny believes that the war is a curse and has destroyed any chance for the boys to have a normal childhood. Finny tries to keep Gene safe by lying to him about the war. ““Don’t be a sap,” he gazed with cool self-possession at me, “There is no war”” (Knowles 115). Finny does this for Gene so that they both can have the most normal childhood possible. The timing of the telegram is ironic because it disrupts the boys’ happiness, just like the war.

5.) What is the significance of Gene and Finny’s training? How is related to their conversations about war? What does it reveal about their relationship? (Rebecca Mironko)

            Finny and Gene's training helps them forget about the war and focus on what matters to them. Finny claims that the war isn't real, Gene doesn't believe him but he goes along with it. In chapter 8, Finny decides to train Gene for the 1944 Olympics, their training is a way to deal with the war, and bond as friends. Gene sees Finny's plan as a silly dream at first: "I went along, as I always did, with any new invention of Finny's. There was no harm in taking aim, even if the target was a dream." (Knowles 117) Throughout the book, Finny has given Gene direction and motivation, when Finny was gone Gene was without that, nut now that Finny is back he plans to give Gene a goal: the 1944 Olympics.
            Finny is in denial about the war because he cannot enlist, he tells himself it's all a lie, and focuses his life elsewhere. Finny knows what he likes and doesn't waste his time on much else, he discovers that he likes coaching Finny in the locker-room when Gene is doing chin ups. " until he sang out 'thirty!' with a flare of pleasure." (Knowles 117) Finny then decides that that is what he will now focus on; before it was sports, now it is training Finny.
            Gene went along with Finny's crazy idea at first, but he later realizes that the training is good for him, as well as his relationship with Finny. Gene discovers just how great he is when Finny describes his feelings accurately. "'You found your rhythm didn't you, that third time around'... 'Yes, I have been'... 'now you know'." (Knowles 120) Finny is talking about the feeling of being a good athlete when he says 'now you know'. He is showing Gene how it felt to be that good. Gene now has a better understanding of what exactly he took away from Finny. They become closer during there training, and by the end of the chapter, they have both disregarded the war.

What does the conversation about enlisting reveal about Finny and Gene’s relationship (p107-108)? Provide at least two specific examples. (Reina)

Gene and Finny’s conversation reveals that Finny needs and wants Gene more than Gene thinks. Gene is often skeptical of his relationship with Finny. It is clear that Gene admires Finny to the point of jealousy. Gene wants to be Finny’s best friend and even states it as “a compliment to me, as a matter of fact, to have such a person choose me for his best friend” (Knowles 11). Gene often attempts to identify himself as Finny by dressing in his clothes and acting like him and it is evident that he needs Finny to push him out of his boundaries.

However, in this exchange between  Finny and Gene, a different side of their friendship is shown. Finny is for shown to actually care about the consequences. Although the consequences are different as opposed to getting in trouble by a teacher, he fears for losing Gene. “‘Enlist!” cried Finny at the same time. His large and clear eyes turned with an odd expression on me. I had never seen such a look in them before…”You thought you might sign up?” he went on looking carefully away” (Knowles 107).

Gene is surprised to learn that Finny was afraid. Finny is not afraid to get in trouble or fall out of a tree, but the idea of losing Gene scares him. It is only now that Gene sees that Finny actually cares about being without him. “Phineas was shocked at the idea of my leaving. In some way he needed me.” This causes Gene to completely rule out the idea of enlisting and it shows that Finny still influences Gene more than anything else.

Assignment #7 Question #3 How does Finny feel about the war? How do you know this? Why does he act this way? Does it feel consistent with his character? (Anya Chung)

Finny believes the war is a conspiracy theory. When he and Gene are in the locker room, Gene brings up how things like sports don't seem that important now that the war is going on. Finny automatically states that there isn't any war. "'Don't be a sap,' he gazed with cool self-possession at me, 'there isn't any war.'" (Knowles 115). Gene is taken aback, and he assumes Finny is joking. However, it becomes apparent that Finny is serious. 

Finny acts like this because he is trying to convince himself that nothing has changed, although lots of things have. First Finny was betrayed by Gene, who he thought was his best friend. This resulted in never being able to play sports again, which is another major change in Finny's life. He comes back to Devon expecting it to be the same place he left it, but arrives to find Gene about to enlist. "Phineas was shocked at the idea of my leaving...He needed me." (Knowles 108). All these changes came very suddenly to Finny. Little changes, like the maids leaving, cause Finny to become distraught. Although it is obviously very simple to go on with life without maids, Finny is upset about the changes going on at the school. He doesn't want to accept any of these changes, so he convinces himself, and tries to convince Gene, that the war is not real.

This behavior is very unlike Finny. Before he broke his leg, Finny was very interested in the war. "'I was reading in the paper that we bombed Central Europe for the first time the other day.'...'Well, we've got to do something to celebrate.'" (Knowles 25). Now he is hurt and everything is different, but Finny doesn't want to show any kind of weakness. Instead, he uses his trademark charm on himself, to comfort himself into believing that none of the war, both between the world and between him and Gene, is real.

Assignment #6: Quetion #5 - Gene's feelings about war (Anthony LaMonica)

Gene does not like war at all. On page 101 Gene talks about how deadly things always wind up in his life some how. "The war would be deadly all right. But I was used to finding something deadly in things that attracted me; there was always something deadly lurking in anything I wanted, anything I loved. And if it wasn't there, as for example Phineas, then I put it there myself". Deadliness and despair have been recurring factors throughout the story. This quote shows that Gene doesn't like war, the bloodiness, the deaths, and the despair. This is why he had gone to Devon School in the first place, to try and escape all of that. The peaceful surroundings and the careless peace of the Devon summer. But now the war is coming toward him. The deadliness and despair follows him. The war, in my opinion, is the climax. All the other events, such as Blitzball and the incident at the tree, were all leading up to this war. Finny has been Genes  rock, his foundation holding him together. With his injury, and how Gene has been pondering it non stop, combined with the despair of war, is going to drive Gene crazy. If the war gets the best of Gene I fear bad things will soon come to happen to him.

How is Leper charcterized-Caleb assignment 6 Question 4

Part of this reading focuses on Leper. How is he characterized? What do we learn about him? Provide some specific details from the reading to support your answer.

Gene describes Leper as if Leper lives in his own world. Leper often just stares around and does whatever he feels he should do, regardless of what other people would think. "You know what? I did find it, "his smile was wide and unfocused, as though not for me alone but for anyone and anything which wished to share this pleasure with him, "and it was really interesting to see" (Knowles 99). When I picture Leper, I think of somebody who is always looking around, unfocused, not paying attention to anyone but himself. Once Gene explains how during Chapel Leper is just sitting by himself drawing sketches. Leper is characterized as a person who seems a little out of it and lives in his own world.

Assignment 6: Question 4: Characterizing Leper

In chapter seven of A Separate Peace, John Knowles begins to elaborate on the character of Leper, a slightly timid yet thoughtful boy with a personality that sharply contrasts from Devon's predominantly tough, war focused young men. When Gene first encounters Leper since the Summer Session, he describes his voice as "mild tentative" (Knowles 94). As their conversation continues, even more of Leper's humbly innocent personality show through, especially when he voiced his opinion on modern day skiing. " "They're ruining skiiing in this country, rope tows and chairlifts and all that stuff. You get carted up, and then you whizz down. You never get to see the trees or anything. Oh you see a lot of trees shoot by, but you never really get to look at trees, at a tree. I just like to go along and see what I'm passing and enjoy myself." " (Knowles 95). Leper's poetic views on the necessity of acknowledging life's small beauties seem to be a rare occurence in comparison to most of the other Devon boys. While Leper acts for the sake of his own relaxing exploration, the rest of his class ties most of their actions back to one common theme: war. During this era, jumping out of trees is to escape a sinking ship and common ball games are named after bombing strategies. In this context of the story, Gene encounters Leper on his way to shoveling out the railroad tracks with the rest of the boys, a task of grueling manual labor, not as an act of charity for his neighbors, but for a payment. Meanwhile Leper is merely excercising for pleasure. As the Summer Session at Devon has ended, so has Gene's version of easy going freedom from the harsh repurcussions of the war. However, John Knowles character of Leper Lepillier has still retained a quiet hold on this delicate innocence by living a lifestyle as free of such anxieties as possible; in other words, he still resides in his own separate peace.

Assignment #6 Question #3 Explore and explain the significance of the scene in the Butt Room.(Rei Halloran)

In chapter 7, Gene and Brinker go to the Butt room to go smoke a cigarette. There were a few other kids there smoking as well, and Brinker brings up Finny and the incident. Gene ends up telling the "story" about the accident. At first he tries to make up a story by saying, " I - all I did was drop a little bit.... a little pinch of arsenic in his morning coffee." (Knowles 89). But Brinker stops him and tells him that he was there when the accident happened. Gene says this beause he feels guilty for doing this to Finny and he really doesn't want to people to know it was him, Finny's best friend, that really did this. Once Gene finds out that most of the people in the Butt room were at the 'crime scene' when it happended, he tells the truth. However, Gene leaves out one part, the part about how he shook/pushed Finny out of the tree. Gene tries to have them guess how Finny fell out of the tree, " 'What did I do then?' I demanded. 'I'll bet you've got a lot of theories. Come on, reconstruct the crime. There we were at the tree. Then what happened, Sherlock Holmes?' " (Knowles 91). One of the kids actually guessed correctly, but Gene lies and answers, "You lose. I guess you're Dr. Watson, after all." (Knowles 91) Gene tries to avoid any other conversations with anyone in the room and leaves.
Before this whole conversation, Brinker tells Gene, "But the truth will out." (Knowles 88). Gene was affraid the truth would come out and he would be thought of as the bad guy at Devon. In the end most of the truth did come out, except the most important part. Gene was affraid that if he talked to someone about that night, the real truth would have come out, and everyone would know that he was the bad guy who hurt his best friend, Finny.

Assignment #5 - Why does Quackenbush use the word “maimed”? Explore the significance and connotation.- Alexandra Brizius

Quackenbush uses this word to offend Gene. During the reading, Gene starts the academic school year. He does crew, which takes place on one of the Devon Rivers. Because Gene is not very athletic, he decides to be the assistant crew manager, which means he is involved with the sport, with out actually participating. On his first day on the job, he meets Cliff Quackenbush, the crew manager. Quackenbush as a reputation of being picked on, "For Quackenbush had been systematically disliked since he first set foot in Devon." (Knowles 78). The two boys get in a fight, and Quackenbush calls Gene maimed, which means being disabled. Quackenbush calls him this, because jobs like assistant manager, and jobs where you aren't actually participating in the sport are for boys who are injured or disabled. Gene takes this personally because of the state Finny is in. "I fought that battle, that first skirmish of a long campaign, for Finny." (Knowles 79). Finny will never people to play sports again, and this is Gene's fault, so he stands up to protect his friend.

Magnus Aske Assignment 5, question 3 Explore the significance/symbolism of the Devon River?

Explore the significance/symbolism of the Devon River?

          Throughout "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles, Gene has had a clear obsession with his best friend Finny. Not only does Gene like the way that he interacts with teachers and students, but he also admires his ability to maneuver his way out of situations. In addition to social skills, Finny excels at athletics, which is the region of life which he considers the purest and is one that he is attempting to get Gene interested in. In the second and third readings, Gene notices his extreme admiration for Finny. He tries to do exactly the opposite of what Finny is doing before he intentionally jounces the branch that they are both standing on causing Finny to fall and shatter his leg. After this incident, Gene reflects about his actions and tries to convince himself that he did not do it and that it was not his fault. If one recalls the moment of the incident, after Finny falls, Gene jumps into the Devon River and after his jump acts like nothing has happened as shown on page 60 by John Knowles, "I moved out on the limb and jumped into the river, every trace of my fear of this forgotten." (Knowles 60) This quote shows that the Devon river soothes and washes away all of Gene's worries away. In addition to washing away his worries, the Devon River was the place of the jouncing incident where Finny was injured, one of violence and evil.

           In tonight's reading, Quackenbush calls Gene a "maimed son-of-a-bitch..." (Knowles 79) This sparks an anger in Gene which leads him to hit him hard, which causes a fight. In the skirmish Quackenbush lunges and sends both boys into the water. As I said in the prior section of my post, Gene's feelings were washed away as he jumped into the Devon River. This same effect happens to Quackenbush as he falls in on page 79, "The dousing extinguished Quackenbush's rage, and he let go of me." (Knowles 79) Apart from this, the river also has another significance in terms of violence and malicious intentions. Gene's evil actions happened by the Devon River as well as Quackenbush's insulting words to Gene. Both events involved violence, pain, and suffering in addition to their setting, the Devon River.

Assignment 5 Question 4 Re-read the last sentence of chapter 6 (p84-85). Explain what is happening in the quote (establish context) and then explore and explain the last part “I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas” (85)

Gene receives a call from Phinny who is still bedridden in his house. They begin talking about Gene’s rooming situation, and how Phinny can move back into their room because Gene has no roommate. Phinny soon brings the topic of sports and Gene confesses to him that he is not playing a sport, but instead he is assistant managing the crew team. Gene does not want to play a sport because, “ They were barred from me, as though when Dr. Stanpole said, ‘ Sports are finished’ he had been speaking to me” (Knowles 84) which Phinny thinks is crazy. Though out the book Gene has had some sense of “being” Phineas or Phineas wanting to be him. They were they same size, same height, and according to Gene often wore each other’s clothes. Being a part of Phineas is all Gene really wants, when Phinny says,” Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,” (Knowles 85). This gives Gene the idea that Phinny wants him, to be him and take over his role in athletics and at Devon because Phinny is unable to be there.

Rahul Manwani- Explore the significance of the fight with Quackenbush. Why does it happen? What exactly sets Gene off? How is related to his narrative earlier in the chapter? Why might Quakenbush be so disdainful of Gene?

Gene fights Quackenbush because he can no longer separate his identity from Finny’s. What sets him off is when Quackenbush calls him “maimed” (Knowles 79). This is because Finny is maimed, and Gene is fighting as if he is Finny. The reason he is so offended is because he wants to be Finny so badly and ends up copying everything he does. There is a sense of irony in this because the reader is led to think that Gene is trying to escape Finny’s shadow by avoiding athletics and becoming a manager, but it is later revealed that those who are disabled do the managing jobs. Finny is the disabled one not him. He simply cannot separate his identity from Finny.

It relates to his earlier narrative because he is envisioning a godly figure of Finny and later he tries to be this figure. In chapters before this Gene’s power hungry and competitive nature is obviously expressed. Gene wants to be Finny so badly he was even trying his clothes on on page 62 to see what it would be like to be Finny. Earlier in chapter 6 when Gene is observing the lake and envisioning Finny he says, “balancing on one foot on the prow of the canoe like a river god” (Knowles 75). He envisions Finny everywhere and views him as a god. Gene is greedy and wants to be Finny and possess the abilities Finny does. Gene wants to be Finny so badly that he takes on Finny’s problems and takes offense to the statement of being maimed.

Quackenbush was most probably so disdainful of Gene because the assistant manager jobs were “usually taken by boys with some physical disability” (Knowles 77). From the way Quackenbush addresses Gene so offensively and disrespectfully it is implied that boys with disabilities are most likely viewed as inferior. For example Quackenbush uses “maimed” (Knowles 79), as an insult and then curses at him.

Assignment #4: (pg. 61-71) What is symbolic in that fact that the summer session is coming to an end?

During the “summer session” of 1942, the Devon School did not uphold its long-lasting traditions and rules as much as it typically did during the standard school year. The school’s new, but short-lived, outlook on student’s discipline was very conducive to Phineas’ lifestyle. As a very “free spirited” boy, he loved to show the extent to which his flouting of authority could reach before he was reprimanded. To the boys around him, the summer of 1942 felt like “his moment”. Because of this, they felt that Phineas was their leader. He directed the summer’s goings on for the few boys that were there. Later on, Gene remembered this and said, “Still it had come to an end, in the last long rays of daylight at the tree when, Phineas fell,” (Knowles 74). While idolizing Phineas, Gene hated him too for the same reasons. Life in its entirety was simply a competition to him. He could not live with someone being better than he was, even if that person was his best friend. Throughout the summer, their friendship flourished. However, the session started coming to an end, so did the friendship. Gene let his competitive feelings get the best of him and ended the summer by sending Phineas home, and effectively terminating their relationship.

Assignment #4 What is guilt? Do we all have it? Is it part of being human? Can someone live guilt free?

Guilt is the emotion that one perceives after committing a wrong doing, and is one of the major themes in A Separate Peace. Guilt is one of the many attributes all human beings have, and is characterized as one of the most hurtful. Everyone feels guilt after achieving lower expectations, as it is a reminder that you have fallen short of perfection. Guilt is also recognized as a feeling that can make someone full of sorrow. This type of guilt is seen many times in A Separate Peace.  One example is when Gene tries on Finny’s clothes. “I was Phineas, Phineas to the life. I even had his humorous expression in my face, his sharp, optimistic awareness. I had no idea why this gave me such intense relief, but it seemed standing there in Finny’s triumphant shirt, that I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character” (Knowles 62). The quote is significant because it helps Gene overcome his guilt by stepping into Finny’s shoes. Guilt can also be bottled up, but only for a certain amount of time, as it can eat a person away.

Assignment #4 (pg. 61-71): While Finny is in the infirmary, Gene is paranoid that people will be suspicious of him, and then he dresses in Finny’s clothes and feels better. Why does Gene do this? Why is this significant? (Joey O'Brien)

Gene dresses in Finny’s clothes because it makes him feel as though Phineas had never broken his leg. Gene is the same height as Finny and the two “wore the same size” (Knowles 62) clothing. He feels as though these facts would allow him to pass as Finny if he put his clothes on. Gene also went out of his way to find a specific article of Finny’s wardrobe, the pink shirt. This is because the top is something only Finny would wear. If Gene wore the pink shirt, he felt that there would be no doubt that he would pass as Finny. After he put the shirt on, he declared to himself “I am Phineas.” (Knowles 62). Additionally, the persona of Finny overtook him, as seen in the quote “I even had his humorous expression on my face, his sharp, optimistic awareness” (Knowles 62) Gene also skipped dinner that night, an action that Finny would do. When Gene went to bed and awoke the next day, though, he had to stop lying to himself and realize that the real Finny had a broken leg and resided in the infirmary. The guilt Gene felt had returned, and he stated “I was confronted with myself, and what I had done to Phineas.” (Knowles 62).

Why does Gene’s “fear” disappear at the end of the chapter? What was the fear? How is it connected to what happened in the tree? (Reina)

On page 60, when Gene and Finny are climbing the tree to jump off, they plan to jump together. However, Finny loses his balance and falls to the ground. Gene claims his fear disappears. Gene says this because this is the first time he sees Finny make a physical mistake. The rest of his peers in their grade respect Finny and like him because he has a certain “shining” effect (Knowles, 40). Finny falling was the first time Gene sees him as something other than this perfect athlete.

Gene is extremely jealous of Finny and turns their whole friendship into a competition. Gene believe Finny thinks this way for awhile also, which makes Gene feel like he is someone to be jealous over and that he is not so bad for constantly competing with Finny since Finny does it too.“Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies...he wanted to share everything with me, especially his procession of D’s in every subject. That way he, the great athlete, would be ahead of me...the sweat of relief when nausea passed away; I felt better...The deadly rivalry was on both sides.” (Knowles, 53).

Gene compares himself with Finny in every instance in his mind; he is always trying to be better than him. “I was more and more certainly becoming the best student in schooll Phineas was without question becoming the best athlete...But while he was a very poor student I was a pretty good athlete and when everything was thrown into the scales, they would in the end tilt definitely toward me.” (Knowles, 55) By seeing Finny lose balance and fall, and Gene remaining in contact with the branch, he believes he is inferior and no longer is in fear of being worse than Finny.