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.
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ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with Magnus that the Devon River has involved great sugres of emotion throughout the novel, I believe that the Naaguamsett, the lower river, is also a crucual symbol in the story. The Devon represents the boys' many adventures from the Summer Session, as Gene describes in chapter six when he contrasts the two water ways. "It was nothing like the fresh-water Devon above the dam where we'd had so much fun, all the summer. The Devon's course was determined by some familiar hills a little inland; it rose among highland farms and forests which we knew, passed at the end of its course through the school grounds, and then threw itself with little spectacle over a small waterfall beside the diving dam, and into the turbid Naguamsett." (Knowles 76). The author carefully characterizes the Devon as a familar location that is known well to Gene, while the other river sounds wild and strange, one that is rarely used. The Devon river is a clear representation of life during the Summer Session, with its carefree fun. The Naguamsett is the foreshadowing of the dangerous turn of events that shall come with the new Winter Session during the War. These two rivers sit side by side along the campus, displaying the school as a fine line between two different paths, one of memories and peace, the other of a new, war scarred world full of boys that will have to grow up too soon.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about how the Devon River washes away worries and memories, but it also reminds him of bad memories, like when Finny shattered his leg. The Devon River reminds Gene about the bad thing he did to Finny but when he jumps into the river, it washes away his fears and worries. This is becasue whenever Gene and Finny jumped into the water together, they felt the same, on the same level. They both were washing away their fears and memories, but before jumping, they both have thoughts going around in their heads and they both had fears. This is the only time where Gene and Finny feel the same and on the same level. Other times, Gene is better at academics and Finny is better at athletics and soicializing. They are always competing, but now their goal is the same. To jump into the river and forget about the competing. The Devon River is a clear representation of life during the summer seccion and Gene and Finny's relationship.
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