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.
I agree with you. Finny has thoroughly convinced himself that the war is conspiracy, because he does not want to face the fact that all these troublesome events are happening at the same time, as you mentioned above. When the boys are at the winter carnival, Gene notices how different their lives are from the rest of the war-stricken world. "it was this liberation we had torn from the gray encroachments of 1943, the escape we had concocted, this afternoon of momentary, illusory, special and separate peace." (Knowles 137). This is just what Finny wanted, and the reason he orchestrated the Winter Carnival. When Leper's telegraph arrives, it brings Finny back into the harsh reality, and reminds him that he does not have control over Devon, as he once did.
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