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 ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there” (204). (Alex S)

Throughout the book Gene has this sort of competition with Finny and when Finny dies Gene has lost his competitor. Gene says, “I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his families strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston.

This funeral is thought out to be Genes funeral as well, Gene’s competitive side of him as been lost. When your enemy dies you don't have anything to do, Gene always wanted to match Finny but lost this fight factor in him, so when Finny dies this key part of Gene also dies. This competition is the war that he fights at devon, when Finny dies the war between them is over before he has the go to the real “war”

Assignment #12: 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? (Sydonie)

In this part, Gene's "enemy" is Finny. From the beginning of the book, Gene never fully trusted him, or thought of him, as a true friend. He was always a rival or someone he just had to surpass/ be better than. A clear example of this is when Gene admits to Finny that he deliberately moved the branch so that he would fall. "I deliberately jounced the limb so you would fall off" (Knowles 70) Gene says, practically admitting at the moment he despised him. When he says "I killed my enemy there" he means that he killed Finny at the Devon school. This is contradictory because Finny and Gene had just become friends and after Finny's death, Gene thought of him as so much of a friend he was like a part of himself. Gene's war was his constantly changing, complicated, friendship with Finny. His entire Devon school experience felt like a war to him. After Finny dies in A Separate Peace a sense of peace is lost, but also some sort of peace is gained, one impactful enough to end an emotional war.

Assignment #12: 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). (Quinn)

During Mr. Hadley’s conversation, he brings up some essential points of being a man. He implies a lot in his discussion with the boys about what it’s like to be a man. Before the boys graduated, Devon rented out their Common quadrangle to the military for a parachute riggers’ school. After Mr. Hadley finds out that men are the ones at the school he says, “I can’t imagine any man in my time settling for duty on a sewing machine. I can’t picture that at all”(Knowles 198). After he continues with “But then times change, and wars change. But men don’t change, do they?”(Knowles 198). The two main subtleties in the quote are when he says “in my time” and “men don’t change.” What is subtle about what he is saying is that he believes that men shouldn't be settling for not fighting in combat and should be like the men of the past and that his definition of being a man shouldn't change through all of the generations. Mr. Hadley is not very fond of the boys’ decisions and believes they should in enlist in the G.I.’s because they would be serving in combat like real men. His comments make the boys feel bad about their decision to either enlist in the Coast Guard or wait for the draft, and they feel like lesser men, but they realize that they are smarter because they have seen what happened to Leper. When Brinker says, “the Coast Guard does some very rough stuff” (Knowles 199) he is justifying the Coast Guard’s involvement in the war as an attempt to make his dad feel better about his decision. After what Brinker says to his father (Mr. Hadley) it is clear that he does not worry about the boys coming back dead or damaged, but he does worry about them being ashamed that they didn’t serve on the frontlines with “some real shooting going on”(Knowles 199). Mr. Hadley believes that real men are required to serve on the frontlines and that the boys are wrong to enlist in the Coast Guard or wait for the draft.

Assignment #12: 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) (Mike)

In the final chapter of A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, Gene thinks about Finny “escaping” the war meaning that he was too brave and cheering to be angry about it. After a tough conversation with Brinker’s dad about enlisting to the war, Gene reflects on Finny’s influence on his own life and comes to the realization that Finny actually escaped the war. Finny had always been a super lively person who seemed to never be upset about anything. Even after hearing about his best friend completely ruining his career, Finny still maintained his happy persona. Because of this, Gene says that his happiness made Finny escape from the war. “‘He possessed an extra vigor, a heightened confidence in himself, a serene capacity for affection which saved him. Nothing as he was growing up at home, nothing at Devon, nothing even about the war had broken his harmonious and natural unity’”(Knowles 203). Although Finny showed less of his joyful self towards the end of his life, Gene always remembered him for that. Knowles writes this to show that personality can mean a lot, and for Finny his personality was like his coping mechanism and he had tons of things pushing against him, but still managed to get by. Finny didn’t escape from war because of death, but by living his life with positivity and almost never looking at the bad side of life.

Assignment 11: 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." (Cordelia)

This last paragraph is significant because it demonstrates Gene’s blurred sense of identity. After the news of Finny’s death Gene does not cry, instead he feels a cold chill. Dry-eyed even at Finny’s funeral, Gene reflects on an inescapable feeling, “that [Finny’s funeral] was [his] own funeral, and [one] does not cry in that case” (Knowles, 194). As seen earlier in A Separate Peace Gene blurs his identity with Finny’s when he vows to become “part of Phineas” through sports. Gene also seeks comfort through Finny’s identity as seen when he wears Finny’s pink shirt “I was Phineas...I had no idea why this gave me such intense relief...that I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character again” (Knowles, 62). Gene’s sense of comfort while wearing Finny’s clothes may symbolize his desire to become like Finny -- happy and guilt free. And when Finny dies, a part of Gene dies along with him. This passage shows Gene’s tendency to blur his own identity to escape his pain.

Assignment #11: 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." (Alisa)

FIRST, BEFORE THIS BLOG POST STARTS LET'S TAKE A MOMENT OF SILENCE TO HONOR PHINEAS. MAY HE REST IN PEACE.

The significance of the last paragraph is Gene finally realizes how close his relationship with Finny is and how in a way they existed as one entity at Devon. When Gene drops off Finny’s stuff at the infirmary, Finny tells Gene how he believes that Gene’s motives of jouncing the branch weren’t to hurt him but rather it was an impulse. Even though Gene and Finny both knew that Gene was the cause of Finny’s injury, Finny never wanted to think that Gene could do such a bad thing. Finny always trusted Gene even when Gene didn’t trust himself. The trust that Finny had towards Gene is what made him never really realizes how much he relied on him. When Finny is being carried away after falling on the stairs Gene realizes that “Phineas had thought of [Gene] as an extension of himself “ (Knowles 180). Throughout the beginning of the book, it seems that Gene is very reliant on Finny but towards the end, the tables turn.  Once Finny becomes injured he becomes reliant on Gene because he thinks he will be left by someone so capable like Gene. When Gene is walking home from sneaking out to the infirmary he has realized how much of himself wouldn’t exist without Finny and because of that, he feels like he is a ghost. He never truly embraced himself he just followed Finny so in that sense, at Devon Finny and Gene were like the same person. Until Finny got injured and Gene couldn’t be reliant on him, Gene’s true colors never showed to the other students at Devon.

Do you think that part of Gene still doesn’t regret jouncing the branch?

Assignment 11, question #3: Explain what Gene means when he says, "Phineas, you wouldn't be any good in the war, even if nothing had happened to your leg." Do you think this is true? Why? (Emma).

Gene tells Finny he “wouldn’t be any good in the war” even without his injury to make him feel better about his inability to fight. Since the first accident, Finny has been bitter about his injury and his inability to help in combat. He masks this hatred for his injury and it does not rise again until his second fall. When Finny begins ranting to Gene about his injury taking away his ability to go to war, Gene lies to Finny and says even without his injured leg he would be bad in the war. Gene says this to Finny to protect him from always resenting his injury and to help Finny make peace with his inability to fight. After Gene tells Finny about how much of a mess he would make out of the war Finny begins crying, “he was crying but trying to control himself. ‘It was just some kind of blind impulse you had in the tree there, you didn’t know what you were doing” (Knowles 191). Finny can see hard Gene is trying to make up for everything he took away from Finny the night in the tree. Finny and Gene hadn’t even talked about the incident because it was plainly too painful for both of them to relive that night. After Finny sees how hard Gene is trying to make up for his mistake, he finally heals and makes peace with Gene.

Assignment 11: If Finny had survived his operation, do you think Gene and Finny could remain friends? Or do you think the friendship at this point is too broken? Make sure to include support from the text in your answer.(Sophia)

If Finny had survived the surgery to repair his leg, his and Gene’s friendship would not survive. The two friends have been lying to themselves and each other for the sake of preserving their friendship, but there comes a point where it isn’t healthy anymore. Finny and Gene have become so used to lying that they have started to live their lives as a lie. When Gene went to drop off Finny’s things in his room, Gene said, “...I tried to tell you when I came to Boston that time-”(Knowles 189) to this, Finny replied, “I know, I remember that”(Knowles 189). For the majority of the novel, Finny had been acting like he didn’t know what happened in the tree, but this quote shows that in reality, he did. Finny had been lying to himself and everybody who would ask, just to keep his and Gene's friendship alive, but now that the truth has been told, the friendship is over.

Explore Brinker’s role in the trial and his motivation. Why does he does he orchestrate the trial? (Durfee)

Brinker holds this trial because he wants to get a confession out of Gene. After school hours, Brinker and some of his friend take Finny and Gene to the school’s assembly room. There are more people in the room, and Brinker begins to investigate what happened with Finny falling out of the tree. Brinker begins to question Gene and Finny, and when Gene asks him what he’d doing he says he is “investigating Finny’s accident.” (Knowles 168). When Brinker goes on to ask Finny about Gene’s position when the accident occured, Finny says “I remember seeing [Gene] standing on the bank.” (Knowles 171). Finny knows why Brinker is holding this trial too, and he doesn't want Brinker to find out, so he goes along with the lie that Gene said. Brinker tries to hold a trial to get a confession from Gene that he made Finny fall off the tree, but Finny goes along with Gene to protect his reputation.

assignment 10:Discuss the irony of the dialogue between Finny and Gene on the second half of page 155.(henry)

Gene and Finny have a snowball fight with a couple of friends at the start or chapter 11. Towards the end everyone turns on Finny and fires the rest of their snowballs at him ending the "war". A couple of hours later Gene was concerned and basically told Finny he shouldn't be getting onto snowball fights especially with his leg. Finny tells Gene that he was told to be very careful with the leg, he then says, "Isn't the bone supposed to be stronger when it grows together over a place where it's been broken?(knowles 155). This line by finny basically means that once his leg is good again he will be back stronger and better than ever. Finny might even have a chance of returning to sports. This is also a symbol of Finny's pride, he never gives up. He went to have fun even though his leg wasn't back to 100p percent.

Assignment 10: 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? (Grace)

In the book A Separate Peace, the snowball fight in chapter 11 mirrors the trial that is held later in the chapter. In this chapter, Gene has just come back from visiting Leper and is looking for Finny when he finds him and other students having a snowball fight. At first, Gene stands at the edge of the field and watches but he soon gets sucked into the game. This is a lot like how at the beginning of the trial Gene doesn't want any part of it, but he soon finds himself making comments to defend himself. The snowball fight starts with two teams fighting against each other, but soon the teams start to break down. Gene recalls Finny switching teams many times, and not knowing who was fighting against who. Gene said “Loyalties became hopelessly entangled. No one was going to win or lose after all.” (Knowles 154) This is similar to how in the trial there is no one winner. The snowball fight ends with everyone turning on Finny and pelting him with snowballs, and by the end of the trial, the sides are too mixed up for either one to win and Finny storms out after saying he “just doesn't care”. In the trial, Finny is the one who is affected badly.   

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.(Ja’Niya)

Knowles had started foreshadowing Finny’s fall down the stairs and most likely his death since the beginning of the book. The first important events were in the introduction of Gene’s revisit to Devon and how him walking into the First Academy Building.  Gene was walking into the building and he begins to talk about these marble stairs, “..I reached a marble foyer and stopped at the foot of a long white marble flight of stairs….The marble must be unusually hard… with all my thoughts about these stairs, this exceptional hardness had not occurred to me. It was surprising I had overlooked that, that crucial fact.”  He was referring back to the exact steps that Finny would later fall down and how the must have been extremely hard to either kill or seriously injured Finny. The second important event doesn’t seem that important and probably was overlooked. Before the trial begins Brinker asks everyone to pray and Gene says, “If Brinker had said “Let us pray” and I had said, “Go to hell” everything might have been saved”(Knowles 167). That wouldn’t really put a lot of fear and worry in the reader’s mind because it would be seen as Brinker talking about Leper and not the incident. But if it was read over and the reader examines how the boys are sitting Gene and Finny together facing Brinker it would bring worry into the reader’s head. Knowles used sneaky little events to build up the climax of Finny’s fall even from the beginning of the book.

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? (Madison)

Leper was written off as crazy in the service which highlights the irony in his statement “always were a savage underneath” aimed at Gene because that’s how the military viewed Leper. Leper is explaining the weight of a section 8 discharge to Gene when he says, “the kind of expression you’ve got on your face, like you were looking at someone with their nose blown off but don’t want them to know you’re disgusted.” (Knowles 144) Leper says this before he reveals that he knows Gene pushed Finny off of the branch on purpose. He is talking to directly to Gene, “the kind of expression you’ve got on your face,” referring to the look of disgust on Gene’s face. Leper is hinting at Gene’s complete apathy to his situation, mostly due to the fact that Gene is scared about what his experience with the war will be like. Gene is also afraid of Leper and how much he realized while he was in the army. Leper contacted Gene when he was first sent home from the army because he needed Gene to be the good friend that Leper knew him to be, and to be there to support him while he’s dealing with his section 8 discharge. Instead, Gene turns his back on his friend because it’s too much for him to handle so he runs away from his problems for a second time. Thus proving that he “always [was] a savage underneath” because he’s too focused on himself to stop and help out the people around him who are depending on him.

Assignment #9 What causes Gene to attack Leper? The answer needs to involve a literal and figurative exploration of what occurs here (middle 145). (Eric)

Gene attacks Leper because Gene feels that Leper stepped out of line during their conversation. Prior to when Gene lunged at Leper, Leper was talking about how Gene is “savage underneath” (Knowles 145). Just before Gene goes after Leper, Leper has a monologue about Gene and his recent behavior. He says, “A swell guy, except when the chips were down. You always were a savage underneath. I always knew that only I never admitted it” (Knowles 145). When Leper says this he was building up to what he really wanted to say to Gene all along. Leper says, “like that time you knocked Finny out of the tree… Like that time you crippled him for life” (Knowles 145). When Leper says this it sends Gene springing at him and Gene pushes and kicks Lepers chair over. As shown earlier in the book Finny falling from the tree is a very sensitive topic. Especially when Leper says, “Like that time you crippled him for life” (Knowles 145). When Leper says this it sets off a number of triggers for Gene because Gene knows that it was his fault, and he knows that he is a bad friend. An example of this is when Gene is being tried in the butt room by Brinker and his friends on pages 88 to 102. Earlier in the reading Leper explains how people think he is crazy and how he almost got a section eight discharge, which essentially means that the person being let go is a “psycho”. The Leper in this chapter is a changed leper than the one the readers know from Devon. The quiet Leper that loves nature and is very passive. In conclusion, Gene attacks leper because of the sensitive things he said that hurt Gene.

Assignment #9 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). (Tom)

Gene and Leper’s definitions of escape are two separate things. After Gene gets a telegram from Leper saying that he is in trouble and needs help. Gene comes to “the Chrismas location” (Knowles 137) and meets with Leper. After a little bit of talking, the point is brought up that in Leper’s telegram, he said he “escaped”. In Leper’s mind, escaping from the army is deserting, just put in different words. Gene, on the other hand, is not really sure what to make of how Leper describes his desertion of the Army. “The most logical thing a soldier escapes is from danger, death, the enemy. Since Leper hadn’t been overseas the enemy must have been in this country. And the only enemies in this country would be spies. Leper had escaped from spies” (Knowles 140). Here, it is clear that Gene is denying the fact that Leper deserted, maybe from the stories created in the butt room, maybe because Gene has too much faith in Leper.

Assignment #8: Why does Finny organize the Winter Carnival? Why is this significant? What is the impact and symbolism of the Winter Carnival? (Sydonie)

Finny organizes the Winter Carnival to lift everyone else's spirits up. Before Finny gets the idea to have a Winter Carnival at Devon, there is a large paragraph about how terrible Saturday afternoons are in the winter. In the paragraph there is lots of talk about how gray everything seems to be and how every "sprig of vitality [is] snapped"(Knowles, 128). Due to this all-time low mood, Finny, being the confident, perky person he is, decides to host The Devon Winter Carnival. On page 128, it reads "Only Phineas failed to see what was so depressing. Just as there was no war in his philosophy, there was also no dreary weather."(Knowles, 128). Unlike everyone else, who seems to be in a bad mood, Finny is inspired and this inspiration easily spreads to the people around him, "[Gene] gave [Finny] a wintry smile."(Knowles, 129). Later on that page, it says that Finny's idea ended up happening, meaning that Finny's Winter Festival has already started making an impact on people. Finny is happy, even on gray days and this is part of the reason why he organizes the Winter Carnival, to boost the moods of the people around him.

Assignment #8: Why does Finny organize the Winter Carnival? Why is this significant? What is the impact and symbolism of the Winter Carnival?(Alex S)

Finny is starting to be more grateful for what he has because after his injury his ability to play sports was taken away from him which is why he is making the Winter Carnival. This made Finny much more aware of what he has and what you can easily not have and take for granted. Finny decides to make this Winter Carnival to simply celebrate the season of Winter which for some people could be their last if they choose to go to war. When Finny is asked why he is choosing to have this carnival he says: “ “Winter!” He gazed out of his window at the vacant sky and seeping ground” (Knowles 130). Finny is saying how this Winter Carnival is going to celebrate winter and is trying to tell everyone that enjoy these moments like Winter because they will go away, It's almost like nothing gold can stay. The significance of the festival is what the war means to the boys at Devon, they may not be able to enjoy and relaxed winter like the one they are experiencing again and Finny by making this simple carnival is bring awareness to that.

Assignment #8: 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"? (Polcari)

During the winter carnival, Gene and the other boys at Devon were enjoying a day of fun separate from the reality of wartime and that was shattered when Gene received Leper's telegram. In the telegram, he says to Gene, "I HAVE ESCAPED AND NEED HELP. I AM AT CHRISTMAS LOCATION. YOU UNDERSTAND... MY SAFETY DEPENDS ON YOU COMING AT ONCE"(137). The timing was significant because the boys were in a "separate peace" moment were they were absent-minded of war and the reality of wartime. When Leper sends the telegram it shocks Gene of the truth of war. Gene will now possibly try his best to get out of his enlistment after Leper's warning of having to have to escape the army and the war.

Assignment #8: Question 4 Re-read the last paragraph on the bottom of 136 and on to 137. Paraphrase what Gene is saying and interpret the usage of “separate peace.” What is a “separate peace”? Why is included here? What is it’s significance?

In Chapter 9 of A Separate Peace, Gene mentions how he and his friends at Devon have escaped from the darkness of war, and live in their own safe place. Earlier in the chapter, Finny had the idea of creating a Winter Carnival to celebrate winter. At first, his friends are a little confused, but end up following along anyway. Finny ends up having a lot of fun with hosting his dream of an olympics type event. This gives Gene his thought about being in a little safe bubble from the rest of the world, “the escape we had concocted, this afternoon of momentary illusory, special and separate peace”(Knowles 137). This text is important because it shows that even though the war is going on and people are suffering, almost everything(except for the maids being missing that Finny is constantly complaining about) is the same. Separate peace means that there is some form of brutal violence going on and that there is some place where it is all safe. The kids at Devon don’t really notice this and take advantage of it. In the last lines of the book, this is proven as Leper explains how he “escaped” from the war, meaning he most likely didn’t realize how bad the war was and couldn’t handle the pressure. Separate peace is included in this book to prove that people need to be grateful for what they have, because in the rest of the world, things can be much worse.

Explore the dynamics and undertones of Finny and Gene’s first conversations upon his return. Does it feel “realistic” to you? Why or why not? (Sophia)

The undertones of Finny and Gene’s first conversation upon Finny’s arrival are, “avoiding reality”. The two friends are trying hard to ignore the reason why Finny wasn’t at school for the Fall Session, and instead, are talking about clothing choice and how Finny should never have left Gene so he wouldn’t have to dress himself. When Finny and Gene first see each other, Finny exclaims, “Where did you get those clothes?”(Knowles 103). Finny didn’t waste any time before saying this quote because he didn’t want to give time to a possible other conversation. Their first conversation in a way is quite similar to the phone conversation the two friends had, right at the beginning of the fall session. The two conversations are similar because during both, the two friends are ignoring reality and the trauma their friendship has recently experienced.

Assignment #7: 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? (Alisa)

The significance of Gene and Finny’s training is that Gene has finally accepted to let Finny live vicariously through him (athletic wise). The reason why Gene finally lets Finny train him is that he has gained confidence in his abilities and doesn’t see Finny as a “threat” and because he wants to be there for Finny since he was the cause of his Finny’s sports-preventing injury. Gene shows his guilt towards injuring Finny when he thought about how “[Finny] had seemed to drift along with no effort at all...But the thought was there before me that [Finny] would never walk like that again” (Knowles 111). Gene isn’t just being trained by Finny to satisfy his own guilt but he also starts to genuinely find his passion for sports again. Throughout chapter eight Finny also tries to keep Gene close and away from enlisting in the war in two ways. The first way is Finny setting Gene’s training goal as participating in the 1944 Olympics (something that Finny had always aimed for). Finny could have given this goal to Gene so he has something to work towards other than becoming a soldier. This goal also allows Finny to have some way to participate in athletics and reach for his own past Olympic goal. *Finny reminds me of a parent in the classic situation where the parent wants the child to complete a goal that they were never able to complete.* The second way Finny tries to prevent Gene from enlisting is by convincing himself and Gene that the war is all made up. Finny says to Gene “The fat old men who don’t want us crowding them out of the jobs. They’ve made it all up” (Knowles 115). Throughout the chapter, Finny brings up how the war is all fake in hopes to prevent Gene from wanting to enlist. They now have a different kind of dependency on each other than from the beginning of the book.

In some ways, Gene’s guilt and a boost in confidence, as well as Finny’s fear of Gene enlisting in the war, has further tightened their relationship.

*  = Sorry Ms. Tarshis for the 1st person, I just had to include my thought

Why do you think that Finny shares his deeper feelings and struggles with Gene? Why do you think Gene doesn’t?

Assignment 7 : 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? (see 108-116)(Cordelia

Finny feels that World War II is a lie told by “old fat men” to keep young people in their place. Finny has returned to Devon, and seems changed. He has lied to himself about the war. His ideas around it have evolved from before and after his fall. Now the war is virtually non-existent to him. Finny tries to convince Gene of this telling him that “this whole war story is… A medicinal drug” (Knowles, 115). Gene is skeptical of this, wondering why Finny would be in on such a secret, prompting Finny to bitterally admit “because I’ve suffered” (Knowles, 116).  This is a new part of Finny’s character that surprises both Finny and Gene. Like Finny’s momentary bitterness, his view of the war is not consistent with his easygoing, energetic character. Finny has suffered, and that suffering has made him more vulnerable. Both Finny and Gene have lied to themselves. And in Finny’s case it was to help him heal mentally and putting the war behind him was part of his healing.

Assignment #7. question 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? (Emma)

The significance of Gene and Finny’s training reveals their ability to benefit each other even after their complicated history. Throughout the book, Finny and Gene have been each other's best friend but always seeming to hurt the other, intentionally or unintentionally. Finny has hindered Gene because Gene’s self-image is strongly dependent on Finny. Finny unknowingly hurts Gene in this way because Gene constantly devalues himself when around Finny. Gene physically hurt Finny by shaking the branch to cause him to fall and therefore taking away his “good” and a part of him. When Finny and Gene finally put the past behind them, they learn to help each other and benefit themselves by benefiting one and other. Gene tutors Finny and helps him realize his full academic ability when before he did not think he could ever surpass a C. Finny helps Gene finally realize his full potential, “Then, for no reason at all, I felt magnificent… the aches and exhaustion were all imagined, created from nothing in order to keep me truly exerting myself” (Knowles 120). Finny knew Gene's potential and saw it in him before Gene allowed himself to see it. Through this process, Finny healed a little and helped see that even if he couldn’t help his teammates on the field, he could help them by training and in other ways. This relates to their conversations about the war because they decided to believe in something besides the war, and put themselves first. Finny strongly believes that the war is just a made up scheme by the “fat men” to keep people from recognizing their true potential. Although Gene doesn’t believe this entirely, he follows along and eventually finds himself giving in to the idea at times. Finny has always disregarded the power of authority. Anywhere from the war to headmasters and so on. By allowing himself to be set free from the oppression of authoritative figures he finds his full capacity and even helps others find theirs. Finny and Gene finally find their stride by helping each other reach their full abilities and strengthening their own friendship.

In the first part of the reading, Brinker presses Gene about Finny and what happened. Explore and explain the significance of their conversation BEFORE the Butt Room. Be sure to explore the significance of the syntax of “But the truth will out” (88).(Randall)

  In the first part of the reading, Brinker presses Gene about Finny and what happened. Explore and explain the significance of their conversation BEFORE the Butt Room. Be sure to explore the significance of the syntax of “But the truth will out” (88).

At the start of the chapter Gene and Brinker have a little conversation. Brinker talks to Gene and tells him that he picked finny to be his roomate because he knew that Finny would be out for the fall due to his injury. In Gene's defense he says it wasn't true because he could have planned something like this in advance. Brinker then accuses Gene of hurting finny but Gene quickly brushes it off. Suddenly without control Gene says, "but the truth will out"(88). Then Brinker says , (in our democracy even fighting for it's life the truth will out"(88). What brinker means by this is no matter how hard Gene tries to hide the truth it's gonna get out. Gene feels guilty about what happend to Finny so he quickly changed the topic by going to the smoke room.

How does Gene feel about war and enlisting in this reading (look closely at pages 100-102)? Rohan

Gene feels slightly reluctant, but mostly ready and willing to enlist to fight in the war. After they are done clearing the railroad tracks, Brinker states “Im giving it up, I'm going to enlist. Tomorrow.” (Knowles 100). Brinker’s statement sparks an idea in Gene’s mind, and he later in the book starts thinking about enlisting. After Brinker said he wanted to enlist, Gene goes on to think “I yearned to take military shears to it, snap!” (Knowles 100) as he compares his life to a colourful weave. Gene feels like he wants to enlist in the war, and he feels like going to war would take his mind off his problems, like Finny and Devon. He later states that “There was always something deadly lurking is anything I wanted” (Knowles 101), and he knows that the war is going to be tough, and even deadly but he still wants to go. He is willing to take this risk of war to take his mind off all the things that are happening around him, and he just wants a simpler path to go down.

How does Gene feel about war and enlisting in this reading (look closely at pages 100-102)?(Ja'Niya)

Gene kind of wanted to enlist into the war but was waiting for somebody to do it before him. As Brinker, Leper, and Gene were talking Brinker decides to give up and tell them that he is going to enlist into the war. Gene then thinks to himself, “I felt the when he said it… I think i have been waiting for a long time for someone to say this so that I could entertain these decisive words myself”(Knowles 100). He thought it would be cool to just give up on everything he had been working for and joined the army even if he could die. He felt that it would be nice to go away from the stressful but amazing life that he was working for and just join the war and give up. Also how he expected things to have a bad side to it, and that he wouldn’t be wrong about it in the war like how he was with Finny. “...deadly lurking in anything I wanted, anything I loved. And if it wasn’t there, as for example with Phineas, then I put it there myself(Knowles 101). Overall, Gene has a positive feeling about enlisting into the war because he feels that he would like having deadly things lurking around him and being able to be relieved by just throwing away all the stress he has had from trying to get a perfect life.

Assignment #5 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). (Eric)

In the final sentence of the sixth chapter, Gene explores his relationship with

Finny. On page eighty-four and eighty-five Gene talks on the phone to Finny about what he is doing for Fall sports. When Gene tells Finny that he wants to be the assistant crew manager Phineas acts surprised and disappointed in Gene. Finally, Finny conveys his thoughts and says, “Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me” (Knowles 85). Since Gene knew that taking sports away from Finny was his fault and that he had caused so much damage to a person who had such a promising future he knew that he couldn’t be selfish. Finny views sports as an “absolute good” and Finny was an all-around talent in the athletics department. Over the past chapters, readers have learned what Finny is especially good at being an amazing athlete and being a good friend. Now that sports are done for Finny he has to be a good friend, and Gene is trying to match Finny and be equally as good a friend in this moment. One of the main themes that are displayed in this book is guilt especially with Gene, and in this instant, Gene is feeling so much guilt as well as wanting to be a good friend that he knows he has to play sports for Finny. When Gene says, “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” (Knowles 85). When Gene says, “my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas” it means that he wants to fill the roles that Finn can’t anymore, and that he wants to make an even bigger impact in Finny’s life. A way to visualize this quote is to imagine that Finny has an amputated leg, and what Gene is doing is filling its place by becoming Finny’s leg and doing his job for him. In conclusion when Gene says, “my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas” it means that he wants to fill the spot of everything Finny has lost.   

Assignment # 6: 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. (Grace)

In A Separate Peace, Leper is a calm and peaceful boy that Gene is friends with at Devon. He is very quiet and timid. This is first shown at the beginning of the book when Leper refuses to jump off of the tree and into the river. In chapter 7, Gene and other Devon students help shovel snow off of train tracks for payment. On his way to the train station, Gene runs into Leper, who is skiing. Gene asks why he isn’t going fast down a hill and Leper replies “You never get to see the trees or anything. Oh you see a lot of trees shoot by, but you never get to really look at trees, at a tree. I just like to go along and see what I’m passing and enjoy myself.” (Knowles 95) While skiing, Leper says he found a beaver dam. When he explains this to Brinker and Gene, Brinker says “That’s the kind of a place I’m in with a world war going on. A school for photographers of beaver dams.” (Knowles 99) Leper is in his own world and follows his own guide of rules, similar to Finny who also has his own rules, but in a calmer way. He is different from the other boys like Brinker and Gene who always have their minds on the war. Leper is an example of a separate peace from the war.

1.)   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? (Tom)

When Gene and Quackenbush have their fight, Gene is set off by the fact that Quackenbush knows nothing of the pain that Gene went through in the summer. In the book, Gene has just started his fourth and final year at Devon. It is fall and Gene finds himself in need of a sport, so he decides to try out for the assistant manager for the crew team. When he tries out for the job, Gene and the manager, Cliff Quackenbush, get into a fistfight. What Gene gets set off by is the fact that Quackenbush is being ignorant towards Gene. What pushes Gene over the edge is when Quackenbush says “Listen you maimed son of a bitch…” (Knowles 79). Gene reacts to this by punching Quackenbush because he referenced Gene as being “maimed” or in Gene’s mind, as Finny.

Assignment #5: Why does Quackenbush use the word “maimed”? Explore the significance and connotation. (Madison)

Quackenbush uses the word “maimed” as an insult in hopes of aggravating Gene during their argument. Gene is aware that most people who sign up for the position that he chose often have some sort of physical disability holding them back from participating in the sport. Gene notes, “Quackenbush was studying [him] to see if he could detect a limp” (Knowles 77).  The word “maimed” refers to someone who has been wounded or injured so that part of their body is permanently damaged. Quackenbush uses the term because he wants to tick off Gene further, yet what he doesn’t know is that Gene had actually injured Finny so that part of his body was permanently damaged. Quackenbush’s comment causes Gene to leap to his friend’s defense instead of angering Gene directly. However, Gene later reflects that “it felt as though [he] had done it for [himself]” (Knowles 80). Gene gets defensive over Quackenbush’s use of the term “maimed” as an insult because he knows that some people, including Finny, are actually maimed and it’s entirely inappropriate to use it as an insult. Unfortunately, his motivation to defend the term’s use as an insult is more based upon his own feeling of needing to get back in Finny’s good graces because he still feels guilty. Gene’s reaction is significant because he still feels extremely guilty about what he did to Finny. He is more concerned about his own relationship with Finny than he is about the people who the term affects because he hopes that a multitude of right things will cancel out the huge mistake he made with Finny.

Assignment #4 Briefly explain Gene’s visit to the infirmary. How does Finny act? Why? Does this feel “realistic”? How does Gene’s visit impact Finny? (Quinn)

Gene went to visit Finny in the infirmary, and finny was acting differently than usual. The visit feels realistic because gene and finny both seem different and the incident will have a lot of impact on their lives. The doctor says to gene, "Sports are finished. As a friend, I think you ought to help him face that and accept it"(63). Being done for good is a thought in every young athlete's mind when they get hurt, but some refuse to accept it. This is why Finny is acting strange, it is not only because he is on a drug, it is that he is refusing to accept his fate. Gene has one main felling while he is there in the infirmary, and that is guilt. He is guilty because he thinks he caused finny his life in athletics and will live with that guilt for the rest of his life after visiting him.

Assignment #4: Briefly explain Gene’s visit to the infirmary. How does Finny act? Why? Does this feel “realistic”? How does Gene’s visit impact Finny? (Sydonie)

Gene's visit to the infirmary leaves him on edge, this feels realistic because everyone can relate to the feeling of not being able to say something they know they should. After falling from the tree, Finny shatters his leg. People keep talking to Gene about Finny's injury but nobody suspects him. After a while, Dr. Stanpole tells Gene that Finny is finally ready for visitors and that he will never be able to play sports again. Hearing this, Gene bursts into tears but the doctor says he has to be tough for Finny's sake. When Gene goes in to see Finny, rather than telling his version of the events, he asks Finny what he remembers before he fell. In short, Finny says he has the notion that it was Gene's fault but then shakes away the idea saying it would be ridiculous. Gene decides to tell Finny what happened but just at that moment Dr. Stanpole comes in and rushes him out. In this scene, Finny acts very calm, he doesn't yell at Gene or himself. He just accepts the way things are. For instance, when Gene thinks Finny was to pull Gene down with him, "I flinched violently away from him. '“To drag me down too!” [Finny] kept looking vaguely over my face. “To get hold of you, so I wouldn’t fall off.”' Here when Finny could have been suspicious or angry, he feels absolutely nothing towards this. This scene is realistic in the way that Ginny was able to lie but unrealistic in the way a person would react right after their leg was shattered and their athletic career was ruined.

Assignment: #4 What is Guilt? Do we all have it? Is it part of being human? Can Someone live guilt free? (Alex Sandell)

Guilt is a main theme in A Separate Peace, it is what you feel when you make mistakes and everybody makes mistakes. In this scenario Gene made a mistake when he made Finny fall off the tree and shatter his leg. Gene feels so bad about what he did to Finny because he took away his ability to play sports, sports plays such an important role in Finny’s life and now is to never play them again. “...then if it isn’t amputated and the bones are still there, then it must come back the way it was, why wouldn't it? Of course it will” (Knowles 63). Gene realizes in this passage what he really did and the impact that one simple action can have. Guilt is indirectly unavoidable in someone's life. Guilt comes from a wrongdoing and wanting nothing more than to have a second chance to make something right. Every human will make a mistake with different levels of impact but will cause guilt nonetheless. Gene feels guilty for Finny's injury and how his actions can change someone's life drastically.

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

Guilt is this feeling that you know you did something wrong and you’re hiding it. Everybody will experience guilt at some point in time because its part of life and holds things together. In Chapter 5 of A Separate Peace, Gene is faced with guilt because he forced Finny to fall off of the tree that the two were going to jump off of together. This resulted in Finny never being able to play sports again, which was his favorite thing to do. At first, Gene doesn’t really feel guilt, but when he is sitting around doing nothing, it comes to him, “That night I slept easily, and it was only on waking up that this illusion was gone, and I was confronted with myself, and what I had done to Finny.”(Knowles 62). Even outside the book, guilt is something everybody encounters and it is extremely hard when facing it. Gene knows that he pushed off Finny, and after Gene tells Finny, he feels terrible because Finny is heartbroken, even though it was the right thing to do. That is the way guilt works because it gives you the feeling of being sick, which lets you know when you have done something wrong. This is why guilt is good, because without it, people could be doing bad things and not feel the urge to fix it.

Assignment #3 : 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? (Alisa)

At the end of the chapter, Gene’s fear of Finny trying to sabotage him to be the head of class disappears. Throughout chapter four Gene speculates that all of Finny’s spontaneous activities and adventures are to prevent Gene from studying and becoming the head of their class. He thinks that Finny has a chance of being the head of the class because of his athletic abilities and that he (Gene) can only balance himself out with Finny through his academic abilities. When Finny asks if Gene wants to join him in watching Leper jump from the tree Gene decided to confront Finny about if he is trying to sabotage him. After Gene confronts Finny and realizes he never tried to hurt Gene’s academics he thinks“He had never been jealous of me for a second… I was not of the same quality as he” (Knowles 59). He realized that he and Finny were never in the same race and that instead, he was above Finny the whole time. Once Gene makes the connection that Finny was never against him he decides to go with him to the tree. Once they get there Finny decides that they should jump from the tree together. When they jump from the tree Finny doesn’t land very smoothly and this makes Gene feel better as this further proves how he thinks that he is better than Finny and that Gene has nothing to worry about.

Is there something that Gene fears more? What do you think makes Gene think so negatively of Finny?

Assignment #3; question 2: Re-read the last paragraph on page 48 (end of chapter 3). What happens here? Why is important? Why doesn’t Gene respond? What do you think holds him back? What is the “truth” he refers to at the very end of the quote? (Emma).

The significance of the last paragraph on page 48 is Gene's truth of not seeing Finny as his best friend, but always as his rival.  Throughout the book, we see that Gene is constantly comparing himself and his accomplishments to Finny. Gene has always had a fascination with Finny, from the way he can talk his way out of any situation to his ability to effortlessly play sports. Gene has always had a critical curiosity about his “best friend”. In chapter 4, Gene begins clearing speaking of his rivalry with Finny which we can later see is one-sided, “when everything was thrown into the scales they would, in the end, tilt definitely towards me” (Knowles 55). Gene constantly makes excuses for himself and turns Finny into a villain so he can have any feeling of self-worth. Gene has very low confidence and depends on Finny to make himself feel more accomplished. Even after Gene is given a true look into Finny’s blind innocents of not understanding, Gene finds a way to make himself feel worse, “there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he” (Knowles 59). Gene has always built a sense of competition against Finny which is why he could not bring himself to say that Finny was his best friend, because, in the end, Gene always knew that it would be more of a rivalry in his mind than a friendship.

(Assignment 3) On pages 52-54, how does Gene’s view of their relationship change? (Be sure to explain his usage of enmity). What does he think of it? How do you know this? Why does he feel this way? Do you think it is accurate? Why or why not? (Cordelia)

As Gene becomes obsessed with the jealousy and enmity between himself and Finny, his view of their relationship is hugely changed. After flunking his trigonometry test, Gene asks Finny if he would “mind” if he became valedictorian, Finny jokingly responds “I would kill myself out of jealous envy” (Knowles, 52). Prompting Gene’s misery, who regardes Finny’s response as the truth. Desperate for comfort, Gene tells himself  “... you and Phineas are even already. You are even in enmity. You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone” (Knowles, 53). This is the turning point for Gene in their relationship, where he concludes that Finny is deliberately trying to wreck his grades. Gene regardes them as enemies, each trying to be better than the other. Finny coldly tricking Gene to into wasting his time, and himself continuously striving to outdo Finny as to satisfy his own jealousy. Jealousy and envy plays an essential role in the novel A Separate Peace causing the narrator Gene to harm his friend; Finny.

Assignment #3: What is the significance of the incident at the swimming pool? What does the reveal about Finny and Gene and what does it add to our understanding of their relationship? (Sophia)

When Finny broke the school record for the 100-yard swim, he didn’t report it and didn’t want anybody to find out. Finny and Gene were just fooling around in the pool one day and Finny decided to try breaking the school record and was able to. When he broke the record, Gene narrates, “I had experienced a feeling that can also be described in one word-shock”(Knowles 45). Whether or not Gene wants to admit it, he is slightly (if not really) jealous of his best friend for having a natural talent in a sport that he has never even tried. This doesn’t mean that Gene isn’t proud of his friend, it just means that he can’t help but sometimes wanting to be like him. Gene isn’t good at sports like Finny is, and human beings tend to want what they don’t have. Finny is slightly embarrassed by having beat the record with close to no effort and zero practice and this is why he didn’t want anybody to find out. Finny is proud and embarrassed by his natural gift in sports.

Assignment #2: "Re-read Gene’s recognition of his use of sarcasm in the middle of page 29. In what ways has young Gene revealed himself to be weak and then to use sarcasm to mask this weakness?" (Rohan)

Gene uses sarcasm to make himself feel better because he thinks Finny is better than he is. After having tea with the Head Minister, Gene reflects on Finny’s actions by saying “He got away with everything because of the extraordinary person he was” (Knowles 28).  He thinks of Finny as this incredible person, and yet he wants to be more like him, like how he said earlier in the book that he envies him and his character. However, after the tea, Gene pokes fun at Finny by saying “You, Talk too much? How can you accuse me of accusing me of that.” (Knowles 29). After that, he stated that “Sarcasm [was] the protest for people who are weak.” (Knowles 29). He later realized that he was just using sarcasm to make himself feel better. Gene was trying to make fun of Finny in not too harsh of a way, but he wanted to make him feel like he had done something wrong, in this case, talk too much. He did this because he felt that Finny was better than him, so when he had done something wrong, Gene would point it out so he could feel like Finny wasn't as perfect as he thought.

Assignment #2 How does the invention of and the playing of Blitzball impact/influence the relationship between Finny and Gene? Be sure to provide two specific examples. (Grace)

In A Separate Peace, the game Blitzball symbolizes Finny's character and impacts his relationship with Gene. In Chapter 3, Finny creates his game and names it Blitzball after the word blitzkrieg. In this game, Finny changes the rules constantly to give himself the advantage. Because of this, no one was as good at the game as him. Earlier in the chapter, Gene said that one of Finny’s rules was “‘You always win at sports’. This ‘you’ was collective. Everyone always won at sports. When you played a game, you won.” (Knowles 35) Finny is a very competitive person and sees everything he does as a competition. In this book, Gene sees Finny as his leader. He follows him no matter what he does, even if Gene does not especially want to. Gene also spends a lot of time admiring his friend and explaining all of the amazing things he can do. He states that no one was better at Blitzball than Finny and the rest of the boys weren't very good at it. He says “What difference did it make? It was just a game. It was good Finny could shine at it.” (Knowles 40) Gene admires the way that Finny plays the game so well. The creation of the game Blitzball shows how Gene looks up to Finny and the character of their relationship.      

Assignment #2 Re-read the opening paragraph of chapter 3. Explore and explain the quote “Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me” (33). Explain what Gene is saying and why he is saying it at this point. What are the larger implications of what he is saying?

 In the book A Separate Peace, Gene the 16 year old goes swimming with his friend Finny. They come up with this secret team/squad called "Suicide society". They then came up with rules on how to join which was just one "simple" rule, to jump off the tree and into the river. Gene and Finny go and climb the tree, while they are on the branches Gene looses balance and starts to basically fall off, luckily Finny was there to catch him before he fell. Then they both jumped off and the "Suicide Society" officially became a group. On Gene's way to the library by himself he realizes how he could have died if Finny weren't there. At the beginning of chapter three Gene says,  “Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me” (33). What Gene means by this is if Finny never made him go jump off the tree than he would have never almost  fallen off and died. So Finny saved his life but really didn't.

Assignment #2:Once the story shifts to the summer of 1942, Gene begins his narrative about his summer, the war, the school, his friendships and most specifically his relationship with Finny. Provide three specific examples of characterization about Finny, most specifically what kind of person is he and how do you know this. (Ja'Niya)

When the story shifts to the summer of 1942, Gene introduces us to his quick-thinking, charming, nonchalant best friend, Finny. When Finny charmed Mr. Prud’homme into not yelling at them for missing dinner. In the beginning of chapter two, page 21, Mr. Prud’homme stopped at their door and finny began to explain why they were not at dinner. Finny started to explain every single thing that they did and not leaving out any details. As Finny continued the story Mr. Prud’homme started to ease up and become kind of friendly. “Mr. Prud’homme released his breathe with a sort if amazed laugh, stared at finny for a while, and that was all there was to it”(Levithan 23). Finny was able to talk long enough for Mr. Prud’homme to ease up and enjoy the boy’s adventurous day. Finny is a nonchalant person because he doesn’t really care if he’s doing something against the rules, since he knows he can get away with anything. He also is quick on his feet because he’s able to come up with any type of story on the spot whenever he needs. When Finny and Gene went to the Headmaster’s party he wore the school’s tie for a belt and Ms. Patch-Withers pointed it out to her husband, Finny easily got out of the situation by giving a quick explanation. On page 27, “This time he wasn’t going to get away with it… But his expression was composed… He had gotten away with everything”(Levithan 27-28). No matter what Finny he did he always found a way to get out of the situation without getting in trouble. He is very quick on his feet and is able to come up with a lie which is how he gets away with everything majority of the time.The story of how Gene was about to fall but then Finny caught him showed the caring side to him. The boys went back to the tree above the river to jump off of to officially create their secret society. Gene had lost balance on the branch and began to fall, but luckily Finny was behind him and grabbed him before he could fall. If Finny was not behind him or quick on his feet then Gene would have fell onto the river bank and might have died. “ I had to begun to lose my balance… Finny’s hand shot out and grabbed my arm”(Levithan 31). Finny is quick on his feet in many different ways, either coming up with a lie, thinking of a fun game, or even saving his friends in a dangerous situation. Overall, when Finny is able to do what he wants while also avoiding trouble for him and his friends. 

Do you think Finny is a good friend? Will Finny get Gene is serious trouble? Will Finny ever face trouble he can’t get himself out of?

Assignment #1: Gene is narrating his own story of what happened when he was in high school. How do a. his perspective (1st person narration) and b. the retrospective (looking back and telling a story as if it were the present) influence you as a reader and how does it impact the credibility or integrity of the story being told? (Tom)

I think that the reason John Knowles started the book with Gene narrating his memories from high school is that he wanted the reader to be influenced in a twisted bittersweet way. In the book, Gene is revisiting his old high school, Devon High School, and is remembering all the memories he had, whether they be good or bad. After walking the hallways and the fields, Gene comes across an old tree which he remembers as “the giants of your childhood, whom you encounter years later and find that they are not merely smaller in relation to your growth” (Knowles 14). This quote is a great example of how, during his time there, Gene remembers the tree differently than how he looks on it now. In my opinion, the credibility of the story isn’t compromised but simply more realistic. I also think that if the story continues by being told in a twisted way, the credibility is lost because it is different from its original form (like a game of telephone).

What do you think? Did I forget something?

Assignment #1: Gene is narrating his own story of what happened when he was in high school. How do a. his perspective (1st person narration) and b. the retrospective (looking back and telling a story as if it were the present) influence you as a reader and how does it impact the credibility or integrity of the story being told? (Madison)

John Knowles begins the novel with a retrospective point of view to enhance the reader’s understanding of his middle school world and how time can distort those memories from fifteen years ago. Gene revisits Devon School, which he attended as a teenager. He finds the old tree that he played on as a student and reflects on how much he has changed since those days at Devon, “This was that tree, and it seemed to me standing there to resemble those men, the giants of your childhood, whom you encounter years later and find that they are not merely smaller in relation to your growth, but that they are absolutely smaller, shrunken by age” (Knowles 14). The retrospective angle given at the beginning of the novel influences the reader by providing them with Gene’s hindsight from fifteen years after the bulk of the story takes place. Gene mentions how people or things who made an enormous impact on someone's life a while ago can become less relevant or important to them with the passage of time. The two different perspectives of the same story told by the same person yet at different points in time increase the credibility of the story's narrator. When the reader obtains multiple accounts of the same information it is more likely that the story will be true, or at least sustain more integrity. The retrospective beginning to the novel adds a reflective piece from an older and more wisened Gene which the reader can refer back to throughout the remainder of A Separate Peace.

Assignment #1 Gene visits two specific places upon his return: the First Academy Building and the tree. Name and explain two specific things he notices/realizes about these places/things now (as opposed to then) and why Knowles might have done this. (Eric)

John Knowles included Gene noticing the changes in the Devon school because he wanted to show that people change and so do their memories of the places they visit along the way. Knowles was very smart the way he started the book A Separate Peace because he brought in the theme of nostalgia which can be a very emotional topic. A key scene was when Gene said, “I reached a marble foyer, and stopped at the foot of a long white marble flight of stairs. Although they were old stairs, the worn moons in the middle of each step were not very deep. The marble must be unusually hard” (Knowles 11). A reason why the marble may have felt harder is that he is now older. This is because when he was younger he wasn’t as heavy as he is now so he may have felt like he glided across the stairs when he still attended the school. He also said that the moons in each step weren’t very deep, and he explains how they are worn, which might relate to the theme that he grew up with the stairs and when he turned away they grew old and worn. Another key scene was when Gene talked about the tree by the river and he said, “The tree was not only stripped by the cold season, it seemed weary from age, enfeebled, dry” (Knowles 14). He seems to feel moved by how the tree is weary from age, enfeebled, and dry. This is because in his flashback he just saw the tree as strikingly tall and strong, but now it seems like it is out of its prime. It is interesting why he uses the word weary to describe the tree’s age. Knowles does this because he sees from the tree's perspective as well. He might say this because the tree has been forgotten after the war and weary seems like something someone would say about someone's else's loneliness. Gene’s experience when going back to Devon also relates to the themes of friendship and peace because of his flashback and relationship with Finny, and when he walked through the school it was quiet. Knowles knowingly included these scenes to remind people of their pasts and to never forget how they got to where they are today.

Questions For Commenters

What did you think of my analysis? How would you change it? Do you agree? Disagree? Is there anything I left out?

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