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? (see 108-116) -Wang
In the novel, A Separate Peace by John Knowles uses the war to push the plot forward but to also
show character development and views. When Finny first hears about Gene thinking to enlist into the
war, he acts naive and throws a little fit about not needing help in the shower. Further into the reading, Gene and Finny get into an argument about the war in the locker room and Finny says,
“there isn’t any war” (115). Before that, Finny had only changed the subject when Gene tried to talk
about the war, but once he says this, Gene is a little taken back. John Knowles does this to show how
Finny has not changed from the beginning of the book despite his injury. Finny has not come to
terms with the accident and how it could have possibly been Gene’s fault. On the other hand, Gene
has started to look at life after Devon and outside the bubble of protection that Devon imposes on
them. He almost enlisted into the war until he found out that Finny had come back to Devon. Finny
is trapped within the bubble of protection because he does not want to face his real-life problem,
which is that he can not continue playing sports. Finny can not accept the external war until he accepts his own war, battling through this injury.
Questions:
Do you think that Gene will keep training for the Olympics because he wants to or to make Finny happy?
How do you think Brinker will play a more major role in the second half of this book?
Do you think Finny is acting like this because of the “medical drugs?” Why or Why not?
Yes I think Gene will keep training for the Olympics to make Finny happy because even though he doesn't seem to feel as guilty as he felt before now but that guilt is still there somewhere so I think he is ok with dropping his dream for Finny's dream. Also, by the end of the chapter it seems that Gene enjoys training. He mentions how he felt a lift of energy and realized he a was just lazy, so maybe he's not doing this only for Finny maybe he is beginning to like it and will want ot train for the Olympics but this definitely began to keep Finny happy.
ReplyDeleteI think that Gene is not really training for the olympics. He is just training to keep Finny happy. Gene doesn't seem as interested in sports as many of the other kids at Devon, but Finny is definitely very competitive. Finny wants to live his dream through Gene, and he kind of has to do it because it is his fault Finny can't train. Gene easily seems to give into Finny, like when he was going to sign up for the draft but didn't because Finny would have been sad. He probably feels obligated to help Finny in whatever way possible, just to keep him happy. I don't know if he will really train very hard for the Olympics, but probably enough to make Finny happy and feel like he is doing something.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Finny would do the same thing for Gene if they swapped places and Gene was hurt?
I think Gene will keep training for the Olympics to make Finny happy. In the book, Finny admits to Gene that he had been training for the Olympics prior to the tree accident. For Gene to know that it was his fault that his friend can’t pursue his dream because of him makes Gene feel guilty. He will make sure to give it his best because it’s the least he can do. Gene never would have followed through with this request if it hadn’t been his fault and if Finny hadn’t fallen off the tree in the first place. Sports was never an interest for Gene but because of the guilt felt towards Finny, he will train for the Olympics to make him happy.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think Finny is acting like this because of his “medical drugs.” Rather, he just doesn’t want to believe Gene. At this point in the novel, we know how toxic this friendship is and we know that if it isn’t mended soon, it’ll only get worse. Finny is lashing out because he’s in denial. No matter how hard Gene tries, he can’t let go of the guilt. Even Brinker has tried to slightly reason with Finny, pushing Gene to confess. At one point in this chapter, Gene says that Finny needs him and that’s why he can’t enlist. When Finny is around, Gene isn’t thinking about his own well-being and happiness, he’s doing everything in his power to please Finny. I think that Gene believes that by doing this, the guilt will go away and everything will get better. I don’t think that Gene fully understands the reason behind Finny’s actions.
ReplyDeleteI think that Gene will keep training for the Olympics in order to make Finny happy. Finny had the goal of going to the Olympics himself and now that he had his injury, that’s practically impossible for him to do. Finny said that he wants to coach someone to go to the Olympics now that he couldn’t go himself and he implied that towards Gene. I think that by allowing Finny to coach him, Gene feels less guilty for his wrongdoing. Gene would never have his goal to be in the Olympics but now he feels like he owes at least that to Finny. Gene planned to enlist right before Finny came back, he had no plans of training to go to the Olympics. I think Gene is doing this to make himself feel less guilty and Finny happy.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think Brinker will play a more major role in the second half of this book?
ReplyDeleteI believe Brinker will play a major role in this book because he is a leader and is conservative towards the boys. He is already pushing Gene towards enlisting and is basically the opposite from Finny. Finny and Brinker are both leaders to Gene but in their own ways. Finny is mischievous towards Gene while Brinker is more uptight. I believe the differences between these two characters will cause some conflict leading to Gene making a decision between the two. This has already happened in the novel before with Gene enlisting, so it could happen again and probably will happen again.
I think that because of the guilt, Gene will continue to force himself to do sports for Finny. I believe that after making Finny fall out of the tree, Gene feels as if he is responsible and the only way for him to let those feelings go is if he confronts Finny about what he did or enlisting. In this chapter after witnessed how Finny looked devastated about Gene enlisting, it is unlikely for Gene to enlist and even further hurt Finny. The scenario of Gene to stop doing sports for Finny is if Finny finally finds out about the truth.
ReplyDeleteI think Gene will keep on training for the Olympics only because that's what Finny wants. Gene has been so invested in his guilt for the last few months that he might do anything that Finny asks of him. Gene feels as though because of him, Finny can never go to the Olympics. In fact, he believes that he's the reason that Finny can never do any athletics for the rest of his life. Although Finny believes that Gene isn't at fault, this doesn't affect Gene much. He will forever believe that he's the reason Finny can never do the thing he loves most. If this scenario were to occur in another friendship, I doubt that someone would train for the Olympics just because they were asked to. In this case, it looks like Gene would do almost anything for Finny.
ReplyDeleteFinny is acting a certain way cause of any medical drugs, he is just in denial. Finny has been trying to forget about all the problems in his life, like his relationship with Gene, and the war. He can't seem to accept the fact that Gene may have had something to do with his fall. Finny is holding onto Gene even though there relationship has been hurt over and over again. We can see Finny starting to act a little strange when he hears that Gene might enlist for war, he doesn't want to let go of Gene. This could be for many reasons one being that Finny wants Gene to carry out what he can't do now that he can't play sports. Finny also starts to act weird when he talks about the war and how it isn't real. Cause the war is so distant to Finny it almost seems made up so he chooses to stay in denial of it. Overall, Finny isn't acting this way cause of medical drugs but because he is under a lot of mental stress and he doesn't want to see some things for what they are.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Gene will keep training for the Olympics in order to satisfy Finny’s longing to play sports. This is an enjoyable distraction for Finny Gene should go through with this to keep Finny’s lost connection to sports alive. In addition, this is also another way Gene copes with his feelings of unresolved guilt. By letting someone else take partial control of his day to day life, Gene could lose his own self trying to be someone Finny wants him to. This could bring up the question of whether Gene is allowing Finny to have too much control over his life for the sake of Finny’s own happiness.
ReplyDeleteI think that Gene will continue training for the Olympics mostly for Finny, but also a little bit for himself. Before Finny came back to Devon, Gene wanted to go back to the innocence of the summer. As winter approached and the war became a larger part of Gene’s life, he became more adult-like. As soon as Finny came back, Gene started to go back to how he acted in the summer. I think training for the Olympics started as something to make Finny happy, but now it’s restoring Gene’s more immature and carefree feelings from the summer. In a time of war there is almost nothing to be happy about, but Gene’s hope for the olympics, whether it happens or not, was the little bit of sunshine he has been longing for since the end of summer.
ReplyDelete