Chapter 7 - In the first part of the reading, Brinker presses Gene about what 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). - Quinn
In the novel A Separate Peace, John Knowles uses the unreliable first person point of view to
show us how Gene often overreacts to certain situations. After Gene had an altercation with
Quackenbush and was pushed into the Naguamsett he returned to his room to clean himself.
Brinker Hadley, an outgoing and likeable young man enters Gene’s room and congratulates
him on having his room all to himself, with suspicion. Brinker goes on to accuse Gene of
Phineas’s injury in a playful manner, ‘“I’ll bet you knew all the time Finny wouldn’t be back
this fall. That’s why you picked him for a roommate, right?’” then Gene tries to deny it and
Brinker goes on to say, ‘“Ah-h-h. The truth hurts, eh?’” (88) While Brinker’s claim is false,
it does force Gene to get into his own head and think about whether he purposefully hurt
Phineas or not. It unnerves him and makes him paranoid that everyone must now suspect
him of hurting Phineas. Gene is thinking two dimensional and thinks Brinker is seriously out
for him, all the while it’s just friendly banter. Brinker tells Gene that “The truth will out”
(88) before Gene tries to change the subject. This is foreshadowing because it is inevitable
that Phineas and the rest of the boys will find out what truly happened at one point.
Knowles creates the scene in the Butt Room as another way to show how Gene's path to
maturity was filled with lots of interference.While Gene wants to maintain his innocence he
must face the consequences of what he did.
show us how Gene often overreacts to certain situations. After Gene had an altercation with
Quackenbush and was pushed into the Naguamsett he returned to his room to clean himself.
Brinker Hadley, an outgoing and likeable young man enters Gene’s room and congratulates
him on having his room all to himself, with suspicion. Brinker goes on to accuse Gene of
Phineas’s injury in a playful manner, ‘“I’ll bet you knew all the time Finny wouldn’t be back
this fall. That’s why you picked him for a roommate, right?’” then Gene tries to deny it and
Brinker goes on to say, ‘“Ah-h-h. The truth hurts, eh?’” (88) While Brinker’s claim is false,
it does force Gene to get into his own head and think about whether he purposefully hurt
Phineas or not. It unnerves him and makes him paranoid that everyone must now suspect
him of hurting Phineas. Gene is thinking two dimensional and thinks Brinker is seriously out
for him, all the while it’s just friendly banter. Brinker tells Gene that “The truth will out”
(88) before Gene tries to change the subject. This is foreshadowing because it is inevitable
that Phineas and the rest of the boys will find out what truly happened at one point.
Knowles creates the scene in the Butt Room as another way to show how Gene's path to
maturity was filled with lots of interference.While Gene wants to maintain his innocence he
must face the consequences of what he did.
- Do you think Gene will tell Finny what happened? Or will Finny find out from someone else?
- Once Finny finds out what do you think his reaction will be?
- Do you think Gene's actions will change his social standing among the other boys at Devon? How so?
Do you think Gene's actions will change his social standing among the other boys at Devon? How so?
ReplyDeleteIt’s almost certain that at some point in the remaining chapters of A Separate Peace Gene’s actions of pushing Finny off the tree will get out to the rest of the Devon student body. I believe that once this happens, it will dramatically change how the students view Gene, and how they treat him. Firstly, Finny is widely liked by almost everybody at Devon. He’s charismatic, athletic, funny, just to name a few reasons why. Gene has always talked about how athletic he is, and how he dominates in every sport he plays. Although it never explicitly says it in the book, it’s a pretty safe bet that his athletism is a commonly admired and widely known trait in Finny. This is why it would be extremely devastating for everyone to find out that Gene is the reason Finny can no longer pursue it. Everyone would immediately go against him because he completely ruined one of Finny’s most important traits. But there’s another possibility of what would happen after the new broke. When Gene originally told Finny that he had pushed him off the tree, Finny didn’t believe him and said he was just tied. So what if that was the entire schools reaction. And if Finny continues to deny it, fewer and fewer people would believe it, because Finny himself said it was fake. I predict that in the next few chapters, the truth will get out, and Knowles will be sure to let us know which way it plays out.
Which possibility is more likely to happen?
Now that Finny’s back, do you think it will make Gene more or less worried?
How do you think it will get out that Gene pushed Finny?
I believe that it is more likely that he will tell Finny. John Knowles cannot write a full, complete story without this happening. Also, I don't think that Gene can live with the guilt and so eventually he will 'slip' and Finny will find out. I don't think however, that he will tell Finny directly. I think it is more likely that he makes a mistake while talking to Brinker Hadley and then the rumor spreads around the school and eventually to Finny. Despite this occurring, I still believe that Finny will be loyal to Gene.
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ReplyDeleteGene will most certainly tell Finny himself what happened. At the end of page 102, Finny returns to the dorm and greets Gene, who thought Finny was still healing. Through the whole reading we did today, it seems to Gene like people are starting to figure out who caused the injury to Finny. This may be a reach, but Gene shoveling the railway is him foreshadowing that he's getting rid of the weight on his shoulders against Finny, like he is the snow from the railroad. I think in the next reading we do, Gene will confess what happened to Finny on the tree like he already did. But this time, Gene won't deny himself that what he was saying was 'nonsense' and instead stick up for his actions and come clean. If Gene doesn't confess, I think he will 'explode' from the pressure with the deadly war and school competitiveness happening also.
ReplyDeleteDo you think Gene meeting Finny at his dorm will cause him to unenroll from the army?
This is another example, this time rightly so, of Gene being incredibly paranoid of his peers. Earlier in the novel, we see Gene being very suspect of Finny in terms of competition. Brinker's sneering accusations lead him to become so in his head, he is suspect of everyone's simple actions. This comes from his fear that someone will accurately accuse him of hurting Finny, and many people have come quite close. He manages to avoid anyone else finding out in the Butt Room, but the character who he embarrassed clearly knows the truth. Gene will not be able to keep up this act much longer, seeing as Finny is back in school, because he can not fabricate stories that Finny can prove, even if accidentally, false.
ReplyDeleteThe war seems to be a growing theme in the novel, and I wonder if Finny's injury could prevent him from fighting in the war or cause him more harm later on. If this were to happen, Gene would be so incredibly guilty, yet still be boxed in from showing this guilt because earlier he admitted to Finny what actually happened, then lied to try and not hurt Finny more.
Do you think Gene's actions will change his social standing among the other boys at Devon? How so?
ReplyDeleteI think the entire chapter, specifically when Gene is in the butt room foreshadows the fact that the truth will get out to the rest of the Devon school. Brinker Hadley is already suspicious about his empty room, and I think someone like him could spread rumors around the school. Also, Finny seems to have a much higher social standing than Gene, so even if Finny tries to protect him, people will still take it out on Gene. And even before this point, Gene’s social standing is not amazing and it will only go down from here. If Gene had started off as a more popular student, his reputation would not have been affected as much. However, other students will only see this as a not so popular boy(Gene) permanently injuring a popular kid(Finny.)
Why does Knowles include this foreshadowing (as this is a coming of age novel?)
Gene has been going through a lot at school and mentally with Finny away from school. So when Brinker Hadley made an all to real joke about what had happened to Finny it made Gene think that everyone suspected him as the one who hurt Finny. This made him get super paranoid and now he thinks everyone believes that he was the one who broke Finny's leg. I think this paranoia will start to change his social standing with the other boys at devon. After the joke with Brinker he was starting to overthink what had happened and got worried that the other boys might have thought he hurt Finny. I believe that this may make him grow farther from the other boys at Devon. Like he has done earlier in the book he may start to make things up in his mind, like that the kids around him suspect what he did to Finny. In addition to this after his nervous reaction to the joke that Brinker made, some of the kids may actually start to think that he may have had more to do with Finny's fall then they had thought. Overall, Gene's social standing will change not only because the boys may begin to suspect him, but also cause he is beginning to get paranoid.
ReplyDeleteGene has changed a lot since the summer session after the accident. I think his social standing is different without Finny, who he is known for being with. Finny is Gene's social standing, he is just under Finny because Finny has chosen him to be his best friend. All of the other boys have no idea that Gene did it and if they did, they would know it would be sensitive and not pressure him on it, or maybe they would be mad at him. When they are saying that they know, they really have no clue that he did it intentionally, they are only trying to poke fun at him. If the rest of the school knew, they may take it the way they see Finny has and not be upset or push it off. It also could put him on the bottom of the food chain, making him seem non-trustworthy and unloyal. Overall, Finny seems to dictate most of Genes life at Devon, even when he is not there.
ReplyDeleteI think Finny’s reaction will be very similar to when Gene told him the truth about the tree. Learning the truth will definitely weaken their friendship more, but Finny will probably keep denying everything. His reaction could also depend on how Finny figures it out. He found out about what happened in the tree from Gene, who felt like he needed to tell him because of all the guilt that built up. He could find out in a different way this time because it doesn’t seem that Gene has the same amount of guilt as the last time. If someone else tells Finny, he could start to see through his denial especially because he has had some time to think about the tree incident.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the truth will come out by both the other boys and Gene. As we know, Gene is known to always be paranoid. After the Quakenbush incident, Gene was paranoid that he might know the truth of what happened at the tree. Since Finny is back, Gene will be much more paranoid and the guilt will crush him as Finny will be with him the whole time. Also, when Gene went to the "smoking" room many boys were on to him and Gene might feel paranoid at the fact that they might know and tell Finny. In the next few chapters, I think that Gene's guilt will bother him much more as Finny is now back and that he will feel paranoid that the other boys might tell Finny before he does and so the truth will come out.
ReplyDeleteI believe that once Finny finds out he won’t be surprised. Gene already admitted to Finny that he is the reason he fell off the tree. I think that Finny didn’t believe him when he said that because he wasn’t focused on how he fell off the tree, he was focused that day on making Gene play sports in honor of him. While he was home I believe Finny would put 2 and 2 together and realize that it was Gene’s fault that he fell off the tree. I don’t think he’ll be mad at Gene, I think that he’ll just accept the fact that nothing can be done about it now.
ReplyDeleteI think that Finny's suspicion of Gene pushing him off will grow but he won't believe what the other people at Devon say. During the confrontations Finny and Gene had when Gene went to visit Finny, Gene tried to tell finny what had happened but Finny refused to believe that Gene had purposely made him fall off that tree. If Finny won't take the word of his best friend, I doubt that he will believe some other kid that he doesn't know.
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