Why does Finny organize the Winter Carnival? Why is this significant? What is the impact and symbolism of the Winter Carnival?

In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, the winter carnival is significant. When Finny is dancing and enjoying the carnival, with his plans successfully being carried out, Gene describes the moment as an “afternoon of momentary, illusory, special and separate peace” (137). This moment is significant because Finny’s goal was likely to distract others from the worries of winter and the war. With everyone distracted, even for a short time, it brings Finny back to the feelings he had in the summer. To Finny and Gene, the summer was a time of innocence and freedom. Now, with the injury, those feelings are gone. The once-powerful and influential Finny is gone and was replaced with a new version of himself. The new Finny is not nearly as admired by others and cannot distract people from the world. Finny realized this when he got back to school, which is why the Carnival was an idea that appealed to him, and he saw would appeal to others. With the carnival, Finny is once again running the show. He is slowly trying to become the person he once was.

Do you think the carnival helped Finny regain his power? Why or why not?

 At this point do you feel bad for Finny and the changes he has gone/is going through?

Do you agree with Gene allowing Finny to believe the war is fake? If you were in Gene’s position would you contradict Finny or allow him to believe what he chooses to?

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 12:31 PM

    Do you agree with Gene allowing Finny to believe the war is fake? If you were in Gene’s position would you contradict Finny or allow him to believe what he chooses to?

    I think that if Gene was truly trying to be a good friend, he would be helping him cope with the war rather than letting Finny live in his own fantasy. Gene does not want to contradict Finny because he still feels the guilt inside of him. However, Finny can’t just go on forever thinking the war is fake because when his peers and Gene are drafted, he’ll have an even harder time coming to accept the war. This is part of where we are starting to see Finny and Gene’s codependent relationship play out. Gene can’t be himself and protect Finny because he still has guilt of ruining his athletic career. Also, the codependent relationship hurts Finny, as he now lives his own world, far from reality. If I was Gene, I would have brought Finny back to reality of the war, and then help him cope with his reactions. Because a healthy friendship should not involve one friend hiding the truth from another.

    Do you think any of the other students will attempt to contradict Finny's thoughts on the "fake war"?

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    1. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 3:07 PM

      I agree that Gene isn't doing Finny any favors by playing along in his fake war fantasy. Now that Finny's only passion at Devon is taken away from him, this conspiracy of there not being a real war going on is only damaging his ability to come to terms with his new reality. If other students find out about this fake war conspiracy, they will probably just look the other way and move on, except Brinker Hadley. Brinker is trying to squeeze his way into their friendship, and if he heard about Finny's conspiracy, he would deny it immediately and try to get Gene to agree with him. This would make Finny jealous, since he is already worried about Gene leaving Devon and enlisting.
      Do you think Finny is forcing Gene to have his personality on purpose?

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    2. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 4:01 PM

      Do you think Finny is forcing Gene to have his personality on purpose?

      I don't think Finny is thinking in terms of personality, as he seems more centered on the sports. He wants to live through Gene and feel like he's gaining back some of his former "power" by doing that, but I don't believe his intention is to make Gene into a copy of him. If Gene became Finny, Finny would be effectively replaced, and that would end in Finny loosing more. No one would need Finny anymore, and it's clear that Finny needs to be needed - by others as well as Gene. Their codependent relationship would not survive if Gene gained Finny's personality, felt absolved from his guilt, and didn't need Finny anymore, which would lead to him leaving Finny stranded. So no, I don't think Finny wants Gene to have his personality, as it's the only thing Finny has left, but I do think he has an unhealthy reliance on Gene when it comes to sports.

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  2. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 1:34 PM

    Yes I've always felt bad for Finny, it is so sad how with in a snap of ones fingers he lost his ability to do the one thing he loves. It truly not fair at all. At the same time I don't understand why he's so controlling, he is not letting Gene be able to have his own dream he is forcing Gene into turning himself into Finny. This sadness he's had forced him to try to turn everything around and try to keep everyone from growing by trying to get them to go back to their summer selves which were still teenagers trying to have fun.

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    1. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 5:04 PM

      I agree with Valentina. Finny lost what he was good at. Earlier in the novel, Finny tells Gene to stay in the dorms and study. He said to really focus on what you were good at in life, and so Finny focussed all his hard work and energy into playing sports. Now that he can’t do that, he feels that he has no purpose except to help Gene train. I feel bad that Finny is still in denial and that his life dreams were completely washed away from the accident, but I also feel bad for Gene and how he is coping with the guilt by distracting himself. He has been brainwashed by Finny in the way that he is starting to believe Finny and live in Finny’s world. In Finny’s world, it’s just the two of them and there are no wars of any kind, internal or external.

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  3. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 2:15 PM

    I believe that by Finny trying to start a carnival and get everybody involved he is trying to gain back "power" or somewhat of what he has lost. Before the tree incident Finny was the star athlete at the school. Now that he is only lucky to walk again and he will never be able to play sports again. I do believe that by him trying to start a carnival and get everybody involved he is trying to regain some of the "power" that he lost. I also think that he feels this way because losing his athletic carrer he may feel that people won't respect him as much as they used to when he could play sports because earlier in the book he mentioned Finny was only a average student. The last reason why I believe that he wanted to start the carnival that relates to him wanting his "power" back and the reason is because he wants people to know that he is still here and that he may have had a severe injury but that he is still here.

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    1. Pauly CApril 28, 2020 at 8:56 PM

      I agree with Adam that regaining some of the previous power/popularity was a big motive for Finny to start the Devon winter festival. In the past, Finny stood out in the crowd of Devon students because of his athletic abilities and now the only thing he has left being average grades, Finny is no longer in the spotlight. This carnival helped people to recognize that Finny was back again. In my opinion, Finny could have wanted to gain back his power so life would be normal again like it was before his injury.

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  4. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 4:32 PM

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  5. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 4:32 PM


    In a way, I kind of feel bad for both Finny and Gene. Finny has definitely had his fair share of bad experiences, including the incident where he fell out of the tree. I think at this point in the novel, I’m starting to recognize Finny’s actions. It’s still unfair that Finny is controlling Gene and keeping him back from doing what he wants, but I’m beginning to pity Finny too. Gene has to manage all this guilt, and Finny is missing out on a lot of things at Devon. I agree with Valentina, that Finny’s loss has affected him immensely but he is also being manipulative and forcing Gene into doing things he doesn’t want to do. They’re both going to get hurt if they continue on with this friendship, I still think that they need to workout their friendship.

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  6. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 4:39 PM

    Now that I am further into the book, I am starting to feel worse for Finny. Although, at the beginning of the book I had more sympathy for Gene, I know am starting to have more sympathy for Finny because we know more about what he is going through. I believe that it is incredibly hard to loose such an important thing to you and Finny has gone through this. This carnival that Finny has created, displays how he wants to have power back and be in charge again. Also, he is taking Gene's personality away and transforming it into his, because sports were very important to him and he wants to watch someone do it for him since he can't. This displays how important the thing he lost is and I am starting to feel worse for him as I put myself into his shoes and go through what he has gone through.

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  7. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 7:22 PM

    I’ve felt bad for Finny ever since the accident happened. Ever since he lost the ability to play sports, he has resorted to other things to make him happy. Sports were a huge part of his life and he even wanted to compete in the 1944 Olympics, it was his goal. He was so committed to that goal that he decided he was going to coach Gene to the 1944 Olympics. Sports was one of the only things that brought Finny happiness. Finny is probably trying to cope with his emotions by doing the things he does. He doesn’t seem like himself since the accident which shows that deep inside, he is dealing with things that is not made clear to the readers, so yes, I feel bad for him.

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  8. AnonymousApril 28, 2020 at 9:27 PM

    Do you agree with Gene allowing Finny to believe the war is fake? If you were in Gene’s position would you contradict Finny or allow him to believe what he chooses to?

    I don’t agree with Gene allowing Finny to believe the war is fake because it is very toxic towards their relationship. Gene isn’t telling Finny that the war is real because he wants to keep his relationship with Finny solid and back to normal. By telling Finny that the war is real it shows that Gene doesn’t believe Finny. Finny would then take this as an insult which Gene doesn’t want whatsoever. If I was in Gene’s position, I would tell Finny straight up that the war is real. Gene is so dependent on Finny that he can’t even know who he is and what he wants to become. This is just another example of Gene only wanting whats best for Finny and not himself.

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  9. AnonymousApril 29, 2020 at 11:15 AM

    I do feel bad for Finny because his leg injury has taken a major toll on his life. Finny was known as one of the best athletes at the school and sports was his passion. Now that this is taken away from him, he drives himself into a fantasy world and begins to drag Gene in with him. Finny tells Gene that the war is not real and changes his mind about enlisting in the army. Instead, he is convincing Gene to train for the Olympics, and it can be inferred that Finny is doing this to physically live through Gene. Because sports have been taken away from Finny, he could be feeling useless because there’s nothing for him to do now. Finny is slowly slipping into his fantasy world, and he has become a sympathetic character because he has lost the ability to do the things he loves.

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  10. AnonymousApril 29, 2020 at 6:01 PM

    The carnival definitely put Finny back into the place he had been in before in the social structure. He still has power over the other boys at Devon. He is able to convince people that something will be amazing and actually put it together. He may not be able to do sports still, but he is still popular and charismatic. With his injury, he was almost forgotten about, but creatnig this new event forcing people to work together brought him back into the picture. Finny may even have more power because of his injury and the others wanting to help him and do what he wants.

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  11. AnonymousApril 30, 2020 at 5:59 AM

    I think Finny planned this carnival to go back into simpler times, but also to regain his power. Before the accident, Finny had power over almost everyone at Devon. He was able to manipulate people to see his side of things which caused him to be untouchable. After his injury, he was looked at as weak and almost powerless, and although this wasn't a theme in the novel, I believe that in the back of the people's minds, Finny wasn't the same. They thought that Finny didn't have any power over them, and he couldn't get away with everything anymore. Finny proved them all wrong by planning the carnival. People now realize that even though Finny isn't whole anymore, he is just as strong as he was before.

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