Discuss Leper’s return and its impact on Gene and Finny before Brinker’s trial. What does Leper represent now that he is back at Devon and what conversation does his return trigger between Finny and Gene? -Park
In the novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Leper represents the external war and he is what causes the end of the internal war at Devon. Gene is talking to Finny about the Gallic Wars when Finny shows a sudden belief in a topic that he has always thought to be made up; war. Gene is thrown off by Finny’s new mindset. “Leper’s gone crazy. When I heard that about Leper, then I knew that the war was real, this war and all the wars. If a war can drive somebody crazy then it’s real all right. Oh I guess I always knew, but I didn’t have to admit it” (163).
Finny doesn’t like to accept the truth. He created a theory for the war that says it’s a conspiracy run by fat old men. He pushed away Gene when he confessed the truth about his injury and made clubs, games and social events to protect himself from the truth and the real world. This small world that he has created is the internal war. Gene will do anything to please Finny if that means to live in this internal war because there is too much guilt built up inside. Neither Gene nor Finny are able to move on from the internal war because they are codependent. Leper plays a major role in this chapter as he helps both Finny and Gene start to become more independent. Lepers change into a new person as an outcome of the real war allows Finny to see that he is living in a false reality. Finny comes to his senses and drops the conspiracy theory. Leper’s summary of the incident at the tree moves Gene closer to telling the truth and no longer having to pity Finny. Although Knowles is using Leper to push the plot forward, the characters still aren’t there yet. Gene isn’t ready to mature as he tries all he can to prevent the real story from coming out. Finny is also not ready as he storms out of the trial unable to hear the truth. Knowles having Leper break the internal war at Devon will affect the friendship of the duo, but it is the start of them both growing and maturing into independent characters.
Discussion Questions:
- Will Finny ever accept the truth about what happened at the tree?
- Is Gene and Finny’s friendship going to end if Finny finds out the truth?
- What does the trial say about Brinker and what he wants to happen to Finny and Gene’s relationship?
Finny might have realized that Gene pushed him from the trial. Leper described that the figure bounced the branch and the other person fell. Finny was trying to wrap his mind around the war that he did not know was going on. Maybe hurting himself again will knock him in the head hard enough to face reality. In this reading, it took a lot for Finny to accept the Olympics were not going to happen and that there was an actual war happening. In reality, there were three wars he really did not want to face and in this reading, he faced two of them. He found out there was an actual war and he might have figured out the war between his best friend and him. It is a lot to take in for someone who had just come to terms with the war, so I think Finny is just going to need a lot of time to process and this codependent relationship might come to a halt.
ReplyDeleteBrinker is definitely trying to push Gene and Finny away. He probably guessed that Gene did it or had a sense when Finny was so defensive. This trial is totally pointless because it doesn't help anyone. If Finny doesn't care who did it or why it happened then what's the point of finding out. Brinker is trying to create drama and excitement at Devon. Finny does not want to be seperated from Gene and denies that anything bad happened between them. I think this is because Gene accepts what Finny tells him and helps feed into the lies Finny tells himself. Gene will do what Finny wants and goes along with anything he does. Gene is a key part in Finny keeping himself sane. Both Gene and Finny rely on each other so much that neither one of them would want to break that bond, but Brinker is trying to mess it up. It is obvius how much this means to Finny because when he ran out of the room, he was not careful and fell again.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think would happen if Finny and Gene stopped being friends?
If Finny and Gene were no longer friends, they would both lose their sense of purpose in life. Gene and Finny's relationship has become co-dependent, meaning they both need each other, and without the other their mindsets would be very dangerous. To cope with his guilt, Gene has been turning himself into Finny, and live out his dream of being an athlete. Gene has been losing his identity since the accident, and if he and Finny suddenly cut their contact with each other, Gene would have trouble figuring out who he really is. Finny, on the other hand is now living through his friend, and depends on him to keep his passion alive. Losing Gene would mean losing his future, causing Finny to have to confront his injury and his new life.
DeleteDo you think Finny will recover from his fall?
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DeleteIt will be almost impossible for Finny to recover from his fall physically. His lower body is basically paralyzed and there is nothing he can about it, especially since this book's setting is in the 1940's when medical care was much worse. I believe though, Finny will repair mentally. Ever since the fall, Finny has been quiet and distant from Gene until recent chapters. I believe when Gene tells Finny what he did, or if someone else tells him beforehand, the two boys will make up. Finny even admits that he trusts Gene a lot, and when Gene confesses again he will have nothing to do but believe him. When the two boys talk about how Finny's broken bone will repair stronger than ever before, it describes their relationship and how the truth will pull them closer than ever before. The reader doesn't know how Finny is 'really' feeling because John Knowles's novel is through Gene's eyes and narration. But, I believe Finny will repair stronger mentally after the cold, hard truth shines.
DeleteHow do these pages relate to the novel's title?
I think that in order for the conflict to be resolved or at least come to an end, Finny must accept the truth. Prior to this mock trial, Finny was pushing the truth so far back in his mind in an effort to deny it that he deluded even himself. This wasn't him making up a story and knowing that it was fake all along, like with the war theory, this was Finny so deeply entrenching himself in denial that he tricked himself into thinking that his gut instincts had been wrong and that Gene did not push him off the tree. With the trial, he is forced to confront it, and when it becomes clear that Gene made him fall, everything Finny worked so hard to believe comes crashing down. He wants to hold up a semblance of denial and attempts to say that he doesn't care, that it doesn't matter, but it's clear that this is the turning point for him. He can no longer say that he trusts Gene and actually believe it. Therefore, I think that sooner or later Finny will stop trying to delude himself and accept the truth.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think Brinker finds the trial (and Gene being publicly called out) so amusing?
Why do you think Brinker finds the trial (and Gene being publicly called out) so amusing?
DeleteIn the trial that takes place in chapter 11, it becomes clear how amused Brinker is about this excitement. Considering the trial is useless, as nobody can take anything positive from this, it is strange that Brinker findes it entertaining. I think Brinker really engages in this trial because it is something to take his mind off the war. After dropping out of most of his extracurriculars, it had become clear that Brinker had lost all interest and hope in succeeding at Devons. However, in chapter 11 he seems to be more perked up as he can distract himself from the war. I also think Brinker has become increasingly more suspicious of Gene and Finny’s relationship since Finny’s return. Finny is the reason Gene does not enlist and Brinker was there to witness this. Knowles includes the trial to further exaggerate Gene and Finny’s codependent relationship.
I think Brinker finds the trial so amusing because it takes his mind off of the war. Brinker shows himself as a very strong guy who isn't scared of the war but this might not be true. I think Brinker is scared now because what happened to Leper just shows what's happening in realty, and even though Leper never even made it to the actual war everything just got realer for Brinker. Also I think he finds this amusing because he already said he wanted to "help" Finny realize that he's never going to get better and by exposing Gene he will do just that.
ReplyDeleteWill Finny ever accept the truth about what happened at the tree?
ReplyDeleteIn the last couple of pages, Brinker, Leper, and some of the other boys have been trying to expose Gene to Finny for pushing him off the tree. And since this happened, it had become much harder for Gene and Finny to ignore it anymore, which means that Finny has to accept it as the truth. But I don’t think this was the turning point for Finny to accept it, and that Finny had already accepted it. Firstly, Finny clearly knows Gene very well, and I find it difficult to believe that Finny couldn’t tell the difference between Gene being anxious, or Gene going crazy when he first admitted to pushing him. Secondly, Finny has a very calm, going with the personality, so he may have just realized he didn’t think it’d be worth it to get mad. Thirdly, when Brinker takes them into the room and starts hinting towards stuff, none of it seems shocking towards Finny, and he even turns to Gene at one point, saying he didn’t care, which suggests he knew all about it, but didn’t care. No matter where he did it, it’s almost certain he knows what’s happened, and accepted it. My only prediction for where their relationship might go is based on the end of the chapter. Finny falls down the stairs. Some might think it was an accident, but I think possibly, it might relate to how Finny wants to be with Gene in the rest of the book. But we’ll just have to wait and see why.
Do you think Finny falling was an accident?
Will Finny’s fall change his relationship with Gene?
In this comment Ethan brings up a lot of good points about Finny knowing the whole time about Gene causing the incident on the tree. While I agree with this point I think that it is still a little weird that Finny would barge out in tears if he didn't already know that Gene caused it. But I think one possibility could be that Finny knew the whole time that Gene caused but he didn't accept it up until now during the trial. As for the questions Ethan asked at the end of his comment I think that Finny falling was an accident but I definitely think Knowles included this detail for a specific reason. For example throughout the book after Finny's accident Gene is always warning Finny about being very careful that he doesn't fall again or else he could get very injured, now that Finny has fallen I think he has made his injury worse. In addition I think that the fall will bring the two boys closer again. I think this because Gene will have to take care of Finny and he will be more protective of Finny.
DeleteDo you think Finny falling was an accident?
DeleteI don’t think that Finny falling was an accident. During Brinker’s entire investigation of Finny breaking his leg, they kept changing the story over and over again to make them seem more suspicious. However, because of these attempts Brinker decided to go get Leper because he knows every single detail about what happened. In Brinker’s attempt to get Leper to tell him what happened Leper turns on Brinker. Before this sudden change in Leper, Leper was very close to telling them if Gene pushed Finny or not. From everything Leper, Gene, and Finny said, the story somewhat seems obvious that Finny falling wasn’t an accident but they don’t want to give Brinker and the other boys the joy of knowing.
Will Finny’s fall change his relationship with Gene?
ReplyDeleteAfter the whole trial that Brinker made up, Finny is reminded of what actually happened at the tree. Finny has always known the truth since Gene went to his house to confront him except, he didn't want to accept it. Now that time has passed and Finny is reminded of what happened, I believe that he will push away Gene in the next chapter. However, at the end of the book I believe their old friendship will come back like how it used to be. Nnema made a really good point on how Finny and Gene depend one each other. I agree with this as they both are loosing important parts of themselves if they loose their friendship. Although Finny might be mad in this next chapter after the recent reminder of the truth, at the end of the novel they will somehow mend their friendship back to how it use to be.
Although I do not believe Finny and Gene's friendship will immediately end if Finny knows the truth, I doubt their friendship will never be the same. In my opinion, Finny has known the truth since Gene visited the hospital but has simply pushed the idea out of his mind. Although Finny was admired by many, Gene is his only true friend. Therefore, excepting that Gene may have injured him on purpose is the last thing he wants to believe. Finny, will likely continue to be defensive around the topic of the accident because whether he believe it slightly or not at all I do not expect Finny to place the blame on Gene. With Finny remaining in denial, the friendship will not end, just continue differently.
ReplyDeleteI think that Finny will eventually accept the truth of what happened on top of the tree. Signs of this is shown when Gene first returns to Devon. In a conversation, the war was brought up and Gene thought to support Finny on it being fake but much to his surprise, Finny agreed with much sarcasm. When Finny finally took in the truth that the war is real, it was described that the constant grin on his face vanished, and if he accepts the facts that his best friend made him fall of a tree which crippled him, the same results will most likely occur but greatly amplified. This realization will undoubtedly change Finny permanently in ways that mostly likely are not positive.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be very difficult for Finny to accept that Gene shook him out of the tree. Throughout the book it has been very difficult for Finny to accept the truth. This started out with the war he tried to convince himself that it didn't existed so he didn't have to think about it or be afraid of it. This is the same with what happened on the tree, Finny probably knows deep down that Gene has more to do with his fall then he is saying. Finny just doesn't want to admit that this is true, he has always told Gene that he trusts him so admitting this to himself would be going against what he had said. Though this is true Finny has recently come around to the fact that the war is real. This could be the start to his realizations, and it is possible he will finally understand that Gene was the reason he fell.
ReplyDelete