Assignment #12 (195-204): On 201, Gene reflects on his thoughts on war and says “…it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart” (201). Do you agree with this sentiment? Why or why not?(Sharon Pongnon)

This statement is correct. It seems that in war they're two sides. Instead of sitting down and talking or even trying to negotiate; the different sides results to fighting against each other. This goes to both mental wars and actual wars. So when Gene says  “…it seemed clear that wars were not made by generations and their special stupidities, but that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart” (Knowles 201). He has realized that he found an enemy out of Finny when Finny didn't do anything. Gene had so much jealousy and anger in his heart that he turned it onto Finny. Thus making Gene look at the world as if it was a bad place. Gene later realizes his mistake. "...if he was indeed the enemy," (Knowles 204). The ignorance in Genes heart made him find an enemy when there was none.

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) (Charlotte)

In Gene's conversation with Mr. Hadley on pages 198-200, Mr. Hadley implies that in order to be men, the boys must enlist in the war in an armed force that is physically exerting. This means that he wants Gene and Brinker to voluntarily fight to prove their masculinity. He says to Gene, "'What are you enlisting in, son... the Marines, the Paratroops?'" (Knowles 198) In addition to suggesting that they enlist in something "manly," he implies that he would not be pleased if they were to enlist in an armed force that did not take hard work and dedication. He criticizes the G.I.'s as they march into Devon, laughing at the fact that they have brought sewing machines with them. Mr. Hadley makes it known that he does not feel sewing is something a "real man" should be doing.

Though Mr. Hadley is quite open about how he feels that men should want to fight and represent their country, there are also subtle actions he does that give away his "manly" qualities. This includes when Gene is describing how he chose the Navy. After he says "foxhole," he thinks to himself, "'Foxhole' was still a fairly new term and I wasn't sure Mr. Hadley knew what I meant. But I saw that he didn't care for the sound of what I said." (Knowles 199) This shows how Mr. Hadley is not focused on the details that Gene is mentioning, but rather the parts he was talking about that have to do with enlisting. As a manly man, Mr. Hadley wants to hear about war, and only war. In addition, it shows how both Gene and Brinker feel that they have to prove themselves to him. After Gene talks about foxholes and realizes that Mr. Hadley might not know what these are, he has a moment of panic but is then relieved once he realizes that Mr. Hadley doesn't care. Mr. Hadley makes the boys feel that they must prove themselves by going to war, even if it is not necessarily what they want to do; in order to be real men in his point of view, they must give up their true passions and go fight.

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? (Emily)

Assignment 11) Is Finny's fall, and ultimately his death, something you can blame on Gene? Why or why not? If he is not to blame, then who is? (Stephen)

Although Finny’s fall from the tree may be because of Gene, they agree not to blame Gene so they can possibly save their friendship. Throughout most of the book, Gene has blamed himself for jostling the limb, and making Finny fall from the tree. This makes sense, because if Gene did not do that Finny would have been fine. However it is no longer possible to deny it after the night in the assembly hall. So to save their friendship, Finny says, “It was just some kind of blind impulse you had in the tree there, you didn't know what you were doing.” (Knowles 191). By saying this, he is blaming something other than Gene for the accident. This will remove animosity and enmity between them, and allow their friendship to continue on. Gene goes with the idea. Finny further shows that he doesn’t blame Gene when he says, “I believe you. It’s okay because I understand and I believe you. You’ve already shown me and I believe you.” (Knowles 191). After the night in the assembly hall, Gene and Finny agree that the accident was not Gene’s fault to save their friendship.

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." (Julia)

Gene believes ever since he jounced the limb, that Finny's state of injury was his fault, including his death. In chapter four, Gene has a jealous rampage because he believes him and Finny are in a competition with one another. This belief causes Gene to push Finny off the limb of the tree. Ever since Finny broke his leg because the fall, he hasn't been the same. Most importantly, he couldn't take place in sports. During all of this time, Gene has the arising guilt that all of this was his fault. In chapter eleven, after the interrogation of Finny's incident, Finny storms out of the room, which leads up to him falling down the stairs. Finny yet again had fractured his leg. Gene has finally admitted and Finny finally accepted the fact that his first injury was caused by Gene. "I believe you. It's okay because I understand and I believe you. You've already shown me and I believe you" (Knowles 191). While having Finny understand has taken pressure off Gene, it hasn't gotten rid of his guilt of belief that this is all his fault. During surgery which was supposed to help his leg, Finny dies "...from the marrow of his bone flowing down his blood stream to his heart" (Knowles 194). Gene believes he doesn't have the right to cry. He was the one who initially injured Finny and all the events that occurred after that were because of Finny's injury. To Gene, Finny's funeral felt like his own. Gene has so much guild building up inside him that he believes he can't cry because his death (in his opinion) was all his fault.

Does Finny's death surprise you? Why or why not? Does it seem like a logical climax for the novel? Is it the climax? (McKay)

The death of Finny in the story, A Separate Peace, was extremely shocking. From the beginning of the novel, I could tell there was some reason Gene was visiting the old school, especially the staircase, and now we know why, he went to the staircase as a “reminder” of Finny. I did not think that Finny passing away was the reason for him going to the staircase in the first place, I thought it was going to be something a lot less extreme. My prediction was that he was going to the staircase to remind himself of a good pastime of him and his friends.

The death of Finny is a logical climax to the novel because it shows how much each of the boys really care for eachother. “I believe you, It's okay because I understand and believe you. You've already shown me and I believe you.” (Knowles 191), Finny’s last words, show the relationship between the boys. Even though Gene had moved the limb of the tree, and had caused his friend a broken leg, Finny forgave Gene, Like we had heard in the beginning of the novel: Gene was his best friend. Finny “Believed” (Knowles 191) that his friend did not do that intentionally, “that it was just some kind of blind impulse.” (Knowles 191) This is a logical climax due to the events that have occurred, and how the boys reacted to it, these boys were truly best friends. Gene realized this only after his friend's death.

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. (Nicholas)

If Finny had survived his operation, he and Gene would certainly remain friends. After the second accident but before Finny dies, he realizes the truth of how Gene caused the first accident. Because of this, Finny struggles to understand Gene’s motivation, whether or not he did it purposely although deep inside he knows Gene did. When he saw Gene in the window, Finny is driven by confusion, and this results in him releasing his anger at his friend. Gene, on the other hand, was full of fear for not knowing how Finny would react upon his appearance. This was also a fear for their friendship; Gene still wants and frankly needs Finny as a friend. When Finny was first being carried off, Gene held back from helping because he thought, "Phineas had thought of me as an extension of himself" (Knowles 180). Gene knows that if Finny accepts that it was all an accident, their freindship would be spared. Finny inside despertly wants to keep their friendship, but feels guilty about his attempted attack on Gene through the window. At the same time, he fears that Gene jounced the limb because of a hidden hatred he kept stored away. When Gene the next day pleads him to understand that it was just a sudden impulse that made him jounce the limb, Finny is sighing in releif on the inside. "I believe you. It’s okay because I understand and I believe you. You’ve already shown me and I believe you” (Knowles 191). These are the last words Finny told his friend before never speaking to him again. The quote shows that the fear, confusion and guilt that reathed around the pair since the the first accident and that was reignited by the second accident has been forgiven and resolved. But then, Finny dies and Gene is engulfed in another fresh wave of emptiness, feeling as though a part of him was torn off. In the end, the flame of their friendship that was smothered with such powerful anger and emotions was rekindled in Gene and Finny’s final conversation and would have continued to burn brightly if not for Finny’s sudden, unexpected death.