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.

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? (Amy)

Leper's return broke the bubble of isolated reality that Finny had created, which disrupted the feelings of peace at Devon, and reignited the tension between Gene and Finny. Because of Leper's naive views on the  war, he illustrated the contentment that could be achieved through ignorance. However, after returning to Devon mentally incapacitated, Leper showed the true weight that the war carried, and introduced feelings of insecurity and fear among the boys. This can be seen when Gene says, "He quietly brought to a close all his special inventions which had carried us through the winter," [Knowles 158]. This quote demonstrates how Leper's return not only removed the barrier of peace and war, by showing that the two aren't as separate as the boys had believed, for it could affect even the most content, but created a schism between Finny and Gene. In addition to separating themselves from the threat of war, they had separated themselves from conflict and the accompanying confrontations, and now that they are faced with what they had been running from, they can't hide from the truth. In addition, this quote illustrates the new meaning Leper has acquired. Although he was initially an embodiment of peace, Leper has now become a symbol of fear. This is seen when Gene says, "For if Leper was psycho it was the army which had done it to him,  and I and all of us were on the brink of the army," [Knowles 144]. Although the fear of war had been looming over their heads for quite some time, the fact that it could permeate through even the thickest walls of ignorance such as the ones Leper had surrounded himself with, meant that the war would destroy the rest of them.

Assignment #10 (152-177) 3) 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? (see pages 163-164). -Fiona

Leper represents the jolt back into reality that Finny and Gene experience once Leper returns to Devon. Gene and Finny have returned to their room when Finny reveals he saw Leper in the school halls, and saw for himself how ‘crazy’ and ‘psycho’ Leper had become. “‘Anyway,’ said Finny, ‘then I knew there was a real war on.’ ... ‘I wish you hadn’t found out. What did you have to find out for!’ We began to laugh again” (Knowles 164). What shocked Finny out of his fantasy world was seeing how the war changed shy, quirky Leper into a terrified dischargee who got Post Traumatic Stress Disorder without even going into combat. Although this is a laughing conversation - remembering how they lied to themselves about the world around them and created a dream of reality, Leper’s return also brings up details that Finny and Gene had ignored. Once they were no longer protected from reality, Finny and Gene had to face the patched-over divide in their friendship: Finny’s fall from the tree. During Brinker’s trial addressing what happened on the tree branch, Leper brings a new side to the story that could suggest that Gene bounced the limb and caused Finny’s fall, which causes Gene to once again worry about being exposed, and he feels guilty again. Leper’s return brings harsh reality and pops the bubble that is Finny and Gene’s fantasy, made up, separate peace.

Reading Assignment 10) At the top of page 155, the snowball fight culminates with everyone turning on Finny. Why does this happen here and why now? How does this moment foreshadow events later in the chapter?(Gavin)

When everyone turns on Finny at the snowball fight, it directly foreshadows how everyone turns on Gene at the assembly hall. At the snowball fight Finny makes alliances and the breaks them and turns on the people on his team to try and beat them. This happens here and now because this resembles everyone turning on Gene. This is the same thing that happened with Gene at the assembly hall because Gene and Finny's friendship resembles an alliance and how Gene lied about what happen resembles Finny lying about being on the other kids teams. Finny helps Gene out in the assembly by saying, "You were down at the bottom, weren't you?" (Knowles 170). Gene was the firs to help Finny out in the snowball fight, just like how Finny helped Gene about by lying to Brinker, so that Gene is not accused of pushing Finny. This also shows that Finny still will lie about anything to save Gene because he wants their friendship to continue. The snowball fight resembles the war and how Gene thought he had finally found peace, but right when he gets back to Devon he begins a new war with Brinker about what actually happened too Finny. This foreshadows hows everyone turns on Gene at the assembly hall, and Finny turning on Gene in the snowball fight may be foreshadowing to Finny turning on Gene, and thinking Gene meant to push him.

Why does this happen here and why now? How Assignment #10: At the top of page 155, the snowball fight culminates with everyone turning on Finny.does this moment foreshadow events later in the chapter? (Geoffrey Goose)

The snowball fight culminates with everyone turning of Finny simply because he turned on them in order to "heighten the disorder" (Knowles, 154).  He does this, as he always does, to stand out from the others. As the snowball fight was in its peak Finny was taken down by the force of many snowballs. "Slowly, with a steadily widening grin, he was driven down beneath a blizzard of snowballs (Knowles, 155). This event foreshadows the "trial" led by Brinker and the others. Just as Phineas was taken down by the blizzard of snowballs, he is emotional tackled by the harsh questioning of Brinker, leading him to come to the conclusion that Gene jounced the limb of the tree on purpose. The reader knows this because of his breakdown at the end of page 177, "I had never seen Finny crying, 'You collect every f------ing fact there is in the world!' He plunged out the doors" (Knowles, 177). Clearly here the questioning and Leper's testimony has gotten to his head. The one big difference here is when he turned on everybody during the snowball fight it had humorous intentions, apposed to here where the sole intention was to hurt Finny, and make it clear to him what Gene really did.  

3.) What causes Gene to attack Leper? The answer needs to involve a literal and figurative exploration of what occurs here (middle 145) (Ben K.)

Gene is caused to attack Leper because all of the guilt he has trapped inside of him from hurting his "best friend" was released. At this point in the book, the incident of Gene pushing Finny out of the tree and harming him for life is far behind, however the guilt Gene felt was never fully released. One can tell that this guilt in his body has been needing to come out for a while. "I swung on the younger boy. 'What did I do then?' I demanded ... 'then what happened, Sherlock Holmes?' His eyes swung guiltily back and forth." (90) This quote is an example of Gene's guilt being released, but on a smaller scale. Another example of Gene's guilt being released is when Gene is visiting Finny in the hospital. "'Hit me!' I looked at him. 'Hit me! You can't even get up! You can't even get near me!'" (70) This quote is showing how Gene, once again on a smaller scale, attacks people when confronted about his incident with Finny. "'...like that time you pushed Finny out of the tree.' I sprang out of the chair. 'You stupid crazy bastard!'" (145) When this happened, all of Gene's anger, all of his guilt, all of his sorrow sprung out of his thoughts and moved into his actions. Whenever confronted about Finny's injury, Gene, almost subconsciously, attacks the person who confronted him. Gene's guilt was a balloon, and after too much air being sent into him, he finally exploded. His guilt is what caused him to attack Leper.

Assignment 9 (138 - 151): Since Leper is “section 8” (“for nuts in the service”), explore the irony of Leper’s statement “always were a savage underneath.” Take into consideration that Leper contacted Gene. Why is this important?(Eve)

Leper calling Gene "savage underneath" is ironic because at Devon, Leper was always considered weird and crazy while Gene was thought of as a normal person.  Leper was always described as different.  He liked to collect snails and want skiing to look for a beaver dam while all the other boys worked.  Leper didn't have many friends and he considered him and Gene to be very close.  He even signed his name as "your best friend" on the telegram he sent.  Gene was treated as an ordinary person.  He was brought up the ranks of popularity by his friendship with Finny.  He was considered ordinary.  Leper was dismissed from the war by a section 8 discharge which means he was considered psycho or crazy.  Out of the two of them, Leper would be the one considered savage.  When leper says to Gene that he was "always were a savage underneath" (145) he was talking about Genes aggression and need to "find something deadly in everything he wanted" (knowles 101).  Somehow, Leper knew that Gene push Finny out of the tree on purpose and understood why. He know that Gene is psycho even though everyone else can't see it.

Explore the difference between what ‘escape’ means to Gene as opposed to what it means to Leper (Julia)

While Gene is traveling to Leper's house, he is trying to convince himself that when Leper said that he had "escaped" he meant that he escaped the enemy spies, but in reality, Leper had escaped the section eight discharge. To Leper, escaping means that he can have a future. "You can't get a job after that. Everybody wants to see your discharge, and when they see a Section Eight they look at you kind of funny--" (Knowles 144). To Leper if he excepted the Section Eight discharge, he would be demolishing his future. On his way to Leper's house, Gene is remembering all the things Brinker and Chet were saying in the Butt Room, and how Leper was some sort of war hero. To Gene, hearing the reality of what "escaped" means to Leper, his separate peace about what war was like was annihilated. The ideas that Gene and Leper each have about Leper's "escape" are very different. To Leper, his escape was being able to fulfill a purposeful life. To Gene, Leper's escape is Leper getting away from the enemy spies.

Assignment 9 (138-151): What causes Gene to attack Leper? The answer needs to involve a literal and figurative exploration of what occurs here (middle 145). (Ben)

Gene attacks Leper because Leper accused Gene of knocking Finny out of the tree, and because Leper shatters the separate peace that Gene and Finny have created. When Leper was in the army, he admitted a lot to himself. One of those things was that Gene was a savage underneath. He believes that Gene knocked Finny out of the tree. Leper says, "Like that time you crippled him for life" (Knowles 145). Gene immediately kicks Leper over his chair. The accusation of Gene hurting Finny is the first reason why Gene attacks Leper. Leper brings back the guilt that Gene has almost fully put behind him. The other reason why Gene attacks Leper is because Leper makes Gene realize the reality. Gene loses his separate peace when he sees Leper in this state of illness. Gene has known the Leper that loves nature, and, in a matter of weeks, he has become psycho. Finny and Gene think that they can stay out of adulthood forever. When Gene sees Leper's madness, his peace is immediately gone forever, because Gene realizes that the war he thought was a distant future, is actually right in front of him.

Assignment 9 (138-151): Explore the difference between what ‘escape’ means to Gene as opposed to what it means to Leper (see usage in context on the middle of page 143).(Myles)

Escape means much more to Leper than it does to Gene in the sense that Leper has escaped from what he thinks is his doom. Because Gene has never really taken Leper seriously, as illustrated throughout the book, Gene is unable to grasp the true intention of Leper's words. It is intention because the word has a different meaning to many people. On page 143, Gene says " Than you 'escaped'." This shows that escape has a different meaning to him than the meaning that Leper is implying. Later Gene says "You don't escape from the army." He and Leper are on an different side of the word. Leper is all prison escape while Gene just wants to believe that there is nothing wrong, that Leper is just on temporary discharge. This also ties in to how Finny won't believe there is a war. Gene and Finny just want to stay safe and tight in their bubble, and it is a shock to them when anything that could disturb this bubble comes along, something such as Leper.

Assignment #8 (123-137): Leper is the first of the boys to enlist. Based on the conversations and narration in the previous few chapters, what about this is ironic? (Sharon Pongnon)

It is ironic that Leper is enlisting in the war because he always seems to be in his own world. In earlier readings Leper is least interested in what everyone else is doing, and focuses on different topics which others think isn't important. "...his smile was wide and unfocused, as though not for me alone but for anyone and anything which wished to share this pleasure with him." (Knowles 99). Leper was the innocence of the book, he was like the breath of fresh air everyone needed in this confusing book. In the first few chapters of the book, the readers could get a sense that Leper wasn't popular, and he seemed to be a bit of a "scaredy cat". "Everything has to evolve or else it perishes" (Knowles 125). Leper isn't only talking about himself but for everyone at Devon. He's saying that everything in life has to grow up and face the real world; to keep on living. Enlisting in the war is the way for Leper to grow up and leave his own "separate peace". 

When Leper says "Everything has to evolve or else it perishes" (Knowles 125), do you think this is foreshadowing? 

Assignment #8) Re-read the last paragraph on the bottom of 136 and on to 137. Paraphrase what Gene is saying and interpret the usage of “separate peace.” What is a “separate peace”? Why is included here? What is it’s significance? (Emily)

A “separate peace” is Gene and Finny’s fictional world with no war or competition where Gene escapes his guilt. After the Winter Carnival when the boys are joking around, Gene explains that Finny is under the influence “of his own inner joy” (Knowles 136). This means that Gene and Finny are happy with their lives and they are in a moment of contentment. The characters create their own separate world away from reality. This separate world is different from the real world because there’s no enmity between Gene and Finny. After Finny encourages Gene to show off, Gene thinks, “… for on this day even the schoolboy egotism of Devon was conjured away…” (Knowles 136). From Gene’s point of view, the competitiveness is gone in his peaceful world. In their world, Gene becomes a new person because he doesn’t feel guilty and he does the wild ad crazy things that Finny convinces him to do. When Gene thinks about their peaceful world, he says, “It wasn't the cider which made me surpass myself, it was this liberation we had torn from the gray encroachments of 1943, the escape we had concocted, this afternoon of momentary, illusory, special and separate peace” (Knowles 136-137). Finny builds up this illusion of peace in an imaginary world, which causes the characters to escape from the war and reality. This is important because the war is coming closer to them as they try to stay away from it. Gene and Finny have accomplished their own world separate from the real one.