There were two places Gene visited when he returned to Devon, 15 years after he graduated.The school was much different because when Gene was there, the war was going on. One place was the Academy building, and the first thing he noticed were the marble stairs. The moons in the stairs weren't very deep, which means they must be unusually hard. He didn't remember the stairs to be like that, but other than that nothing else had changed. It wasn't the building that changed, but it was Gene.
The other place he visited was the tree. Gene had a vision that the tree was huge, yet when he found it, it was much smaller then he remembered. To him it seemed like the tree had shrunk, similar to the people he considered giants of his childhood. This could be foreshadowing. I also think Knowles did this because he's trying to show the readers how you have a different perspective on life when your younger. Knowles says on page 14 " So the more things remain the same, the more they change after all." Can you relate this quote to your own life? How? How do you think these two places will affect the book?
By my house there is a rock called devil's slide. It is about fifteen feet in height but it used to look much bigger. Even though it has not changed in height I have gotten taller making it look much smaller. This is the same thing that is happening to the Gene and the tree, because he is taller the tree seems smaller because he has as well grown in height. Along with him getting taller so have the trees around the one he remembers. This makes the tree he remembers look even smaller than it used to look. These two places will affect the book because it will make the Gene realize everything is not as he remembers it.
ReplyDeleteAnnie, you made two very good observations about how the tree was smaller to Gene. Graham's example of Devil's Slide covers the first idea about the tree diminishing in height while Graham becomes bigger and stronger. The second idea of John Knowles portraying Gene having a different perspective of life at a younger age is more accurate. To an older, reflective Gene, the tree symbolizes a mere memory. To a younger, more energetic Gene, the tree symbolizes an entertaining activity of daring behavior and competition. These two places affect the book as symbols of memory and current activity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Graham was saying how when you get older and see something for the first time in a while it can seem very strange and smaller. I used to always go to a park when I was younger to go sledding in the winter. I remember the hill looking so big covered in snow so scary to go down. When I went back last winter after it had snowed a lot I remember looking at the hill and thinking it was really small. So agreeing with Graham things don't really change it is you that changes. We don't notice changes in ourselves as much though, so we think it is the other things that have changed when usually it is not. In my opinion Gene is remembering an event involving the tree and he thinks it has shrunk since then, but instead he grew.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Graham, Eli, and Indra, about how when you see something when you are younger, it seems so much bigger then when you come back to it years later, because you were so small. I can relate to this since when I was in Beginners at BB&N I thought the 6th graders were massive. I couldn't imagine being at big as them. Yet, when I was in the 6th grade, I didn't feel as big as them. Also, another example is when I was younger, I went rock climbing somewhere in New England, and it was extremely difficult for me since the rocks were too immense for me to climb. Then, years later, I went back to that spot, and it was not challenging at all. This goes to show that we always notice other things growing bigger or smaller, yet we are changing just as much. To Gene, the tree represents the fact that he has grow a considerable amount, both mentally and physically.
ReplyDeleteGoing off of what you all said, I believe the tree symbolizes something literal and something metaphorical. Eli, you talked about how the tree was a symbol of Gene in the past and in the present, while Indra spoke about how the shrinking tree related to her once large hill. Literally speaking, the tree was like Gene when he was younger and full of life. Now that it has sort of withered and lost all of its excitement it resembles Gene and how he is now. In a more metaphorical sense the tree reflects the old times, and now that Gene has come back to visit it and it is not how it once was, it's reflecting the loss of his childhood spunk.
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