Chapter 8: What do Gene’s observations about the changes in Finny reveal about Finny? About Gene? (109-114)

In this chapter, Finny is enraged of not being able to what he used able to do and takes out that anger on people such as Finny. Now that Finny is back, I believe he wants everything his way because he believes just because he is cripple you need to do what he says. Gene is trying to take care of him and just make Finny feel the best he can. Finny is more dissatisfied than ever in the book and Gene is friendlier towards Finny.

Gene is now being more arrogant and is whining about everything. For example on page 104, “Oh Christ, it’s not made up. What is all this crap about no maids.” In this quote he is just thinking about himself and not about the people in the war. In this chapter he repeatedly says that there is no war going on as if he did not care about the war. He is also being more commanding to Gene because every day he tells him to get his crutches as if he was a slave and he made Gene miss a class. Finny is criticizing Gene too much; for example, he makes fun of the way he dresses and gets angry at Gene because he quits crew. I think Finny is trying to transform Gene in to him. He was also furious when Gene told him that he was going to enlist into the war. Finny is still the same old Finny, but he gotten a little worse. I truly believe that all the frustration in Finny’s head is getting to him and making him grumpier and hating is life more. I believe Finny is also scared because he knows that sooner or later Gene will go to war and might never see his friend again.

Gene knows that Finny is angry because of all the difficulties he has moving from place to place. He knows that Finny needs support to get through this depressing era for Finny. In this chapter Gene is like Finny’s slave because he does everything that Finny commands. I believe he is doing this because he knows he caused it and feels bad for him, and he knows he has to be there for him. There are many moments in this chapter when Gene comforts Finny when he is getting angry. In this chapter I believe Gene is caring for Finny like a maid and is trying to make the friendship between each other better. Gene is trying to be the best friend he can possibly be for Finny.

Have you ever had a friend that has changed for the worse? How did the friendship turn out? What do you think is the best way to solve a problem like this?

Chapter #8 (pages 117-120) What effect will Finny's ambition to train Gene for the Olmpics have on their friendship?

Finny all along had an athletic goal of performing in the ’44 Olympics but that goal was shattered along with his leg when he fell off the tree, PG 117 “And now I’m not sure… in shape by 1944.So I’m going to coach you for them instead.” At first when I read this I thought it was a joke, so did Gene but Finny didn’t. So that shows that Finny actually believes the Olympics were a possibility. Then on PG 120 Gene somehow shown that he had athletic qualities with that six in the morning run, and it also mentions Finny was determined to achieve this goal. Finny wants to get to the Olympics through Gene by coaching him.

So if Gene and Finny are changing, Gene into the athlete and Finny into the coach the friendship would change. But with the war going on that dream will be very hard or impossible to achieve. But with this goal setting the bar very hard for Gene the relationship will change; Gene will become the athlete when it is usually Finny.

Do you think Gene will be able to achieve this lofty goal of the ’44 Olympics under the coaching of Finny?

Will this hurt, tighten, or change the their friendship?

How do you think the war will effect this goal will it destroy, help, or make it more difficult?

Chapter #8 (pages 103-122) What does Finny and Gene's conversation about enlisting show about their relationship?

When Finny learns that Gene is considering enlisting in the war, Finny immediately thinks that Gene is deserting him. He becomes upset and tries to divert the conversation by changing the topic. Finny changes the focus of the discussion from war to showers in an attempt to hide his astonishment, but Gene sees through it. While Finny is certainly surprised by the fact that he may be losing his friend to the war, Gene is also just as surprised at realizing what he means to Finny. On page 108 Gene comes to the conclusion that " Phineas was shocked at the idea of me leaving. In some way he needed me... He wanted me around," and that is when Gene understood that he would not be enlisting, and that he was going to stick with Finny.

The reaction that Finny has to the whole situation shows Gene that Finny needs him there. Their relationship used to make Gene feel as though he was blessed to have Finny as a friend. Now, it seems like the tables have turned and that Finny, not Gene, is depending on this friendship.

Do you think that Finny secretly always needed Gene, or that this is a recent development?

Is Gene going to regret his decision about now enlisting in the army?

How does this scene (pg. 107-108) blow open a new door into the relationship?

This section is explosive! Finny is just getting back and now he has to deal with Gene telling him that he is willing to enlist in the war. Finny obviously feels hurt because Gene didn’t even tell him. What makes it worse is that Gene was planning to do this before Finny got back to school. Finny reveals his surprise when he says, “‘Enlist!’ cried Finny at the same time. His large and clear eyes turned with an odd expression on me.”(pg. 107) By Gene getting that look from Finny, it reveals that Finny is completely caught off guard by the decision that Gene and Brinker made to enlist. Finny reveals that he feels that he is in charge of Gene because when he wasn’t told of the choice, it was as though he had just been betrayed by his best friend.

Gene described how Finny reacted to the thought of him leaving. “‘I can manage all right,’ Finny repeated with a set face.”(pg. 108) Finny is trying to get under Gene’s skin by saying, “Oh yeah. I can do perfectly well with or without you!” Finny starts to reel a bit and realize what he is putting his best friend through. First, though it is debatable, he makes Finny fall out of the tree; now he’s leaving an injured Finny to go to a war he didn’t originally support.

Gene tries to go back on what he said and argue with Brinker that he won’t enlist. They go back and forth with Gene saying that he wouldn’t enlist even if Brinker was related to some famous person in the war. They go to the point where Finny thinks up a new nick name for Brinker. Gene is obviously regretting what he has said so he tries to make it up, but he doesn't do a good job of it.

Why does Finny try to prove that he can take care of himself even with a shattered leg? Why does Gene suddenly go back on what he had first planned?

What is the significance of Gene and Finny’s training? How is related to their conversations about war? What does it reveal about their relationship?

Finny's back! He has returned to Devon and is sharing a room with Gene. On the first day of classes Finny wants to skip class. He promised that he would be good about grades, but he wanted to see Devon. Finny wanted to see how Devon has changed and wants to see the gym. He and Gene take the long quarter mile walk over ice to the gym. Once they get there they went to the locker room. They walked by the trophy case. Finny thought back to how he wanted to be in the Olympics for 1944, but now that he cannot do that, he wants Gene to. Thus, the training begins.

Gene and Finny's training is significant in many ways. It shows the determination of the two of them to reach the goal of the olympics. Finny feels it at first, and when Gene finishes his race course, he breaks through. "Then, for no reason at all, I felt magnificent. It was as though my body until that instant had simply been lazy, as though the aches and exhaustion were all imagined, created from nothing in order to keep me from truly exerting myself. Now my body seemed to say, 'Well, if you must have it, here!' and an accession of strength came flooding through me." (p. 120) It reveals how Finny wants Gene to do good in both athletics, and that all he wants to do is support him. A scene that stood out to me was when Finny told Gene to start doing 30 chin-ups. At first Finny probably expected Gene to end up doing 10, maybe 15 at the most, but even Gene was surprised when he did all 30. It wasn't just Gene responsible for doing the chin-ups, it was Finny too, urging him on to keep going. I think that this reveals how supportive and helpful they are to each other. They know each other so well that they both know what they are capable of. I think that that is key in a friendship, and can show a lot about how close together the friends are. This chapter reminded me a lot of the training scene in the movie Rocky. It had the same kind of power. What do you think gave Gene the strength to finish the race fast, and to do all 30 chin-ups?

Assignment #5 (72-85): 1.) Explore the significance of the fight with Quackenbush. Why does it happen? What exactly sets Gene off? How is related to h

The fight started with Gene slapping Quackenbush across the face after Gene was called a maimed son-of-a-b****. They fall into the river still fighting and as Gene is leaving he says "The next time you call anybody maimed you better make sure they are first."(p.79) Gene's anger built up from being looked at and talked to by Quakenbush as if he was disabled added onto the fact that Finny wasn't with him in Devon. Ultimately the anger becomes too powerful and the situation becomes another one of Gene's acts of impulse.

Gene fought this fight for Finny and himself. "I fought that battle, that first skirmish of a long campaign for Finny."(p.79) Along with the fact that he is fighting for Finny this is foreshadowing many more fights to come. As long as Finny is gone Gene will get himself into trouble defending Finny and himself. "But it didn't feel as though I did it exactly for Phineas. I felt as though I had done it for myself." (p.80) This also shows that he not only did it for Phineas, but also did it for himself. He needed to prove that he could stick up for himself as long as Finny was gone. He felt very insecure without Finny by his side, but now realizes he can stand on his own.

What do you think this fight foreshadows for the rest of the time Finny is gone? Will Gene be focused on school when he is always trying to defend Finny? Will Finny be an inspiration or a distraction to Gene? Why? What will happen to Gene when Finny does come back?

Pages 60-71: 6.) What is guilt? Do we all have it? Is it part of being human? Can someone live guilt free?

On page 32, Finny saves Gene from a near death experience. On page 60, Gene jounces a limb that shook Finny resulting in Finny falling off and having a shattered leg. Gene thinks to himself "I spent as much time as I could alone in our room, trying to empty my mind of every thought, to forget where I was, even who I was"(page 62). In the dictionary guilt means a feeling of remorse or responsibility for some offense. Guilt can be used in many different circumstances. In this circumstance, Guilt was used in regret of a decision that Gene had during a split second moment. Just like Gene, guilt is all internal.

Everybody has guilt. Guilt doesn't have to be a big thing. Everybody has to make decisions which lead to people having regret and guilt. Gene made the decision to have Finny fall off the tree, but if he didn't maybe Finny would have even better than Gene. Then, Gene would become even more envious and forever have guilt that he was too scared to shake the tree. Guilt is a part of being human. There is no such thing as a guilt free life, but there is a way to deal with guilt which can result in guilt not taking over you.

What is the difference between guilt and regret? How will Gene try to cope with the guilt he has? What does going to Finny's house show about Gene's character. What will Gene's guilt do to affect there friendship?

Chapter 5: What is the symbolism of the fact that Finny’s leg was “shattered”?

The word shattered comes with a large amount of imagery. You think shattered glass, shattered dreams, but most importantly, you think of something that can never be put together again. If you've ever seen shattered glass, you know immediately it can never be fixed back to the way it was originally. After Gene jounced the limb and Finny fell off the tree, everything in Gene's life seemed shattered. Shattered is worse than broken; this is because broken can be fixed. Finny's shattered leg symbolizes their shattered friendship. By the end of this reading, we can tell that they are not comfortable in the presence of one another. Gene is afraid to be honest with Finny. Their trust was always broken glass, held together by glue with a few cracks, yet their trust wasn't shattered until Finny fell off the tree.

At the end of the chapter, Gene went to visit Finny in attempt to piece together what Gene already knew was a broken friendship. Finny would not allow himself to accept the fact that his best friend Gene made him fall and shattered his dreams of being an athlete. He would not allow himself to believe that all the trust he had put into his best friend was shattered. "I would have to make every move false (p. 71)", Gene tells the reader while trying to get out of the conversation. Gene is now aware of their shattered, hopeless friendship. This seems to be a foreshadow for many lies soon to come. The action Gene made can not be forgiven, and an apology will not fix this. Check out this image of shattered glass. Do you think if it were not for the tree, this friendship would have lasted? Will Gene and Finny ever be able to be good friends again? If you believe good friendships are built on trust, do you think they were great friends in the first place?

On pages 52-54, how does Gene’s view of their relationship change? Chapter 4

On page 52 of A Separate Peace, Gene asks Finny if he would mind if Gene became the head of class. Finny sarcastically says that he would kill himself out of envy, but Gene sees through his sarcasm and knows that Finny was not kidding at all. It takes Gene a minute, but he starts to see an elaborate plan that Finny created to make him better than Gene. Gene being better than Finny at academics, but still good at sports, in Finny’s mind, made Gene a better person than he is. So to stop Gene from becoming his full potential as head of class, and better than he is, Finny started dragging Gene into activities to prevent him from studying. One example of Finny preventing Gene from studying was convincing Gene to go to the beach with him. Had Gene not gone he would have been able to study for his test, but instead he went to the beach and as a result failed his test.

Gene feels tricked and let down by Finny. He believed that they were best friends and that the reason Finny would share everything with him was just out of kindness. You can tell that he feels this way because he starts to study harder and begins to compete with Chet Douglass for better grades, so there is no possible way of Finny catching up to him academically. Gene’s assumption is not accurate because later in the chapter Finny says that it is all right if he doesn’t want to come to the Super Summer Suicide Society meeting, which Gene thought was one of Finny’s ways of keeping him from studying. Do you think that Gene and Finny will grow further apart or remain friends? Is Gene imagining Finny’s plan or is it real? How will Gene’s assumption about Finny change their friendship?