The horrible vision of wartime psychosis, so close after Finny's separate peace of the Carnival, terrifies Gene, and he abandons his friend in the snow, fleeing him, literally, as he would a leper. ', 'It struck me then that I was injuring him again. While Finny is not up to hearing about the betrayal by his friend, Gene disowning lets himself off the hook. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud. He remembers thinking back then that: Gene goes on to enlist, but never sees the war. While he imagined sports and athleticism as things that came easy to Finny, it turns out that he actually worked for it and that when Gene applied himself by allowing Finny to train him to fulfill Finny's dreams, he could be athletic as well. From that point forward, the lines between Finny's and Gene's identities begin to blur. Gene remembers. Gene spends a great deal of time trying to justify his actions and find someplace to lay the blame, when in reality, it is time for him to take some responsibility. To keep silent about this amazing happening deepened the shock for me. This weird New England affirmative—maybe it I spelled “aie-huh”—always made me laugh, as Finny knew, so I had to laugh, which made me feel less sarcastic and less scared. | 2 Study.com has thousands of articles about every I was not of the same quality as he" (51). To keep silent about this amazing happening deepened the shock for me. We meet him fifteen years after the events he will describe, as he returns to the Devon School, where he attended his junior and senior year of high school during World War II. 'Yes, I guess I have been,' Gene responds. Mr. Ludsbury is the house master of Finny and Gene ’s dorm during the regular academic calendar. 's' : ''}}. (including. I was drenched; anybody could see it was time to come in out of the rain. By using our site, you acknowledge that you have read and understand our, Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Scribner edition of. But I was used to finding something deadly in things that attracted me; there was always something deadly lurking in anything I wanted, anything I loved. More than anything, A Separate Peace is a novel about friendship—its joys, its benefits, its limits. Earn Transferable Credit & Get your Degree. All of these years later, Gene is haunted by his past and is read… The main character and narrator is Gene Forrester. It was forced on me as I sat chilled through the chapel service, that this probably vindicated the rules of Devon after all, wintry Devon. One of his final thoughts is comparing his service in the war to his time in school: Gene is his own worst enemy as he attends school with a best friend that most of the other boys at Devon would love to call their own. Create an account to start this course today. She has a Master of Education degree. Gene is the main character and narrator of the John Knowles novel, 'A Separate Peace'. ... What Gene does by causing the accident is to turn the tree jump into a jealous perversion of that sport. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. 20 of the best book quotes from Gene Forrester #1 ... A Separate Peace. 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. Get the unbiased info you need to find the right school. Gene understands that Finny tends to take the contrary view of things and to question the status quo. A Separate Peace Quotes. 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. Sciences, Culinary Arts and Personal The jealousy Gene feels grows so strong that Gene ends up jouncing Finny off of the tree, injuring him and destroying his sports career. You are even in enmity. I didn’t care what I said to him now; it was myself I was worried about. Nobody is eager, ...like admitting it. It occurred to me that this could be an even deeper injury than what I had done before. They were barred from me, as though when Dr. Stanpole said, 'Sports are finished' he had been speaking of me. '. If you broke the rules, then they broke you. ', 'Still it had come to an end, in the last long rays of daylight at the tree, when Phineas fell. thankful change youth love #2. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case. Going on, he admits that he wasn’t sure what to think when, Late that night, Brinker and three others burst into, Some of the other boys jump in at this point, pointing out that, ...he remembers what happened. I found a single sustaining thought. The war would be deadly all right. {{courseNav.course.mDynamicIntFields.lessonCount}} lessons The thought was, You and Phineas are even already. ...their way back to the dorms after a successful morning of training, Mr. Ludsbury stops, ...bleak winter Saturday, Finny declares that the boys should hold “The Devon Winter Carnival.” With, ...trumpet, everyone drinks cider, and Finny dances atop one of the tables, twisting out what, The “Christmas location” is Leper’s home in Vermont, to which. Have you ever had an inner struggle with parts of yourself you're not so proud of? In many ways, he feels as if he has been living it for a few years already and has run out of hate. ...Finny in a chair and assembles a group to carry him away. [...]I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character again. Bring peace to your grade and separate yourself from the masses with this A Separate Peace study guide. This, ...he’s heard and speaking patriotically about what’s happening. Gene makes his way through several identities in an attempt to define himself in relation to his surroundings. ', Finny says, 'You've been pretty lazy all along, haven't you?' By John Knowles. ', 'I wanted no more of sports. He thinks. Services. ...trumpet, everyone drinks cider, and Finny dances atop one of the tables, twisting out what Gene refers to as his own “choreography of peace.” In all, the carnival is … A Separate Peace. As the final exams of the summer session approach, ...tree and greet the other members of the Suicide Society, Finny suggests that he and, ...innocent summer in 1942 should have to face such pain and hardship. Across the hall […] where Leper Lepellier had dreamed his way through July and August amid sunshine and dust motes and windows through which the ivy had reached tentatively into the room, here Brinker Hadley had established his headquarters. So the war swept over like a wave at the seashore, gathering power and size as it bore on us, overwhelming in its rush, seemingly inescapable, and then at the last moment eluded by a word from Phineas; I had simply ducked, that was all, and the wave’s concentrated power had hurtled harmlessly overhead. It is not until after Gene has purposely knocked Finny out of a tree and causes extensive injury to his leg that Gene begins to realize he misjudged the situation. Gene thinks he should redo the race officially and get his name … Walking away with, Finny is on crutches, but this doesn’t shock, The next morning, Brinker bounds into the room and is about to ask, ...icy walkways and treacherous berms of snow. ', '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.' ', 'I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. “Aey-uh,” he said. [...] 'I decided to put on his clothes.' With the hindsight of fifteen years, Gene remembers the first time his friend Finny convinced him to climb a dangerously tall tree over a river. Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb. To enlist. I found it. It made Finny seem too unusual for—not friendship, but too unusual for rivalry. I didn't trust myself in them, and I didn't trust anyone else. Gene reflects on the moment Finny breaks a school swimming record, but in front of Gene alone. . Quote 1. Not wanting to explain his thoughts about sports to Finny, Once in the Butt Room, Brinker continues to joke about, ...“school for photographers of beaver dams” when there’s a world war happening. Of course, he’s athletic on his crutches, but. Gene remembers. Select a subject to preview related courses: Gene also saw that he had a way of sabotaging things with inventions of his mind. Gene reflects on Finny’s rebellious personality. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. Important quotes by Finny in A Separate Peace. Working Scholars® Bringing Tuition-Free College to the Community, 'What was I doing up here anyway? He remembered thinking. flashcard set{{course.flashcardSetCoun > 1 ? But I was used to finding something deadly in things that attracted me.