HENRY BAMFORD'S Assignment 9 Question 4

4.) 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?

In this reading, Leper says, “ ...always were a savage underneath.” (Knowles 145) several times to Gene when Gene is at his house. This is ironic because while Leper is supposed to be psycho, he's right, Gene is savage. Gene destroyed Finny's best quality, his athletics, because of his own jealousy. What's also ironic about Leper's statement is it's an outburst of tremendous emotion that the reader has never seen with Leper. Usually, Leper was calm and kept strong feelings to himself, but now he's furious, laughing, and crying all at the same time while telling Gene he's a savage. Leper has been bottling his true thoughts and emotions inside for the entirety of the story. Leper contacted Gene at the end of the last chapter. Leper needed Gene to come to his house to let all of his emotions and the truth of what happened at the army out. Maybe Leper will finally return to normal because of this interaction. Everyone at Devon was making jokes that Leper was leading army's attack, but in reality, the army is hurting Leper.

Henry Bamford

Assignment 8, Question 2, Lachlan McGrath

2) 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?

There are several things ironic about Leper enlistment. Firstly, Leper criticized the mountain skiers for "never getting to see the trees or anything" (Leper 95). However after seeing the Finnish ski troops flying down the mountain his view of skiing had changed. He realized that fast skiing is there for a reason, he also noticed how it was "all right to miss seeing trees and the countryside and all other things whne you've got to be in a hurry" (Leper 125). Secondly, before Leper's realization of his dream to participate in the ski troops, you would have never guessed that he would have been one to enlist in the army. He was "generally making little sketches of birds and trees in the back of his notebook"(Knowles 93). This supports my view that Leper used to be in a world of his own never seeming to have a worry in his mind. The irony involved in Leper's enlist was also a further tearind down of the "separate peace".

Assignment 9, question 1 Chris Bornhorst

1.) Gene spends the first part of the chapter traveling to Leper’s house. Choose two or three phrases of description about the landscape (location, weather, temperature) and explore how Knowles is using them. Why does he include these details here and why at this time? What does it reveal about Gene at this time?

In this chapter, Gene travels to Leper's house after he escapes from the war. When Gene is arriving at Leper's house, he describes at being warm and comfortable. ", and the houses are fragile havens, unforgettably comfortable, simple though they are, just because of their warmth"(Knowles, 139). In this quote Gene is telling the reader that Leper's area in which he lives in is cold on the outside but warm and comfortable on the inside. This relates to Gene because that is his personality and who he is as a person. Also, he has described the landscape in which Leper's house is on. He says that it is a white snow covering the hills, and there was sun shining down onto the land. He describes it as a beautiful place. John Knowles uses these details to describe how pretty the land is, and then how within the land there is a huge war going on and a man who has escaped from it. Gene also uses the word glory which relates to the poems that we read in class. Glory is one of the things you get from war, but death and fear are others. John Knowles uses the landscape and details to describe the beauty and hate of the land and war. He also uses it to describe Gene.

Assignment 9, Question 3- Sophie Attie

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

Gene attacks Leper because Leper accuses Gene of making Finny crippled. Leper has gone completely nuts in this chapter and he doesn’t think about what he says to Gene. He starts getting mad at Gene and then he makes it seem like he wants to make Gene feel bad. He acts like it’s no big deal since he laughs while he accuses Gene. Leper is wondering if Gene even thought about him then he dropped the bomb, “like that time you knocked Finny out of the tree.” (Knowles p. 145). Of course Gene get’s mad and calls Finny’s name but Leper just keeps going as if he doesn’t care about Gene anymore, “Like that time you crippled him for life… Laughing and crying he lay with his head on the floor and hiss knees up.” (Knowles p. 145). Leper just laughs uncontrollably for no reason. He sounds completely nuts here and he keeps teasing Gene so eventually Gene did attack Leper because Leper was getting on his nerves. Gene attacks Leper because he’s mad that Leper is like this, he doesn’t want Leper to be like this he wants him to be his old self that played with snails, it’s almost as if Gene is scared of Leper. He is scared his friend has gone nuts so he attacks Leper as if telling him to snap out of it.

Assignment 7, question 5, Quinn Egan

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?

The significance of Gene and Finny's training is that now that Finny will not be able to play sports so now he wants Gene to accomplish his athletic goals for him. "Your going to be the big star now"(Knowles 114). While Gene is being trained athletically by Finny, Finny is also being tutored by Gene so he can keep his grades up. This training each other shows that maybe there friend ship isn't as bad as they believe it is. Because if Finny knows he can not succeed in something he would rather have his friend succeed in it. That reflects positively on their friendship. Gene is also using his time to study to help Finny with his school work so he can succeed in school. This training that Finny is doing to Gene is looking like training for the war. For example when Gene was running the corse in the morning one of the teachers at Devon thought he was training for the war.

HENRY BAMFORD'S Assignment 7 Question 3

3.) How does Finny feel about the war? How do you know this? Why does he act this way? Does it feel consistent with his character? (see 108-116)

In this reading, Finny seems to have changed greatly from his past self. Earlier in the reading, Finny was always cheerful and seemed to think only about the present. Now, Finny seems to be thinking that World War II is some sort of conspiracy to stop people like himself from doing what they would like and keep them in their place. Finny says, “Don't be a sap (Gene), there isn't any war” (Knowles 115). Later, he goes on to say that some other periods in history, like Prohibition and the Great Depression, were also created for the same purpose. The old Finny would never come up with something so dark and complicated as this. He may have these thoughts because Gene and Brinker are thinking of enlisting early while leaving him at Devon, injured. The purpose of his WWII is to keep the people who are young, like Finny, in their place and he feels this is happening to him. Finny is lying to himself and it might catch up to him. Maybe, later in the book, Finny will realize how crazy what he is.

Henry Bamford

Chapter 6, pg's 86-102, Question 1 by Lachlan McGrath

1.) Explore the significance/symbolism of the Nagaumsett. (You may have to refer to earlier readings to supplement your answer).

The significance of the Nagaumsett river is very subtle but quite defined. On page 86 Knowles says "I had never been in it before; it seemed appropriate that my baptism there had taken place on the first day of this winter session". This quote shows us that the first days of school without Finny will change Gene forever. This suggestion of "baptism" is a large contrast to the description of the Nagaumsett. Unlike the Devon river, The Nagaumsett required you to shower after going in it. This represents, to the responder, that Gene's purity and innocence is lost after Finny's tragic event. This is shown through the inpurity of the water. This theme is actually explained on the back of the book. It states that the incident "Banishes the innocence of these boys and there world". This now proves that Gene and his time at Devon will never be the same.

Assignment #6 Question #5 Victor

5. How does Gene feel about war and enlisting in this reading (look closely at pages 100-102)?

The sudden shift in the book was imminent, yet we did not expect Gene to have the need to enlist. We didn't expect Phineas to be home either. War to Gene was something that people were forced to join, not a decision. Brinker states, "I'm giving it up , I'm going to enlist tomorrow" (Knowles 100). This is strange for the reader, because in a way he is giving up on life as if he had nothing to lose. As if his future was nothing without war. When Gene thinks of war as his duty, everything in the book turns around. Gene is a follower if it's Finny, a troop leader in Europe. Gene is too easily influenced. Gene doesn't fell good or bad, he just simply knows that Devon without Finny just isn't the same. The tongue-twister, Finny back at home, Geneis in shock. Everything can change up to now. We don't know if Gene's will for war will be influenced by Phineas.

Assignment 5 Question 3 Julia Burnett

Explore the significance/symbolism of the Devon River (you may have to refer to earlier readings to supplement your answer)

The Devon River, which runs beside the Devon school, symbolizes innocence and purity and is yet another way the author, John Knowles, uses nature to describe Gene’s relationship with the war. The Devon River is a clear, freshwater way that is hidden by a row of trees and bushes separating it from the school. The boys, who have grown up at the Devon School, have been shielded from the horrors occurring in the world, just as the trees shield the river. Gene and his friends had played in the Devon River ever since they were young, every year moving further upstream. As Gene reflects, “ We were still calmly, numbly reading Virgil and playing tag farther downstream” (Knowles 15). Although the river is safe and inviting, it abruptly turns into a waterfall, plummeting into the “turbid” Naguamsett River. At the time, the Devon School was not only educating its students, but also preparing them to fight in World War II, and, as they got older, they got closer and closer to being drafted. Every year the boys venture further upstream, getting closer to the waterfall, and to the age that would make them eligible to join the Army. The Naguamsett River, which merges via a waterfall with the Devon River is cluttered with seaweed and marshland, clouded with mud and pungent with the smell of sulfur. It leads to the ocean with a strong outward current. Gene’s opinion of the state of the river is not fond, as he describes it as, “ugly, saline, fringed with marsh, mud and seaweed…governed by unimaginable factors like the Gulf Stream, the Polar Ice Cap, and the moon” (Knowles 76). The rough state of the water is very much like the exterior of a soldier, wounded and bloody. The affect that strong outside forces, such as the moon, have on the current of the river is very much like the affect of war and battle on the mind of a soldier, controlling it and taking over its power to think independently or positively. As Gene said, “ The Devon School was astride these two rivers” showing that the school was caught between letting the boys remain pure and innocent, shielding them from the terrors of the world, and preparing them to serve their country overseas (Knowles 76). As Gene enters senior year, John Knowles describes the threatening reality of a future at war for Gene and his classmates. The Devon River, which ends in a waterfall to the “turbid” Naguamsett River, represents the childhood and future of the Devon schoolboys, who were hidden from the horrors of the war and negative influences in order to remain pure and innocent, even though the threat of a future at war was beginning to shatter the naiveté of their childhood.

Pages 40-60, Question 3 Julia Burnett

On pages 52-54, how does Gene’s view of their relationship change? (Be sure to explain his usage of enmity). What does he think of it? How do you know this? Why does he feel this way? Do you think it is accurate? Why or why not?

After Gene learns that Finny is jealous of his success in academics, he looks at their relationship as a competition more than a friendship, attempting to decide who is the loser and who is the winner based on academic and athletic achievement. No longer is he trying to catch up to Finny in the competition that is their current friendship, but now he believes that Finny’s jealousy condones his own, saying “You are even in enmity. You are coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone.” (Knowles 53). This newfound knowledge about Finny provided comfort for Gene, allowing him to admit, “You did hate him for breaking that school swimming record,” and giving him the courage to change his target focus, working to excel in academics and earn the title of valedictorian (Knowles 53). As the chapter continues, readers discover that Gene is looking at his relationship with Finny as war, explaining, “while he was a very poor student I was a pretty good athlete, and when everything was thrown into the scales they would in the end tilt definitely toward me. The new attacks of studying were his emergency measures to save himself. I redoubled my efforts.” (Knowles 55). This competition has driven him to a hatred of Finny, however Gene expressed his emotional struggle with the status of their relationship and of the current status of the world, saying, “It was hard to remember in the heady and sensual clarity of these mornings; I forgot whom I hated and who hated me. I wanted to break out crying from stabs of hopeless joy, or intolerable promise, or because these mornings were full of beauty for me, because I knew of too much hate to be contained in a world like this.” (Knowles 55). John Knowles, the author of the book, used Gene and Finny’s relationship to describe the world at that point in their boyhood, a world filled with war between nations, uncertainty of what will come next and hatred of those different or of those who dare to disagree. According to Gene’s description of their relationship, Finny and him are at war, , as he fears what will become of their relationship due to grades and athletic prizes causing him to develop a hatred for Finny, although it is hard to continue as they get along so well. Gene’s relationship with Finny has become a reflection on the world around them, one filled with turmoil, hatred, uncertainty and war.