Hiren Ajudia Post 3 A Separate Peace

Chapters 8-10
Lauren, the movie that you compared this book to is unfamiliar with me. I have not seen that movie; however, from your description, I can infer that the movie is similar to the book in the way that a character tries to replace a rival by trying to copy every action. Your comment on how Gene felt like he was a bigger part of Finny after trying on his clothes gave me a new perspective in relation to the situation. At first, I thought that Gene had caused harm on Finny out of hatred, but he could have also pushed his friend from the tree limb because he acted in the spur of the moment. It could have been that Gene had been meaning to tell Finny how he felt in different ways about their rivalry, but it only came out in this way. I am sure that the exchanging of his friend’s clothes had such a dramatic effect on him because that may have caused him to face reality. The incident could have acted as a reality check for Gene because he realized how his action was so dramatic. It might have made him think in a way such as “What the heck did I just do?”  Just like you mentioned, the previous section does show how guilty Gene felt thanks to his feelings towards Finny, but that feeling is shown much more in the most recent reading section. For example, when Finny returns after his healing period, the two friends are put face-to-face.

When both Finny and Gene meet again after Finny’s recovery, I think that the two boys handle the situation very well in the fact that they both try to get over the past. It seems that Finny has less of a perspective change on Gene because he behaves normally with Gene. I got the impression that Finny was anticipating Gene to do nothing without him. If I were Finny, I would have felt very hurt because unlike him, Gene had moved on and had become friends with Brinker. “I had never seen such a look in them before. After looking at me closely he said, “You’re going to enlist?” (page 93). This quote shows that Gene had not been a good friend to Finny. I say this because if he were truly thinking about his friend, he would have never decided to do something that would not have involved him. In the real world, best friends are dying to do everything together, and if for some reason one friend can’t do something, the other friend decides not to do that particular thing either, however this is not the case in the book. Gene should have given it a thought because enlisting in the war meant a lot or responsibility. Also, Finny would not have been able to do that because of his current handicapped situation.

In a way, this section also reveals how demanding Finny himself is. For one, the boy’s roaming session around the school reveals how Finny demands that Gene return his feelings towards him by also loving him. “What I mean is, I love winter, and when you really love something, and then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love” (page 96). I feel that this is the first time that Finny acknowledges the fact that he is aware of the hatred shown by Gene towards him. In terms of their relationship, I feel that this quote implies how Finny knew along that Gene had deliberately pushed him of the branch and he was willing to forget the entire incident if only Gene would return the feelings that Finny has towards him by also loving him. Also, the repeated statement about there not being a war shows how Finny likes the world to revolve around himself. By convincing the people around him that there was no war taking place but the entire incident was rather made up by fat men, Finny is trying to involve himself in the activities that the people around him were a part of. For instance, he convinced everyone that there was no war because he could not be a part of it because of his physical characteristics. I would like to mention that I thought that it was very brave of Finny to face the truth and accept the fact that his closest friend had been responsible for his deficiency. On Gene’s part, I am sure that it must have been very awkward when Finny began to train Gene to complete his unfulfilled dream of competing in the Olympics.  If I was betrayed by a friend just as Finny had been, I also would have focused on shifting the attention of my previous friends from something that I was not a part of to something that involved everyone at hand. What about you Lauren? How would you react if you had found out that a close friend had gone behind your back to bring you down? In the long run, I think that it would be safe to say that Finny’s attempts to ignore the current war had been a failure. I say this because the positive atmosphere had been broken by the letter from Leper about the current war. This section of the reading provides insights to the title of the book. When Gene plays along with Finny's far streched idea of the reality of the war, Gene is comforted for a bit during his training. Nothing is as peaceful as the youth of a few carefree boys.

I would have to say that if I were Gene, I would not have been able to set off on an expedition to Vermont all by myself. I think that this was a rather dangerous decision on his part. Since Gene was alone through his journey of finding Leper, anything could have happened to him. He could have gotten lost in the city because he did not know his way around the area. So far Lauren, I would have to agree with you that this book has been a great read. In response to your prediction, I feel the same way towards the future of the book. Your prediction seems reasonable because if we were to consider Gene’s behavior, he had attempted to kill Finny once already, and I think that he has the potential to attempt this again. If Finny were killed rather than injured, I feel that the most Gene would have to face the most. After he first trial, he was given opportunities for forgiveness, but if Finny were killed, there would have been no more opportunities for Gene to seek forgiveness for his dramatic actions.