A Separate Peace Study Guide
Flashcard maker : Ruth Jones
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What are characteristics of Gene? (5)
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Smart Jealous of Finny Identity Issues Average Athlete 5’8
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What are characteristics of Finny? (6)
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Adventuristic Athletic Bold Has a Broken Leg Good Looking Incapable of Hate
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What are characteristics of Leper? (4)
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Nosy – Like a spy He is a follower Curious Drives for the truth
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What does flashback mean?
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A scene in a movie, novel, etc., set in a time earlier than the main story.
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Why do authors use flashback in novels? (3)
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May help with foreshadowing Helps with the background of the story or context to current events in the novel Going to add suspense
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What is foreshadowing?
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Hint of what’s going to happen in the future
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What are some examples of foreshadowing in the novel? (3)
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The war being talked about in the beginning and how it was nothing in the beginning The tree and the staircase He didn’t want Finny to break his leg again during the snowball fight
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What Point of View is the novel written in?
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1st Person
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What are the advantages of this point of view? (1)
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Knowing the thoughts and emotions of the main character
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What are the disadvantages of this point of view? (2)
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Don’t know anybody elses emotions or thoughts Narrator may be biased, lying, insane, or psycho
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What is the point of view of the tree incident from Brinker’s perspective? (4)
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He was not there so he is relying in Leper’s story He feels it wasn’t an accident, Gene was trying to cover it up He is Jealous of Gene and Finny’s relationship Feels it is his duty to find the truth
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What is the point of view of the tree incident from Finny’s perspective? (4)
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He knows that Gene did it on purpose but does not want to accept this because Gene is his best friend Cant handle the truth or conflict Wants everything in peace and harmony
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What is the point of view of the tree incident from Gene’s perspective? (2)
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He feels bad he has this guilt, He does not understand what totally happened, blind impulse
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What is the point of view of the tree incident from Leper’s perspective? (3)
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He realized Brinker is trying to lead him to put the fault on Gene Quits talking because he feels like he is being used Leper is better friends with Gene because he writes the letter to him and put best friend at the end
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Describe the setting of the story. What time period does the narrator flashback to?
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The setting begins in 1958, but flashes back to the years 1942 – 1943
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The narrator is disappointed that the Devon school is unchanged. Along with the school, what emotion does he have that is also unchanged? What do you think he was fearful of?
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The unchanged emotion is fear.
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The narrator returns to the school to see what two places?
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He sees fearful sites, the tree and the marble staircase outside the Assembly Hall
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Describe the first competition
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The competition was to see who could jump off a branch of the tree into the river something that no one their age has ever done before. Finny jumps first to show how it’s done. Finny orders Gene to jump and he does.
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We finally learn the narrator’s name – Gene. Why do you think this story is in first person? Is there a benefit?
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The story is in first person because we can see all of Gene’s emotion’s and thoughts about Finny
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What war is going on?
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World War ll
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What is Finny’s emblem?
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His Pink Shirt
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How does Finny describe the war?
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Finny declares that the Allies really bombed the Central Europe.
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What is The Suicide Society of the Summer Session? What happens on the tree branch the first time?
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The Suicide Society of the Summer Session is a club that Finny and Gene created in the river which gave them a sense of belonging, fraternity and boyhood masculinity. While they were both on the branch of the tree, Gene turns around and falls, but Finny catches him and saves his life.
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How does Gene feel about the tree branch incident now?
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He feels that he wouldn’t have even been on the tree if it wasn’t for Finny so feels that he owes Finny no real gratitude
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What was blitzball?
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Blitzball was a game they created in the SSotSS, The game has a medicine ball that Finny has found lying around; the boy may try to outrun the others or pass the ball off to another boy. The game produces no real \”winner.\”
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Describe Finny breaking the school swimming record. What bothered Gene about this?
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He breaks a school record on the first attempt, and he tells Gene to not tell anyone about it.
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Describe the scene at the beach. Why couldn’t Gene say it back?
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Gene could not say Finny is his best friend because he is jealous of him and he is not sure they are bets friends
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Why does Gene study hard and want to be head of the class?
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So he can math Finny and all his athletic awards
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What two things does Gene realize?
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He thinks that this latest interaction has proved that Finny is his moral superior an that Finny seems incapable of being actively jealous of anyone.
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After Finny and Gene talk about studying, what does Gene realize?
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He realizes that there is no rivalry between him and Finny, and that they are best friends
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What happens at the end of the scene?
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Gene pushes Finny off the tree into the river
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Describe Finny’s diagnosis.
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Finny’s leg is broken
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How does Gene feel about the situation?
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Gene feels horrible and guilty
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Why does Gene think Finny wants to see him?
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He thinks Finny must want to accuse him to his face.
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What does Finny say to Gene in the hospital?
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Finny hints that he had a vague notion that Gene was the cause, but he refuses to accept this idea and apologizes for even considering it.
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How does this make Gene feel?
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This makes Gene cry and realize it is his fault
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Finally, in September 1942, Gene gets to talk to Finny. Describe this encounter
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Gene tells Finny that he deliberately shook the limb to make him fall. Finny refuses to believe him and grows furious.
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How does Gene feel after he has told Finny the truth?
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Gene realizes that he has injured Finny further with his confession and that he must take back his words, though he cannot do it now.
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What did \”for the duration\” mean?
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Until the end of the war
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What does this quote mean: \”If you broke the rules, then they broke you.\”
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The boys of the summer session were not supposed to be jumping from the tree; it was against the rules. Gene figured that the tragedy with Phineas was their payment for breaking the rules.
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Describe Brinker Hadley.
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A prominent personage on campus
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Tell me about Gene, Quackenbush and the crew house.
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Gene is assistant for the crew house, which is odd because you only take the the job if you want to be the manger next year, but he is a senior. Quackenbush begins to trash talk Gene and Gene hits him and they begin fight and they fall in the river
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Why is this fight significant?
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This is fight is significant because Gene was already upset that Finny wasn’t at school, that it was his least favorite season, and the way Quackenbush was treating just made him lose control.
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Describe Gene’s phone call
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Gene calls the number and it is Finny and he is relieved to hear that Gene still does not have a roommate. Finny says that he just wanted to be sure that Gene is no longer \”crazy\” like he was when he visited Finny and claimed that he jounced the limb.
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What happens at the end of chapter 7?
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Finny tells Gene that he has to play sports, for his sake, and Gene feels oddly joyful to think that he must be destined to become a part of Finny.
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Describe Brinker Hadley’s conversation with Finny.
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Brinker congratulates Gene for \”getting away with\” having such a big room by hurting Finny. This bother Gene and they go to smoke in the Butt room
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What is the Butt Room? Describe this scene
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The butt room is the room where you go to smoke, but this time they pretended like it was a dungeon and they brought a prisoner (Gene) for breaking Finny’s leg.
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Who is Elwin Lepellier?
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Leper is a peaceful, quiet, contemplative boy. He’s also a naturalist of sorts, fascinated by the outdoors. And Leper, like Phineas, follows his own set of rules. Leper seems to remain untainted by the war, resentment and fear in which Gene has been caught up.
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Tell me about the war and train tracks?
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As Gene and the boys are shoveling snow off the train tracks, a troop train, packed with young men in uniform, continues by them on its way. On the train home, the boys talk only of the war and their eagerness to be involved.
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How does Gene describe the war now?
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He describes it as fun and is tired of school and wants to enlist tomorrow
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What stops Gene from enlisting?
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Gene is about to enlist but as he walks into his room, Finny is there
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What is Finny’s theory about the war? How might his injury influence his feelings toward the war?
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Finny declares that there is no war, that it is all a conspiracy orchestrated by the adult establishment—by fat, rich, old men—to keep young people in their place. When Gene asks why the conspiracy has not been detected by anyone else, Finny replies that he alone can see it because of the extent of his suffering.
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Why is it surprising that Elwin (Leper) Lepellier is the first Devon boy to enlist? In what ways is he different from the other boys who talk of enlisting?
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It is surprising because he was the most calm out of the whole group and it felt like he was the one with an actual state of peace.
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In this section, what details does the author use to show the ways in which war is changing the atmosphere at Devon?
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It seem like everything and everyone is a little more depressed
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1. Finny organizes his own version of the Olympic games as part of the Devon Winter Carnival. After finishing a decathlon, Gene says, \”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.\” A. What does Gene mean in this passage? B. What is the \”separate peace\” that Gene is describing, and how do the students achieve it on this day? C. At this point, what does the phrase \”a separate peace\” mean to you and to the novel?
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He means The \”peace\” that Gene repeatedly identifies at Devon is only obtained by escaping from the current times – by escaping from war. A separate peace to me means a state of peace the boys get in this novel to get away from the reality of the war.
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How has Leper changed?
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After Coming back from the war, Leper has become crazy and paranoid
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Why is Gene frustrated with Leper?
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Gene is mad with Leper because he accused him of pushing Finny out of the tree
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How does Brinker get Gene and Finny to attend the mock trial? In your opinion, why is Brinker so determined to investigate the incident?
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Brinker comes into Gene and Finny’s room with several other boys and takes Gene and Finny off to the Assembly Hall. Brinker is so determined because he needs to find the truth
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What is Leper’s description of the accident? Why is his testimony so upsetting to Finny?
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Leper saw two people on the tree silhouetted against the sun and saw one of them shake the other one off the branch. Finny is upset because he does not care, he just wants everyone to be happy and at peace.
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What does Gene mean when he says, \”Phineas, you wouldn’t be any good in war, even if nothing had happened to your leg.\” What qualities make Finny a poor candidate for military service?
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Because he would have gone over to the other side and made friends and gotten everyone confused about whom they were fighting.
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Do you think Brinker’s mock trial was a good idea? Why or why not?
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No because it ended up in Finny breaking his leg again and everyone still angry at eachother
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What understanding do Finny and Gene reach about the incident in the tree? Does their explanation of what happened satisfy you? Why or why not?
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Gene and Finny both agree that that it was some impulse, not some deep feeling against Finny
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Do you blame Gene for Finny’s death? Why or why not?
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I do not because Gene on the inside really did not mean to break Finny’s leg. And during the whole novel, Gene and Finny had a relationship that was inseparable
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Do you believe that Gene has found peace with himself at the end of the novel? Why or why not?
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Yes because his last words with Gene were making up with each other and implying that they will always be best friends.
