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 suspected the truth.  After Gene gets to Leper's house, Leper gets into a fight with him.  Leper says "You always were a savage underneath [...] like that time you knocked Finny out of the tree [...] like that time you crippled him for life."(Knowles 145)  Gene is still trying to lie to himself about what happened with Finny, so when Leper tells him that he hurt Finny, Gene feels guilty and mad.  Gene tries to protect himself from the truth, and he doesn't want to hear Leper say anymore.  Gene attacks Leper on an impulse because he was hurting Gene.  Gene thought that no one knew what really happened, and when he heard Leper accuse him, it made him panic.

Assignment 8: Leper is the first of the boys to enlist. Based on the conversation and the narration in the previous few chapters, what about this is ironic?

Based on the conversation and narration in the past few chapters, it is very ironic that Leper is the first of the boys to enlist due to the fact that he is the opposite of the mold many of the boys have set for what a soldier should be. Leper is a social outlier, who usually keeps to himself. Most of the boys thought that Brinker would be the first to enlist, based off his outgoing personality, his position as a leader of their class, and his declaration of enlisting, which actually ended up being empty. Brinker and Leper are almost polar opposites, and when Gene realizes Brinker will be taking Leper's room, Gene thinks "Suddenly I did not want to see the trays of snails which Leper had passed the summer collecting replaced by Brinkers files," (Knowles 75). Leper is the one who isn't interested in playing the athletic games of the other boys, and would rather spend time doing strange research of his own. When all the other boys go off to shovel the railroad tracks, Leper stays at Devon to go skiing in search of a beaver dam. While talking to Gene about this choice to stay at Devon, Leper says "I just like to go along and see what I'm passing and enjoy myself," (Knowles 95). It would seem that somebody who likes slowing life down and stopping to "smell the roses" would not be the first to voluntarily sign up for a fast paced war, and this is why it is very ironic that Leper is the first to enlist.

Re-read the last paragraph on the bottom of 136 and on to 137. Paraphrase what Gene is saying and interpret the usage of “separate peace.” What is a “separate peace”? Why is included here? What is it’s significance?

In the midst of the winter carnival, Gene is saying how at this moment in time the Devon school has presented an escape, a lapse in the harsh slap of reality that fills the daily life at Devon. The use of a "separate peace" in this part of the book illustrates the meaning of it more than any other place where we see it. We see this moment when time simply fades by into another moment just as impossible to grasp, and yet Gene is lost within them. He is satisfied in being lost in these moments because it provides an outlet from hearing about the war, studying and freezing in cold New England. This moment has become his separate peace, or a place he can escape to where reality cannot touch him. "It wasn't cider that in this moment made me champion of everything he ordered, to run as though I were the abstraction of speed, to walk the half circle of statues on my hands, to balance on my head on top of the icebox on top of the Prize table"(Knowles 136). This quote says quite clearly that reality simply did not play into what Finny was saying. Gene can't run that fast, or walk in circles in the snow on his hands, or balance on his head on top of the icebox on top of the Prize Table but at this moment, it does not matter. At this moment during the winter carnival they feel liberated from "the encroachments of 1943". Genes separate peace is quite literally an peacefulness that is completely separate from his everyday life.

Assignment 8: 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?

The irony that Leper is the first to enlist comes from the fact that Leper has been the odd man out and not the first to join. Everyone at Devon looks up to and wants to be soldiers in the Second World War. Leper, seemingly the last to join in on anything, is the first to enlist. Earlier in the book we see how Leper shrinks away from what other people want, “Leper looked up in anguish, shrank away from the ball and said his first thought ‘I don’t want it’” (Knowles 39). Even Leper's name means an outcast. With Finny no longer eligible to enlist, Brinker seemed to be the logical choice that the author could have made. Brinker stood up as the leader of their group when Finny was on his leave. After the snow shoveling, Brinker said that he was going to enlist that next day, however, when Finny came back, Brinker changed his mind. Why does the author make it sound so uncertain as to who is going to enlist next? Does the confusion add to the irony of Leper’s enlistment?

Assignment 7 (pages 102-122): Explore the dynamics and undertones of Finny and Gene’s first conversations upon his return. Does it feel “realistic” to you? Why or why not?

The first conversations between Gene and Finny after Finny's return are awkward for Gene but offer a return to normalcy for Finny. The scene that most helped to draw this conclusion was on pages 106 and 107, when Brinker brings up the subject of enlisting in the army. Gene is forced to lie his way around this predicament, and this scene is when it becomes clear to the reader that while Finny has been isolated, Gene has kept living his life, to the point where Finny is struggling to catch up with the happenings at the school. "'Enlist!' cried Finny at the same time. His large and clear eyes turned with an odd expression on me. 'You're going to enlist?'" (Knowles 107). This is when Finny realizes that Gene has moved on, has created a life that doesn't have Finny playing a lead role in it. The stage directions and narrative add a sad manner to the story. This is a depressing part of the book, but leads to one where Finny decides to live his life through Gene. Do you think that Finny has accepted the fact that Gene has moved on? Do you think Finny will attempt to do the same? 

What does the conversation about enlisting reveal about Finny and Gene’s relationship (p107-108)? Provide at least two specific examples.

In chapter 8 of A Separate Peace by John Knowles Finny returns. At the beginning of the chapter Brinker comes to ask Gene if he will go enlist with him. Finny seems shocked and a bit disappointed, "'You thought you might sign up?" he went on, looking carefully away" (Knowles 107). To me it seems that Finny is a bit jealous that Gene was thinking about enlisting without him. Later Gene realizes that "In some way he needed me" (Knowles 108). Once Jean realizes this, he has a sudden change of heart. "The war then passed away from me, and dreams of enlistment and escape and a clean start lost their meaning to me" (Knowles 108). This shows that in their friendship they are willing to make sacrifices for each other and to compromise with their decisions. This is not unusual in certain circumstances, but this strikes me a bit strange in this situation. I think that Gene might realize that Finny does know or choses not to believe that Gene jounced the limb. Due to this Gene realizes that Finny doesn't hate him, so there is no reason to leave and nothing to run away from. Also in their friendship there is jealousy. Finny becomes jealous that Gene would want to enlist with Brinker and without him, "'He wouldn't enlist with you, " Finny plunged in, "'if you were Madame Chiang Kai-shek" (Knowles 108). This friendship is a bit strange for me. Do you think it's right of Gene to treat Brinker so poorly, on page 108, just because Finny returned?
-Carly Newell  

Assignment #7 (103 - 122): What do Gene’s observations about the changes in Finny reveal about Finny? About Gene? (109-114)

 Gene notices when Finny, who has always resembled the competent athlete who never showed any signs of physical weakness, starts to demonstrate the toll his injury has taken on his everyday life.  Not only does Finny's injury greatly impact his athletic ability, but it also causes him to lose his previous air of strength and poise.  Finny, always being in perfect shape, has "sweat running like oil from [his] face" (Knowles 112) after only walking to the gym.  Gene notices this atypical struggle, especially after Finny "has involuntary tremors shake his hands and arms" (Knowles 112).  As Gene comes to realize, with this terrible injury, Finny is no longer the capable one in their relationship.  His previous self strength is now nothing more than an "illusion" (Knowles 112) that may have fooled his doctors, but doesn't fool Gene.  With this new realization, Gene knows that he has to change to become more of a support system for Finny.  He must sacrifice some of the goals he had prior to Finny getting hurt (like enlisting) in order to be there for Finny.  As Finny changes to adapt to his newfound incompetence, Gene grows and takes Finny's former "strong" demeanor to become Finny's rock.