Alternate Ending, ASP

As the war got closer, Gene and Finny advanced through their school year with a lot of stress and complex decisions. One tough decision Gene had to make was to enlist or wait to be drafted. Gene’s excuse for not enlisting was Finny. Gene felt an obligation towards Finny because he caused the accident. The accident made Gene feel as if he had became a part of Phineas. “I lost

To keep silent about this amazing happening deepened the shock for me. It made Finny seem too unusual for—not friendship, but too unusual for rivalry. And there were few relationships among us at Devon not based on rivalry. - Chapter 3

The start of this tragedy was when the boy and his best friend, Gene Forrester, decided to jump out of a tree together. The two have been best friends and roommates for a long time. So long Gene felt close enough to Phineas that he felt like a part of Phineas, or Finny. Gene Forrester states, “It must have been my purpose from the the first to become a part of Phineas.” Gene and Phineas might have been two opposites, but they brought out the best in each other. Finny was more of the rebel/athlete, and Gene was better in school. It was Finny’s idea to start a secret society, Super Suicide Society, in which to become a member you had to jump out of a tree into a river.Gene and Phineas had jumped from the tree plenty of times by now, so Phineas thought it would be a great idea to spice things up. He proposed that the two jump out together at the same time. Finny climbed first, and moved farther out

Finny did a lot of risky things, that most people would not be able to pull off, but somehow he always manages to slip away with no punishment. Unknowingly, Finny went to a party, the headmaster was also attending it. As usual, Finny was out of dress code, wearing a neon shirt and their school tie as a belt. Somehow he talked himself out of trouble. Gene says “I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn’t help envying him that a little (Knowles 9).” Finny continued testing his luck, with skipping chapel and classes, and test, and meetings. In the article "A Separate Peace: The Fall from Innocence" James Ellis writes “Incapable of the spiritual purity of Phineas, Gene finds himself jealous of Finny's ability to flout Devon rules.” All of this grew on Gene and started to make him very jealous of something he did not have. Trying the ultimate dare, Finny decided to go to the beach, Gene says “The beach was hours away by bicycle, forbidden, completely out of all bounds. Going there risked expulsion (Knowles 20).” Finny went through with his plan and spent a night at the beach, and received no punishments or disciplinary actions. As Gene was struggling with his identity, he saw that Finny could do things he could not. All those things made Gene jealous and gave him something to focus on, other than solving his identity

As you can see, Gene had much reason to push Finny out of the tree. It was from jealousy from Finny's athleticism, his popularity, and his ability to talk his way out of almost anything. Only Gene knew that Finny was the only person at the school that could accomplish so many things, and Gene did not want to deal with Phineas

John Knowles implies Phineas is naive through the implementation of dialogue. Phineas confesses to Gene that “[he] hope[s] [Gene is] having a pretty good time here… you can’t come by yourself, and at this teenage-period in life the proper person is your best pal” (48). The boys live in a masculine society, which places an emphasis on strength. To expose one’s feelings to someone else is considered “social suicide.” Therefore, Gene takes advantage of Phineas’ naiveté by not responding to his declaration of friendship. Phineas also asserts that “when you really love something, then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love” (111). Phineas’ philosophy centers around a world of youth of peace; he always attempts to find the best in everyone. This naive attitude contrasts with the cruel nature of the world, where wars and competitions are common occurrences. At Gene’s trial for Phineas’ fall, Phineas asks Gene if “[he] was down at the bottom” (170) in a concerned, friendly tone. Phineas fears of Gene’s betrayal; he cannot believe that his friend would have the urge to push him out the tree. In order to protect his high opinion of Gene, he alters the past in his mind to avoid facing the truth. This emphasizes his naiveté as the true events do not align with what Phineas made up in his mind. At the hospital after Phineas’s second fall, following the trial, Gene explains to Phineas that he would "get things so scrambled up nobody would know who to fight any more” and that “[he would] make a mess, a terrible mess...out of the war'" (191). Phineas’ world does not hold any fights or enmity. His good character is unrealistic in this world. Consequently, the war would drive him to madness.

Phineas, also known as Finny, is a boy who plays a lot of sports. Although Finny might not look like an athlete, ”Phineas had been the best athlete in the school” (Knowles 8) Finny also wants to join the military, which people need to be strong for. Athletes, like Finny, usually run the school. So naturally, Finny can get away

Once Gene told Finny that he purposefully jumped in the tree to make Finny fall, Finny had to realize that the perennial friendship he believed he had with Gene, may have been built on lies. In the book, Finny’s first expression after being told that Gene caused his fall was actually a facial expression; “he looked older than I had ever seen him” (Knowles 99). This shows that as Finny heard his best friend admit to wanting to hurt him, the only person he had put his full trust in. Even though we don’t get to see what Finny is actually thinking, it is safe to infer Finny felt naive, and was completely shattered. Finny’s trust in Gene and throughout the rest of the novel, their friendship is never restores until the last few pages. Towards the end of the book, Finny completely loses his innocence when he finally admits that the war was actually occurring. In the book, once he sees Leper hiding and decides that he is crazy due to the war. Finny then says, “‘then I knew there was a real war on’” (Knowles 241). Throughout the novel, Finny stood very firmly on his belief that the war was fake -- that no one could hate each other that much -- but once he decided to admit that it was real, it was like his hope had gone

The reason this change in the novelhappens is because Finny has made it a point to prove to Gene that the war was not real. Thereader can infer from this behavior that Finny only wanted to keep Gene around him so he wouldnot be lonely. However as the story continues the reader figures out that this inference was truealong with another. This other hidden truth was that Finny was only pushing the war awaybecause he was not able to be apart of the war. After the reader finds this out the minds shit asthey find out that the last bit of innocence thatFinny had was that him and Gene could not be friends if he had enlisted.The reader notices that up until the point that Finny broke his leg that he was this perfectimage in people's eyes. However when he does break his leg and walks around the school incrutches those people have a different view on him. This change in perspective notifies thereader in that loss of innocence in Finny and at

Finny completely ignores the war going on all around him because since they won’t admit him in anywhere, he prefers to tell himself that it simply isn’t real instead of acknowledging his new handicap. Contrastingly, Gene remains aware of World War Two, and his point of view shows just how immature Phineas acts about it. When Finny complains about the absence of maids at the school, Gene sensibly replies by saying, “‘There’s a war on. It’s not much of a sacrifice, when you think of people starving and

Near the end of the novel, Brinker organizes a mock trial in which Gene is accused of causing Finny’s fall. Throughout the trial, Finny adamantly denies Gene’s involvement, claiming Gene was not even on the tree when he fell. However, the arrival of Leper, a fellow classmate, causes him to doubt himself. Leper is an innocent schoolboy who joins the military but deserts after going insane. He returns to Devon Academy, where he is invited by Brinker to shed light upon the incident, which he does by revealing Gene’s involvement in Finny’s fall. Finny, unable to handle the truth, emotionally retreats from the room as he shouts “You get the rest of the facts Brinker….you collect every f---ing fact there is in the world!” (Knowles 177). Finny reacts emotionally to the truth because accepting it would mean accepting his closest companion is no longer to be trusted. This is particularly scarring for Finny because after his theory about the war is shattered, he becomes dependent on Gene’s loyalty and candor: “Christ, I’ve got to believe you, at least. I know you better than anybody” (Knowles 163). In both cases, Finny’s innocent beliefs are shattered by Leper, who illuminates the reality of the world’s evils and consequently destroys Finny’s blissful ignorance. Leper symbolizes the unadulterated truth; he is unencumbered

Contrast and Contradiction: Gene says the Finny is his closest friend, but yet he can’t wait to see Finny get in trouble (Knowles 28).

Finny is out of school for a while and Gene admits that he caused this on purpose and Finny is distraught about

Gene and Phineas both consider each other as friends; however, the relationship is more one-sided. It is one-sided because only Phineas is very sincere in their friendship. In the first few chapters of the novel, it is clearly seen that Phineas considers Gene as his best friend. In chapter three, Phineas openly declares his feelings to Gene while they were at the beach. At that moment, Phineas shows vulnerability and courage by admitting his feelings to Gene. Gene also considers Phineas to have done a courageous thing because “exposing a sincere emotion nakedly like that at the Devon School as the next thing to suicide (40).” Phineas’s confession shows that he is sincere about his feelings, and that he trusts Gene enough to admit his feelings.

First of all, I disagree with doctor Harlow because it says how Dr. Harlow had offered Phineas $1,000 for some pebbles that phineas had collected.’’Yet there is something odd about the “recovered” Phineas. Just before he leaves Cavendish, Dr. Harlow gives Phineas a little test. The doctor offers Phineas $1,000 for the pocketful of pebbles that Phineas has collected walking along the Black River near town. Dr. Harlow knows that Phineas can add and subtract, yet Phineas angrily refuses the deal. Dr. Harlow tells himself that a man who was so badly hurt is going to need time to regain his full powers’’. As you can see phineas has not recovered from his injury.