Chapter 13 text

After school was over we all started packing and were about to head home. The school donated its Far Common quadrangle to the military for a parachute riggers’ school. This meant that the military would come towards the end of the summer and see us. Brinker too me down to the Butt Room to meet his father, his father told us that he wished that he were younger, so that he could fight in the war. I told him my plan to avoid the danger of the infantry by joining the navy and Brinker’s decision to join the coast guard. His father said after that he thinks that defending your country is honorable and that what you do in the war will be an effect on your life, either good or bad. He was not very nice about my opinion and Brinker could tell. After we were done talking in the Butt Room Brinker apologized to me because he knew his father was being pretty rude to me, especially meeting me for the first time. As I was talking to Brinker, Leper, and Quackenbush we were all thinking about how we all wanted to enlist in the war and how much it would've effected all of us and how much it did effect Leper, and in the end that is why he decided to come back. Coming from Devon we were all too shy for the military and the war. In memory of Finny we all knew that he was the nicest and the most caring and always the strongest out of all of us, and he probably would've been the most successful either in the war or in something else important.

Chapter 12 text

As the days went on Finny's leg was getting a lot better and he thought that maybe if he kept resting he could do other stuff again, like he normally used to. One morning he was walking and he fell down the stairs and re broke his leg. When he broke his leg someone got first aid for him and then they called Dr. Stanpole. He arrived and has Finny carried out on a chair. Dr. Stanpole told me that Finny’s leg was broken again but assures him that it is a much cleaner break than last time. It relieved me but also made everything worse cause all I could think about was how we had to train, and since the last break I was practically a part of Finny now. I did not know what to expect now because before when Finny broke his leg I had to start playing sports for him and go into the Olympics, but now what would I have to do. It could be worse than playing for him. I was worried more this time. As the Doctor was still examining on Finny he came outside of the room after and I was sitting there, he leaned down and told me that Finny was dead. There was this numb feeling that came over me and I did not know what to think from that moment on. The doctor explained to me that a bit of marrow escaped from Finny's bone as he was setting it, entering Finny’s bloodstream and stopping his heart. I did not cry, even later at the funeral. I felt that me becoming a part of Phineas made it like my funeral as well.

Chapter 11 text

As I was walking back into Devon I came across a snowball fight that Finny had organized himself. I asked Finny if it was okay for him to be participating like he was and he said he could feel himself getting better. He also mentioned that being weak only makes you stronger, and he could feel his bones beginning to heal. After talking about Finny's problem I told everyone about Leper deserting the army and how he had "cracked" in Brinker's words. When I was thinking to enlist I realized that I could not be in the same position as Leper. I had way to much to do at Devon, and especially after what happened to Finny with his leg and the consequences there was no way I could just go enlist then leave everything. Finny would never forgive me and I know in the end I would've regretted all of it anyways. Finny quietly announced that he saw Leper slip into Dr. Carhart’s office that morning; Finny and I went to go find him right when we heard that. "Leper entered ahead of the other two. He looked usually well; his face was glowing, his eyes were bright, his manner was all energy" (165). After we came across Leper coming back to Devon everything got quiet.

Chapter 10 text

After reading that letter from Leper I immediately set out for his “Christmas location,” meaning his home in Vermont. I took a train and then a bus through the barren New England landscape and arrived in Leper’s town early the next morning. I walked the rest of the way through the snow to his house. All the while he refused to admit to himself that he had deserted the army; he tried to convince himself that by “escape,” Leper has meant an escape from spies. I had simply tried to explain to Leper that he deserted because the army was planning to give him a Section Eight discharge for insanity, which means it would've prevented him to never have to work or live a normal life. As I was talking to Leper he began to get upset and started breaking down and insulting me. "Like that time you crippled him for life" (137). He started talking about how Finny fell out of the tree and broke his leg, and in the end he blamed me and said that I shook the tree to make him lose his balance. After we were arguing back and forth his mother came into the room and was saying that Leper was ill and was wondering why I would ever attack an ill person. I had no idea what to think, I just knew that I came to help Leper and everything had gone wrong in a blink of an eye. As we kept talking about everything bad I could not take it anymore and I decided to leave and run home in the snow.

Chapter 2 pictures

bombing in Europe.




Finny and Gene.













Pink tie.






Mrs. Patch-Withers.




Mr. Patch-Withers.

Chapter 7 text

I woke up in a large room, all to myself. There was a part of me that had forgotten that Finny was ever my roommate, and the bad terms that we had been on did not really matter what was going on between us anyways. Brinker Hadley came over to me and said, "I can see you have real influence around here. This big room all to yourself. I wish I knew how to manage things like you" (79). I could not figure out why the "hub" of the class was congratulating me on influence. I said to Brinker, "I feel like a smoke, don't you? Lets go down to the Butt Room" (80). The Butt Room was something like a dungeon. It was in the basement, or the bowels, or the dormitory. There were about ten smokers already there. As I walked out of the Butt Room I saw Chet Douglass, Quackenbush, and Leper told me that they had a job to do. The job that they began to describe to me was to shovel off the railroad. Brinker put his arm around me and told me that we were on the same "team". As we started walking to go shovel on the railroad that we volunteered to do, I saw Leper in the middle of a meadow, cross-country skiing. He told me that he was looking for a beaver dam and he wanted me to come along and join him. Before we had finished shoveling around 4:30 the main line had been cleared and the first train rattled slowly through, it was a troop train. At this instant this was one Leper realized he wanted to enlist and be a part of the war. I said, "Did you find the dam, Leper?" (90). Brinker had no idea what dam it was so I simply explained to him that it was a beaver dam that Leper and I had known about but he still did not understand what it was. It was not in the Devon itself, it was in one of the tributaries. The beaver had never come out itself but we had still known about the dam.

Chapter 6 text

Earlier in the day I was walking across the hall to Leper and Brinkers room and heard a voice call my name. It was the headmaster saying that I had a phone call in the office. When I walked in I first saw a number written on a pad of paper and then I began to dial it. As I heard the voice of the person picking up the telephone I knew right away that it had been Finny calling looking for me. We began talking about if anyone had taken his place in our room and I told him that I had not found any other roomates. "Completely over the falls. I wanted to be sure you'd recovered. That's why I called up. I knew that if you'd let them put anybody else in the room in my place, then you really were crazy. But you didn't I knew you wouldn't" (75). After Finny had said this to me I didn't want to tell him that at some point in my mind I did have doubt on keeping Finny in my room, but I could not tell him that, not right this instant. He had thought I was crazy ever since I had gone to see him in the hospital and told him that I could have been the reason for him falling and hurting himself, when it was the truth. I still don't understand why he does not believe me. In my mind I was thinking why I would ever tell my best pal something like that if it was not the truth. We started talking about what sports I was going to do since I was practically becoming a part of Finny after his injury. I said "Crew. Well not exactly crew. Managing crew. Assistant crew manager" (76). Finny called me crazy but I thought it was a decent idea. I did not care about being a big athletic man on the campus or anything. I said to Finny, "I'm too busy for sports" (77). He said to me, "Listen, pal, if I can't play sports, you're going to play them for me" (77). At that moment I realized my purpose from the beginning was to become a part of Phineas.

Chapter 8 picture

WAR.

Chapter 4 pictures

trigonometry test grade.









boys in the tree.





Finny falling out of the tree.

boys in the tree.

tree at the river.

Finny falling out of the tree again.

Chapter 3 pictures

river.





river.




river and tree.

Finny swimming.

jumping off the tree.

Finny, Bobbyzane, & Gene.

Chapter 1 pictures

the river where they tree-jumped.






Gene&Finny.







wrestling.







tree jumping.

Devon School.

Chapter 9 text

After beginning training with Finny, I came to find that Leper Lepellier watched a documentary on ski troops and decided to enlist in January. The Olympics were getting closer day by day. I noticed that after Leper enlisted Finny wanted to spend every waking moment with me to train for the Olympics. He took my hangout time to train and we both stopped going to the "Butt Room."One day, Finny decided to run a winter carnival and starts thinking and assigning tasks. Brinker organizes the transfer of equipment from the dormitory to a park on the river and has his mousy roommate, Brownie Perkins, guard several jugs of hard cider buried in the snow. We arranged a little ski jump, snow statues, and prizes, and Chet Douglass provided music on his trumpet. After sipping on cider and enjoying the carnival Finny, began to perform a wild yet graceful dance on the prize table with his good leg. Finny announced that it was the beginning of the decathlon and he had me show off many athletic traits to please the crowd. During the festivities, Brownie reappears from the dormitory with a telegram: "I have escaped and need help. I am at Christmas location. You understand. No need to risk address here. My safety depends on you coming at once. (signed) your best friend, Elwin Leper Lepellier" (129).

chapter 8 text

As I was thinking more about the war I came to the conclusion that I am not going to enlist. I could not bare the fact that i would have to leave Finny in the middle of the condition he was in. We had to start training for the Olympics if I was going to help him like I said I would. In the beginning of the day Finny was joking around with me when I was shoveling snow on the railroad. "You don't have to advertise like that, we all know you're the worst dressed man in the class" (95). Brinker Hadley had been given a nickname that meant asian danger, and also showed fear. The fear was that the Japanese would take over the West. The nickname that he was given was the "Yellow Peril". "Yellow Peril" Hadley swept through the school with the speed of a flu epidemic, and it must be said to his credit that Brinker took it well enough except when, in its inevitable abbreviaton, people sometimes called him "Yellow" instead of "Peril" (101). As the days went on the thought of war kept streaming in and out of my head. "So the war swept over like a wave at the seashore, gathering power and size as it bores on us, overwhelming in its rush, seemingly inescapable" (101). To me the war was like the ocean, as like waves crashed over people in the war were risking their lives day by day.

Chapter 5 text

As I got dressed in my room I saw Finny's "triumphant" pink shirt, and the shirt to me symbolized troops being bombed in Europe. Which reminded me of the war and how he was thinking of enlisting with Leper. Today was the day that I could see Finny and see how he was doing after the accident. As I was talking to the doctor he told me that Finny’s leg will recover enough for him to walk again but that he will no longer be able to play sports. After I thought about what the doctor said I started crying because I realized how bad it really was. Before the doctor left to go back to work he told me that Finny asked to see me personally. At first I thought that Finny was going to accuse me and make me feel bad but I went to see him anyways. As we started talking about the tree Finny said all he remembered was losing his balance and looking at me to help him but it was too late and he fell into the river. I simply nodded my head and agreed with him cause I really didn't know what had happened. Finny said to me that he could never accuse me of something like that. He made it seem like I would never do something like that cause we were best friends and no matter what happened it would never go that far. While I was standing there watching his lips move I had no idea whether to nod or tell him the truth that I couldn't remember if I pushed him out of the tree or not. The more and more I thought about it I realized that if Finny believed that I didn't push him then I believed it too.

Chapter 4 text

To start off a bad week I got my first "F" ever. This was a big deal to me, and the grade was from a trigonometry test. In my eyes I always wanted to graduate first in my class, but Finny always had something to say about my wishes. Even though he was kidding he still thought it would be funny to tell me to make a speech in Latin. It didn't take me that long to get over his rude comments, and we hung out after school that day anyways. Everyday Finny and I go to the tree, and sometimes other people come too. This time was different though, Leper had not jumped off yet. He had to prove to us that he could jump off with us watching. So Finny and I went to the tree to watch Leper jump off. Finny decided to jump off the tree and give Leper some tips. Me and Finny decided to jump off the tree together and show Leper how we jump off. As we were jumping off the branch jiggled and Finny fell into the river bank. After that happened we came to the conclusion that he had broken his leg. I thought it was my fault and I shook the branch, but Finny told me that he thought I would never do that to him because we are best friends. In the back of my head while talking to Finny I could picture myself shaking the branch and making Finny get hurt. Finny and I have fought before and somewhat hurt ourselves, but none of us have ever broken something like this. We would wrestle and fight until we couldn't breathe anymore, but this was just a bad situation that was all of my fault. After Finny fell into the river I had no idea what else to do but to jump in fearlessly and help him. His face expression when trying to save him was indescribable. He was stoic to the pain and had no idea that his leg was broken right away. He had no memory of what happened he just remembered falling out of the tree when standing next to me, and nothing more than that.

Chapter 2 text

Me and Finny skipped dinner that night to go to the lake. That lake had been like a get away for us, for the summer. "He did not have the careless, almost British look of most of the Devon Masters, because he was a substitute for the summer" (14). He enforced such rules as he knew; missing dinner was one of them. Mr Patch-Withers was also another headmaster substitute that we had for the summer. After we got caught skipping dinner I had thought that Finny and I would be in trouble for the summer, but then Finny persuaded the substitute with his talkativeness. Finny had always found a way to get out of trouble. Later on that night Finny decided to wear a bright pink shirt as an emblem of celebration of the first allied bombing of central Europe. I personally thought that he could not pull off that color and I thought he looked like a "fairy". Finny always seemed capable of getting away with virtually anything he wants to do. While we were all sitting down drinking tea and eating we were talking to Mr. and Mrs. Patch-Withers and they had noticed that Finny was wearing the school tie as a belt. Before they could say anything or explain to him about the disrespect he came across a conversation. The conversation was about the bombings in Europe, and how it interested them so much. He managed to get off the subject and idea of his belt which was a relief to Finny and myself. During that day we decided to go to the river like always. We swam for a while in the river, and Finny asked me if I was still afraid of the tree and I told him I wasn't. After we agreed to form a new secret society called the “Super Suicide Society of the summer session.” Discussing our new society we decided to jump off and as I began to fall after turning my back Finny caught me and we both jumped. It seemed to me that at that moment Finny had saved my life.

Chapter 1 text

As I walked back into the old Devon school I noticed some changes, not everything was the same as that summer of 1942. I remember when me and a couple of my pals used to play sports, stay after school, and jump into the river. We had the best of times, and it felt like just yesterday that i was just an average kid in that high school again. My best friend was Phineas but people called him Finny for short. Finny was the best athlete in the school and someone that I truly admired. We were about the same height and weight and pretty much overall the same. Me Finny and some other friends used to go down to the river after school and jump of a certain tree. It was like a ritual or almost like a tradition to us. "The tree was tremendous, an irate, steely black steeple beside the river. I was damned if I'd climb it. The hell with it. No one but Phineas could think up such a crazy idea" (6). Phineas was very brave, and definitely more brave than all of us in the group. As we all jumped off he would make little comments to try to get us scared, but nothing really worked. "We were still calmly, numbly reading Virgil and playing tag in the river farther downstream. Until Finny thought of the tree" (7). Finny being my best friend I did look up to him, he was like the leader of the pact and we all followed his lead most of the time. He was the biggest athlete out of all of us, and he taught us almost everything we knew from sports to jumping off the tree. "All right, pal, Finny spoke in his cordial, penetrating voice, that reverberant instrument in his chest, "don't start awarding prizes until you've passed the course. The tree is waiting" (9). This quote showed that even though everyone thought that they were doing better than Finny, he wouldn't allow them to think that. We thought it was unfair of him but it was just Finny being himself.

Chapter 3 text

During this one summer day Finny, Bobby Zane, and I made up a game called Blitzball. There is no certain number of players involved but there has to be more than 2. We used a medicine ball and the rules are pretty simple. You run and once you get hit the other team receives the ball and gets to make a play. We thought if was a very catchy and unique game, especially for the summer. We also were still swimming at the lake everyday and jumping from the tree. "One day he broke the school swimming record" (34). As we were all swimming one day Phineas had swam by and noticed that there was a record on the wall that said "100 Yards Free Style", "A. Hopkins Parker-1940-53.0 seconds." I was extremely frustrated about school and feelings that I had. When I have a lot to think about I like to ride my bike down to the beach and lay in the sand. This time when I decided to ride my bike Finny followed me, and wanted to talk to me. I said to him that I wanted to maintain my life and wanted a reasonable amount of order. As I was explaining my problems to Finny he said to me "You can't just come to the shore with just anybody and you can't come by yourself, and at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal, which is what you are" (40). When I began to say something back to Phineas, something suddenly stopped me and held be back. I was about to retract to my opinion but then again I was speechless at the same time. I did not want to lie to him but the truth would not come to my mouth. I thought he had a lot of courage to say that to me even though I didn't know what to say back to Finny I could not leave him. I was thinking about enlisting for a while with Leper, but the thought of leaving frightened me. For some reason my last thought on that beach was that maybe Finny was not my best pal and truest friend like I thought he was. No matter how much we had been through all those years, all of a sudden it hit me that he isn't as true as i thought he was.