A Separate Peace; Chapter Summaries Essay, Research Paper

A Separate Peace; Chapter Summaries

Chapter 1: The narrator (Gene) returns to the Devon School in New Hampshire,

that he graduated from 15 years earlier. He goes to a certain tree and switches

back to the past. Phineas dares everyone to jump from a branch in the tree into

the river. Phineas, and Gene both jump. On the way back Phineas and Gene play

fight so that they are late for dinner.

Chapter 2:Mr. Prud’homme, a master, stops by the boys’ room to scold them for

missing dinner again for the ninth time in two weeks. Phineas explains that they

were late because they were jumping out of the tree to toughen up for the war.

Mr Prud’homme, accepts the explanation because, he, and everyone else, feel

sorry for the boys that will soon have to go to war.

Chapter 3: The boys join The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. The

club meets every night. Phineas and Gene open each night by jumping out of the

tree. They make a new kind of war game called blitzball, in which everyone is

everyone elses enemy. Phineas breaks the schools swimming record, but tells Gene

not to tell anyone, he just wanted to do it for himself. Gene and Phineas of

campus to the ocean to swim. They have a drink at the bar, the spend the night

on the beach, and Phineas tells Gene he is his best pal. Gene is not sure if he

feels the same.

Chapter 4: Gene and Finny (Phineas) wake up and head back to Devon. Gene fails

his trigonometry examination for the first time. Finny tells Gene that he

studies too much. Gene thinks Finny is jealous. Gene wants to earn the

Scholastic Achievement Citation to get even with Finny. Gene knows that Finny

must be best and that he cannot be best if Gene becomes even with him through

his studies. Gene decides that he and Finny are locked in a complete enmity

rather than friendship. Finny announces Leper’s intention to jump from the tree

and coazes Gene away from his studies. Gene and Finny are going to jump together,

Finny falls to the ground, then Gene jumps into the river.

Chapter 5: Finny has a shattered leg. Gene bears private guilt. He puts on

Finny’s clothes and the sensation excites him. Dr. Stanpole, the school

physician, informs Gene that Finny wants to see him. Finny recalls the fall, and

expresses that he thought Gene wanted him to fall. Gene is about to confess when

Dr. Stanpole interupts. Finny is taken to his home near Boston and Gene returns

to his hometown in the South. In September, Gene stops by at Finny’s home. They

talk about the summer and Gene confesses that he caused Finny’s accident. Finny

replies that Gene is crazy and had done no such thing.

Chapter 6: Gene begins work as assistnt crew manager, even though he has never

managed sports before. The crew manager Quakenbush refers meanly to Gene as

being ?maimed? and Gene attacks him as a reply. Gene is scolded by the master

for gambling during the summer, and other infractions. Finny phones Gene and,

after ascertaining that they would be roommates when he returned, becomes angry

at Gene for being a crew manager rather than actually playing the sports. Finny

explains the Gene must play sports for him. Gene realizes that he was meant to

be a part of Finny from the beginning.

Chapter 7:Brinker Hardley stops in to see Gene and congratulates him for having

been able to secure a whole room for himself. He suggests that Gene accompany

him to the butt room (smoking room). Gene is teased about having done away with

his roommate. Gene is serious, but then soon starts to joke to. Brinker composes

a poem pointing that war is boring, and Devon continues in peace. Many of the

Devon boys volunteer to shovel snow out of the railroad tracks. Brinker

announces that he is enlisting. Gene thinks about enlisting as well, but his

thoughts are put on hold, when he returns and find Phineas waiting for him.

Chapter 8:Gene explains to Finny that there are no maids because of the war.

Finny has a quiet vision of peace. Finny begins to coach Gene in preperation for

the 1944 Olympics. Finny is convinced that there really is no war at all. He

thinks a bunch of fat men fabricated the whole idea of a war. Gene tries to

forget about the war and concentrate on the Olympics. Mr. Ludsbury exlpains that

all exercise is really part of the war effort.

Chapter 9:The boys have returned from Christmas vacation. Leper Lepellier

enlists in the ski troops. Gene reacts that war must be unreal for a peaceful

Leper to enlist. Finny tries to draw Gene into a private world with just them

two. Finny comes up with a plan for a winter carnival. Finny establishes a

separate peace for the boys at Devon. A telegram arrives from Leper, saying that

he has escaped and needs help. The boys are forced to realize that war has

broken in upon them at last in a real and important way.

Chapter 10:Gene recollects preparations for war undertaken by himself and others

his age. Most of his time was exhausted in traveling around aimlessly to

different places until the war was suddenly and prematurely brought to a halt by

the dropping of the atomic bomb. He is en route to visit Leper. Gene thinks

Leper is a ?physco?. Leper explains that the army was going to dismiss him with

a Section Eight (the nuts and physco’s in the service dismissal). Leper says

that Gene is ?savage underneath,? and then supports his view by citing the way

Gene knocked Finny out of the tree and ?crippled him for life.? Gene reacts

angerly, but Leper’s mother enters. They have lunch, and then take a walk in the

country. Leper recalls some of military life. Gene screams that he doesn’t care

about what Leper is saying because it has nothing to do with him.

Chapter 11: Gene returns to Devon and finds Finny in a snowball fight. The fight

rages as a war games. Finny is sobered and while saying that htere is no war

shows that he knows that the war really does exist. Binker tells Gene to stop

pitying Finny, because Finny will start pitying himself. Brinker points out that

it would be good for Gene if everyone could forget about Finny’s accident. Finny

confesses to Gene that he is no convinced that the war is real, and also

explains that he has seen Leper hiding in various places around the school

grounds. Brinker conducts a war trail, investigating the cause of Finny’s

accident and ambiguously accusing gene as the guilty party. Brinker asks Finny

to recall the events leading up to his actual fall and slowly it becomes evident

that Gene was up on the branch with Finny. Finny tells the boys that Leper is on

the school grounds. Leper is brought to trial as a key witness who had been

present when the accident occurred. Leper says he had seen both boys in the tree,

looking ?as black as death? against the bright sun behind them. Finny ends the

trial by rising angrily, cursing at Brinker, and for the first time starting to

cry. Finny falls down the stairs.

Chapter 12: Phil Latham, the wrestling coach, is brought to the scene of the

accident and malkes finny lie still until Dr. Stanpole arrives. Finny’s leg has

a clean break this time. Mr. Ludsbury orders Gene to his room. Gene sneaks

around to the infirmatory were Finny will be taken. Dr. Stanpole arrives and

takes Finny in his car. Gene talks to Finny through the infirmatory window,

explaining that he wants to help, but Finny remains angry and unreceptive. Gene

sleeps at the stadium. He finds a note in his room from Dr. Standpol, requesting

Finny’s things be brought to the infirmatory. Finny finally admits Gene’s

innocence. Finny knows that Gene did not push him ot of the tree on purpose.

Finny is very unhappy though. Finny wants desperately to be in the war. Dr.

Stanpole announces that Finny is dead. Dr. Stanpole loses control of himself as

he tries to explain that some marrow from the broken bone must have been

released into the blood stream and gone to the heart, killing Finny immediately.

Chapter 13:The Far Common of the Devon School is being taken over by the army.

Gene realizes that no one has accused him of being responsible for what happened

to Finny. Mr. Hadley, Brinker’s father, arrives, and lectures the boys on

bravery, heroism, and the importance of a military career. He is disgusted that

Gene says he hopes he never sees a foxhole. Brinker himseld cannot accept his

fahter;s mindless announcement that everyone should be willing to die for his

coutry. Gene realizes that wars are caused by ?something ignorant in the human

heart.? He realizes also that the hard part of the war is over for him; he

endured it at Devon. For the real horror of war is slowly mitigated through the

difficult period of preparation of war, not through actual war experiences.