Electronic Journal #4

In the last part of the book, the boys at Devon endure in some critical events. Gene arrives back on campus to undergo a snowball fight started by fellow classmates. Brinker and Phineas ask about Leper but Gene is hesitant about telling the true nature of Leper’s disposition. A couple of military groups visit Devon to try to recruit young school boys in their regiments and Finny makes a realization about war. He sees Leper at the school and his miserable state to deduce that the war might actually be real and heartbreaking. Then later that night, a secret trial was held to find out the true nature of Finny’s accident. Finny was so outraged and the misinterpretations given that he consequently left the room, furious. Then, all of a sudden, everyone heard Finny tumble down the marble stairs. Finny remained at the Infirmary for a couple of days, and Gene was extremely scared that he stuck to his monotone routine. Phineas was then scheduled for a surgery to repair his leg by Dr. Stanpole. However, a piece of bone marrow broke off his leg which got stuck in the blood stream and caused his heart to fail. Then at the end, reality sinks in and a brigade of troops brings in sewing machines to the school to start making parachutes for the troops. Gene realized he was nothing without Finny and that everything he admired (fearless, kind, friendly) was everything he has ever been striving for.
With Slaughterhouse-Five in mind, A Separate Peace once again is relevant to the events in Vonnegut’s novel. In one scene, Gene illuminates on the fields at Devon and comes across the condition of the fields and relates it to his life. The fields “were a roaming ghost” and Gene felt as if he “was a dream, a figment which had never really touched anything.” This is comparative to Billy because Billy always was said to be time travelling and never had a sense of where he was or even if it was real/ living. Also, Gene didn’t cry for Finny just like Billy never cried for any human in the war. However, Gene was embarrassed and felt as if it was his own funeral. Lastly, Gene says “you could not change [it].” What was meant by this statement was that he couldn’t change what had happened and in the words of the Tramalfadorians, the time simply is. Finny’s death simply was and he had to deal with it.