A Seperate Peice Essay Research Paper Gene — страница 4

party together laughing, and Finny suggests a jump from the tree and pushes Gene along toward the river. Finny refuses to believe the Allies really bombed central Europe, and Gene concurs. They swim for a while in the river, and Finny asks if Gene is still afraid of the tree. Gene says he is not, and they agree to jump together to form a new secret society, which they call the “Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session.” When they get out on the limb, Gene turns back to Finny to make a delaying remark and loses his balance. Finny catches him, and then they both jump. In this chapter, Gene begins to acknowledge his envy of Finny. He wishes he was as skillful at getting away with unconventional actions as Finny and covets his various abilities and popularity, but he consoles

himself since having him as a best friend is a compliment and a sign of achievement in itself. He decides that Finny does not take advantage of people, but is simply an extraordinary person that people naturally like. Gene finds himself wanting to see Finny get in trouble, but only for the thrill of it, not to cause Finny’s actual downfall. This excuse is transparent, though, and reveals an inner conflict that will become more important as the story progresses.Finny lives for moments of unrestrained friendship with anyone who will offer it to him, even the masters, and his casual ignorance of the rules wears down the school’s general austerity. The masters act much less suspicious and disapproving of the students during the school’s first Summer Session, and Finny

interprets this as a sign of greater maturity on the masters’ part. This relaxed atmosphere, allowing the boys more freedom than usual, comes partly from the way the boys remind the masters of peace and innocence in this time of war; the boys are one of the few groups of people left who can truly enjoy themselves. Gene is not ashamed of the selfish happiness he and the other boys relish, and he cites it as the reason he and Finny cannot believe in the bombings in Europe. The War is still too far removed to be real. The Super Suicide Society gets off to a successful start that night as Finny convinces six other boys to sign on as inductees. Finny creates rules spontaneously, including one requiring him and Gene to start each meeting by jumping out of the tree; Gene hates this

rule and never gets used to the jump. They hold meetings every night and Gene never misses one, even though he is bitterly afraid every time he jumps. Finny, who loves sports above all else, is disgusted with the Summer Session’s athletic program, especially the inclusion of badminton, and spontaneously invents a new sport called blitzball one afternoon with a medicine ball he finds lying on the ground. The sport catches on immediately, and Finny becomes its unrivaled master. One day, Finny and Gene are at the pool alone, and Finny decides to break one of the swimming records. He breaks the record on his first attempt, but only Gene witnesses it. Finny refuses to try again in public and forbids Gene to tell anyone about it. Finny remains uncharacteristically silent for a while

before proposing that they go to the beach, which is hours away by bicycle and strictly forbidden; Gene agrees and they slip away down a back road. The ocean is cold with heavy surf and the sand is scorching hot; Finny enjoys himself immensely and tries to keep Gene entertained. They eat dinner at a hot dog stand and each has a glass of beer with forged draft cards before settling down to sleep on the dunes. Finny tells Gene he is glad he came along and that they are best friends; Gene starts to say the same, but holds back at the last moment. This chapter further develops Gene’s relationship with Finny. The nightly jump out of the tree becomes a source of smoldering resentment for Gene. He fears the jump, but fears losing Finny’s respect even more, which leads to tension

that he tries to suppress. This tension is evident when Finny stops Gene from falling out of the tree, practically saving his life; Gene feels no great gratitude because he remembers his life would not have been in danger in the first place had it not been for Finny. Finny is strongly individualistic and prizes the freedom to live by his own rules. Gene allows Finny to create rules for him. The idea of simply refusing to jump out of the tree never occurs to Gene, even though complying goes against his instincts. This same force acts on Gene when he agrees to go to the beach with Finny. He does not want to go, risks expulsion in going, but does not consider refusing. Gene really does not understand Finny, although he has not yet recognized this. Finny does things for sheer