A Seperate Peace Litblog Ch. 9-10

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-29-13

 

 

Chapters 9-10

 

Summary: After watching a video of the U.S. Ski Troops convinced Leper to enlist and he left the school. Afterwards, everyone referred very reported war event to Leper and they assumed he was the hero in these battles. Finny and a few other boys decide to hold a carnival on the upcoming Saturday with sports and prizes. At the end of the chapter, Gene gets a telegram from Leper asking for his immediate help because his life is in danger. In chapter 10, Gene travels to Leper's house and finds him there. Leper seems almost completely different and tells Gene he ran away because he was receiving a Section Eight Discharge- a discharge for psychos and unstable fighters, meaning that he would get no good jobs in the army. Leper had become psycho and told Gene that he sees random body parts appear on people and suffers from strange visions and Leper tells Gene the first time he screamed and freaked out because of this first vision in the bunks and Gene tells Leper to stop and Gene leaves his house.

Quotation: "It wasn't the cider that made me surpass myself, it was this liberation we had torn from the gray encroachments of 1943, the escape we had concocted, this afternoon of momentary, illusory, special and separate peace" (123).

Quotation Significance: Part of the reason this quote is significant is that the last two words are the title of the novel. This quote is when Gene is being crowned with a wreath when he is about to compete in the Carnival. The boys have found a way to have fun and escape the horrors of the war and of winter and this gives them a separate peace

Reflection: In these two chapters, Leper has joined and enlisted in the army because he saw the video of them skiing, one of his favorite sports. He assumed that everything would be like the video and when Gene gets the telegram to rescue him he sees how much the war has changed Leper. Leper used to be shy, kind, and lighthearted and now when Gene visits him he seems almost unfriendly, grumpy, and cold. He is given the Section Eight Discharge and Leper seems to accept the fact that he is psycho because he sees random visions. For some reason, this really freaks out Gene and Gene yells at Leper telling him that he didn't want to hear this story because it had nothing to do with him. It scarred him so badly that Gene immediately left afterwards. The boys also held the Carnival during that time too and this provided them with an escape from the harsh winter and the horrors of the war. giving them a separate peace from the rest of the world.

Discussion Question: Why does Gene leave Leper's house when Leper tells his story?





A Seperate Peace Litblog Chapters 7-8

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-28-13

Chapters 7-8

Summary: Brinker comes to visit Gene, he thinks that Gene got rid of Finny so he could have a big room. They go down to the smoking room and Brinker jokes around and tells everyone down in the room his theory about what Gene did to Finny, playing it off as a joke. Gene and the other boys take a job shoveling snow off the railroad and on the way there he sees Leper skiing. Gene promises to enlist in the army with Brinker. At the end of the chapter, Finny is back. Gene tells Finny he plans on enlisting and Finny is shocked that Gene might leave. Later that day the boys ditch French class and go down to the gym and now Finny is going to train Gene for the Olympics. The boys come up with a theory that the war is a fake created by fat, old, men who want to keep their jobs.

Quotation: "To enlist. To slam the door impulsively on the past, to shed everything down to my last bit of clothing, to break the pattern of my life-that complex design I had been weaving since birth with all its dark threads...I yearned to take giant military shears to it..." (92).

Quotation Significance: This quote is talking about how desperately wants to cut off the ties of his old life and all that he has built and owned to enlist in the military and completely start a new life.

Reflection: In these chapters, Brinker embarrasses Gene by saying that he sabotaged Finny so he could get a big room and tells everyone in the smoking room about it and Gene tries to play it off like Brinker as a joke and tells them how he "poisoned" Finny. Gene knows that if he doesn't play this off right that he will get a bad reputation at Devon and he would sacrifice anyone else's reputation to save his. Finny also returns in chapter 8. Instead of being rivals again Gene and Finny work together. Gene tutors Finny in school and Finny trains Gene for the Olympics. Finny is shocked when he finds out that Gene might enlist. Gene feels trapped by his school life and secretly wished to cut the ties with his old life and enlist in the army and go live a new life and fight in the war. In the gym, Finny also says that he is suffering and the boys have an awkward moment and Gene doesn't know exactly how to respond but he feels bad for Finny and I think that Gene is starting to realize that Finny is actually a good friend and not out to steal any of his academic glory.

Discussion Question: How have Finny and Gene's relationship changed since he returned?



A Seperate Peace Litblog Ch. 5-6

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-25-13

Chapters 5-6

 

Summary: Gene goes in to see Finny and finds out that he can never play sports again. Gene also tries to tell Finny that he jostled the tree branch to make him fall on purpose but then the doctor comes in. Gene goes off to summer break and right before arriving back at Devon on September 1, he stops by Finny's house and tells him the truth. Finny is very upset and Gene takes it back and pretends like he was tried because of the train ride and he didn't mean any of it. Gene becomes an assistant manager for Quackenbush and the boys get into a fist fight and both boys get drenched in the river. Later, Finny calls Gene and they talk about school and Gene reassures Finny that he is still his roommate.

Quotation: "...I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this might must have been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas"(77).

Quotation Significance: Gene is saying this when he is on the phone with Finny and he tells him about the assistant manager job. Finny is disappointed and insists that Gene play sports since he can't. Gene is now starting to realize that Finny and him are so different that they can't really be competitors. Gene also realizes that he is going to become a part of Phineas and Phineas will now have to live through him since everything that Finny was once good at was taken from him by Gene.

Reflection: For awhile, Gene was always trying to compete with Finny. Finny was popular, handsome, and athletic. While Gene is smart and shy. Gene already excels Finny at school and wants to become top of the class to beat Finny even more. But he is now starting to realize that him and Finny are so different that it is almost impossible for them to compete against one another fairly. Gene is also realizing that Finny was not trying to take advantage him and is just being a good friend and being himself. Gene wanted to beat Finny because he was jealous of Finny and his ability to stay out of trouble and being good at sports. This is what pushed Gene is jostle the branch to make Finny fall. Gene wanted to be the dominant one and be the one on top for once. But he didn't realize and didn't want Finny to lose his ability to play sports. Now that Gene realizes this he knows that what he did is wrong and he tries to come clean to Finny. But coming clean is hard, especially since Finny is going through so much already. But Gene now realizes that he has to make up to Finny by letting Finny live through him.

Discussion Question: Why did Gene jostle the branch to make Finny fall?





A Seperate Peace Litblog Chapters 1-2

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-21-13

 

Chapters 1-2

 

Summary: A man named Gene Forrester returns to his old school called Devon in New Hampshire. He remembers about how fearful he was in those days when World War II was going on in Europe. He visits the old staircase and a tree down by the river. He remembers this tree from when he was 16, and he dares his friend to jump off one of the branches into the river, Finny jumps first and then Gene jumps. In chapter 2, Finny decides to wear pink to celebrate the bombing of central Europe. At a faculty tea with Mr. Patch-Withers, his wife notices that Finny is using the school tie as a belt and he talks himself out of trouble again. They then go down to the river and make a secret society called the "Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session". Gene loses his balance on a tree branch and is caught by Finny, who saves his life.

Quotation: "Looking back now across fifteen years, I could see with great clarity the fear I had lived in, which must mean that in the interval I had succeeded in a very important undertaking: I must have made my escape from it"(2).

Quotation Significance: Gene is back at his old school in Devon and looking back from went he went to school there he realizes that he had lived his life in fear, and now that he is able to look back and recognize this he knows that this means that he has broken free from that fear.

Reflection: This book is set in around the time of World War II. Gene is returning to his school in Devon when World War II was going on and he realizes the fear he constantly lived in at the school. There was the fear of the war obviously and also peer pressures from his friends. One of his good friends, Finny, was able to get away with almost anything and Gene always thought this was extremely unfair and I think he was jealous of Finny. Finny also seemed to be a little bossy and ordered Gene to do things, like jumping into the river. Gene wanted to fit in and be accepted by his other friends so that is why I think he obeyed Finny. Gene falls from a tree branch one day and Finny catches him. He looks back on the moment later and realizes that he owes Finny his life. He could have landed on a rock in the river and broken his neck or back. The boys also make their own secret society.

Discussion Question: Why does Gene sometimes get jealous of Finny? Why is Gene always afraid when he is in Devon?





Night Litblog Pages 104-115

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-20-13

Pages 104-115

Summary: Elie is with his father, who is becoming very sick. Elie stays in the hospital with him and and SS man hits him in the head because he calls out to Elie when the SS men are telling the sick all to be quiet. That night while Elie was asleep, his father died. A few monthes later, all the Jews are ordered to meet in the main area for a group roll call. The rebels tell them not to because they believe the Germans are going to shoot them. They go back to their block and later return to the main area where the rebels overcome the Germans and the U.S. attacks the camp, and the prisoners are now free. Elie gets transferred to as hospital because his got sick from poisoning and when he wakes up, the book ends. 

Quotation: "... Don't forget that you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. You cannot help him anymore. And you are hurting yourself"

Quotation Significance: A doctor says this to Elie when he goes to check on his father. He is saying that in this society, every man is for himself and by feeding his father he is hurting his own chance of survival. The Germans are so cruel that they have made sons turn on their fathers.

Reflection: The book ends with all the prisoners at the camp being rescued. Elie's father dies just a few days before this happens. Elie feels sorry for his father but he also almost feels a sense of relief. Now he doesn't have the burden of taking care of his father on his shoulders. He knows that he should not thinks this, but in his situation, it becomes almost understandable. Now Elie only has himself to take care of. Elie is aware of his thoughts to abandon his father and he is glad that he was able to be there in his day alive. But he also knows that having his father with him gave him a sense of purpose to be alive, and now he has no reason to going on living. But he continues to fight through and eventually the U.S. defeats the Germans and Elie and the other prisoners are set free. When he is in the hospital, he gets out of bed and he sees himself in the mirror for the first time in a very long time. And he says that he will never forget the look in his eyes in that moment. Those eyes hold all the horrors of the everlasting night that he had to live through, the death of family, his missing faith, and his anger towards the inner beast inside humans. Overall, this was a very good book which showed the terror and cruel moments that go on inside a Jewish concentration camp in the Holocaust. 

Discussion Question: Why will Elie never forget his reflection in the mirror in the hospital? How does Elie feel about his father's death?





Night Litblog Pages 85-103

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-18-13

Pages 85-103

Summary: The men are evacuated because the Russian front is advancing towards them. The men are forced to march twenty kilometers before they are allowed to stop near a shed and Elie and his father keep each other awake. Elie is worried that he will abandon his weak father because of his own will to stay alive. They arrive in Gleiwitz and Elie meets his old friend Juliek and he plays the violin. They stay in Gleiwitz for three days and the men are boarded on trains- 100 men per car. The men received no food and fought violently over pieces of bread passerby in towns threw in. Elie is sleeping when someone starts to choke and he is saved by his father and Meir Katz. The men have no strength left and all of them begin to wail and cry and that night they arrive in Buchenwald, only 12 men remain in the cart.

Quotation: "The lament spread from wagon to wagon. It was contagious. And now hundreds of cries rose at once. The death rattle of an entire convoy with the end approaching. All boundaries had been crossed. Nobody had any strength left. And the night seemed endless.

Quotation Significance: The men have been stuck on this wagon for days without food. They only have access to snow for water. The men are so exhausted and tired that they have no more will to live. They feel like giving up and they all cry and moan together, and the endless night is full of misery and sadness for them.

Reflection: In this section of the book, the men are forced to leave Buna because the Russians are coming. Elie wants to be with his father and chooses not to stay in the infirmary. Elie is having trouble staying behind with his father and he doesn't want to die with him. Elie describes various stories where men abandon their fathers in order to save themselves. Elie understands that they only want to survive and if their father is in their way, then they will sacrifice their fathers. But on the otherhand, Elie loves his father and his father needs him and he couldn't possibly hurt his father and let him die. Elie also knows that his father is the only person that he has left. On the march to Gleiwitz, Elie almost feels like giving up but he knows that he must go on to give support to his father, who would have given up if it wasn't for him. On the train, all the men almost give up. They have no food and only 12 of the 100 men survive. They are exposed to extreme weather conditions and they are forced to fight for crumbs of food. The Germans seem to have no pity or mercy for the Jews. It deeply sickens me how they could simply ignore this and not feed the men.

Discussion Question: How has the journey to Buchenwald affected Elie and his feelings about his father?





Night Litblog Pages 44-65

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-15-13

 

Pages 44-65

 

Summary: Stein finds out the real news of Reizel and his children. Elie and his block leave Auschwitz and are transferred to Buna. The routine process for new recruits goes smoothly. Elie and his father are placed with a group of workers who have to assemble electrical parts. Elie gets called into the dentist because of his gold crown and delays the doctor and the doctor is fired before Elie's crown is removed. When their supervisor, Idek, gets angry one day he beats up Elie for no reason, and a French girl consoles him. Franek, their foreman, wants Elie's gold crown and tortures Elie's father daily until Elie gives it up. On Sunday, Elie catches Idek and a female prosititute and he laughs and his punished by being whipped. Later, the U.S. bombed the camp and later Elie watched several hangings.  

Quotation: "Bite your lips, little brother... Don't cry. Keep your anger, your hate, for another day, for later. The day will come but not now...Wait. Clench your teeth and wait" (53).

Quotation Significance: The French girl says this to Elie after he is beaten up by Idek for no reason. She tells him that their time to rise and fight back will come but they must wait. She understands what Elie must be going through and he wants to fight back against the Germans.

Reflection: Elie and his father are transferred to Buna in this section and are given relatively easy jobs. Akiba Drumer believes that God is putting the through a test but Elie cant help thinking that how God test them so harshly for so long to let millions of innocent men die and show no mercy? Now Elie's heart is black. His only thought is survival. He is also beaten up by Idek for no reason and this makes him extremely angry because he had done nothing wrong. The French girl consoles him and convinces him to wait and that they will have revenge one day. Elie almost has to have his crown removed and avoids until Franek tortures his father daily, and his father is the only person that Elie has left and he would do anything to keep him from dying, so Elie gives up his tooth. He also catches Idek with a prostitute and receives a very harsh punishment for spying on them and laughing. He is whipped 50 times and can not stand once his beating is finished and Idek threatens his life if he says anything about it to anyone. The U.S. also bomb the camp but only one man is killed. Elie is also forced to watch several hangings and they even hang a child, who is small so it takes a half hour before he finally dies. The men force everyone to look at their dead bodies, feeling Elie with unspeakable horror.

Discussion Question: Do you think that Elie has completely lost his faith? Do you think that he can regain it?





Night Litblog Pages 21-43

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-12-13

 

Pages 21-43

 

Summary: Elie and his family depart in a train car with 80 other people on a long journey, dying of thirst. They then arrive at their destination: Auschwitz. The crazy mad-woman in the car kept yelling about flames and when the train rolled into the camp at Birknaeu, she was right. They were forced from the trains and Elie was separated from his mother and sisters. An inmate told him and his father to lie about their ages. Elie and his father were almost two steps from the crematorium and then they were told to turn left. They were sent to barracks and met up with some of their friends. The next day, they had to get new prison clothes and run to different barracks and were lectured by an German officer. Elie's father was slapped. They were then transferred to the actual Auschwitz camp, Elie became number A-7713 and was forced to run to different barracks again and met a family friend of theirs during daily roll call.

Quotation: "What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminals flesh. Had I changed so much? So fast? Remorse began to gnaw at me. All I could think was: I shall never forgive them for this"(39).

Quotation Significance: Elie's father is slapped when asking to use the bathroom when they are at the gypsy camp and Elie was very surprised and shocked that he barely reacted at all. If he had been at home and this would have happened, Elie would have attacked the man who struck his father. But he had changed. Elie had seen too much and knew that if he resisted in any way, he would have been beaten down too. Elie was learning that to survive in this terrible place, you had to do your work and keep silent.

Reflection: Elie and his family have arrived at Birknaeu and eventually Auschwitz. He was separated from his mother and sisters and he had no idea that this would be the last time he ever saw them. Elie and his father walk towards the crematorium and almost believe that they are going to be burned, but the men in their convoy are turned away from the flames in the last second. This scarred Elie and later when his father is struck, he feels an immeasureable anger towards the Germans and knows he will never forgive them. Elie and his father also get a identification number tattooed on their left arms and he will be now be known as only a number. Elie talks in the book about how the barracks and the concentration camp changes him forever. He sees babies been thrown into fires, and women and their husbands burning in the flames. He wonders how humans could let this all happen? He wonders how no one stood up for them? Elie even begins to doubt his own faith. He doesn't think that if there was a God, that it would let something like this happen to his family.

Discussion Question: Why does Elie begin to doubt his own faith?

 



Night Litblog Pages 1-20

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-11-13

 

Pages 1-20

 

Summary: Elie Wiesel lives in Sighet, Transylvania. Elie is a Jew and as a boy he is learning about the Torah and his teacher is the poor Moishe the Beadle. Foreign jews are rounded up and forced to leave the town, and Moishe is forced to leave. He returns and tells Elie about how the Jews were forced to dig trenches and then murdered, and Moishe left to die. The Germans come to their town and slowly impose the yellow-star rule and place restrictions on the Jews. Soon, Elie and the rest of the village are sent to the small ghetto to wait to be sent to the secret destination.

Quotation: "That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today. They were our first oppressors. They were the first faces of hell and death "(19).

Quotation Significance: Elie and his family are being rounded up and forced to run to the small ghetto until their expulsion. When the men called them some "good-for-nothings" and brandished clubs at them, Elie began to hate them. This hatred for them never ends and is the only thing they have in common.

Reflection: Elie is a Jew and was being trained by Moishe. Moishe was the poor man of the town but he had taken Elie under his wing. Elie wanted to enter the world of mysticism, but his father claims he is too young. Everyone in the town talks about World War II and many of the townspeople believe that the Germans wouldn't come for them. They tried to talk themselves into believing that the Germans would only go so far as the main city and not into the small towns and country-side. But they were wrong. The townspeople lived in denial and believed that nothing would happen to them as long as they had hope and remained calm. But the Germans found them and now the Jews are being forced to go to a secret destination, most likely a concentration camp. The signs come early, the restritions on Jews, the yellow star, the building of the ghettos and many more things. Elie sees his dad cry for the first time when they leave their home and Elie feels the despair and shame of his family and friends as they are forced to leave their homes.

Discussion Question: Why did Elie's family choose not to escape before the Germans came? Where do you think the Germans will take them?



Fahrenheit 451 Litblog Pages 137-157

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-8-13

Pages 137-157

Summary: Montag ran towards the river and he turns on the seashell and hears the police suggesting the citizens to open their doors all at once and catch Montag. They count down, but Montag gets to the river before they see him. Montag floats down the river so the Hound can't smell him and he follows the train tracks until he meets a group of men.  The leader of the men is named Granger and Montag joins the group, and watches his fake "capture" on their mini tv. The men tell him that they memorize books so they can pass them on for generations.

Quotation: "The most important single thing we had to pound into ourselves is that we were not important, we mustn't be pendants; we were not to feel superior to anyone else in the world. We're nothing more than dust jackets for books, of no significance otherwise" (153).

Quotation Significance: These group of men that Montag meant read a book once, and then memorized it totally. They know that reading is illegal and this way they have the knowledge from books without the book itself. They can pass on the stories to their children and other people for generations. They are saying that just because they have a book memorized doesn't mean they are any better than anyone else or have divine knowledge. They are just preserving the book for others and nothing more.

Reflection: In this part of the book, Montag barely escapes the city and floats down the river, almost caught by the Hound and the helicopters. They turn around and Montag wonders why. I think that it is because this society moves so fast that they would have to spend hours looking for Montag in the river and they would rather stage a fake capture to keep the citizens happy. Later, Montag meets a group of men roasting around a campfire and they welcome him to their group. Many of them are professors and writers, and Montag feels that he doesn't entirely fit in with them. Granger tells him that his grandfather was a big inspiration for him. Montag's fake capture is shown on tv and Montag feels badly for the man who had to die, and who had done nothing to deserve it. The men have memorized great novels and they want to keep them to pass on to people. They have convinced themselves that they just relay the stories to people and they are not superior to anyone else.

Discussion Question: Why do you think the government fake "captures" Montag and not actually search the river and find him?





Fahrenheit 451 Litblog Pages 113-136

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-6-13

 

Pages 113-136

 

Summary: Montag is called in by Mildred and Mrs. Bowles (one of her friends he read the poem to) and the first stop of the night is his own house. Montag burns down his entire house with only a flame-thrower and when Beatty moves to arrest him and he discovers his ear piece, Montag points the flame-thrower at him and kills Beatty. The Hound then attacks him and stabs its needle into Montag's leg but he kills it with the flame-thrower in time. Montag runs from the scene and almost gets run over by a car and makes it to Faber's house, and finds out another Hound is after him. On the way, Montag plants some books in a fireman's house (Mr. Black's). Faber tells him to run to the river and follow it to the train tracks and travel with the hobo camps.

Quotation: "In the middle of the crying Montag knew it for the truth. Beatty had wanted to die. He had just stood there, not really trying to save himself, just stood there, joking, needling... How strange, strange, to want to die so much that you let a man walk around armed..." (122).

Quotation Significance: Montag now knows that Beatty had wanted to die and that was why Beatty had still insulted him while he had the flame-thrower in his hand. Beatty was basically asking for Montag to kill him.

Reflection: In this chapter, Montag is exposed for having books and is totally on the run. He killes Beatty and the Hound and is on his way to escape the city and eventually meet up with Faber in St. Louis. On the way to meet Faber, Montag planted books in Mr. Black's house, Mr. Black is a fireman and Montag is trying to plant a seed of doubt in the minds of the people and hopefully encourage them to overturn the system once they realize the men running it are hypocrites. The other firemen arrive and burn down Mr. Black's house. Montag feels terrible for killing Beatty but he soon realizes that Beatty had been asking to die. Beatty was provoking him while Montag had the flame-thrower pointed at him and Montag snapped and pulled the trigger, killing Beatty. Montag cries about it and feels extremely guilty about this. He also kills the Hound, and he has to limp away from the scene because the Hound injected a little of it's venom into him. He soon regains movement in his leg though and escapes.

Discussion Question: How is Beatty's death deeply affecting Montag? Do you think that Montag will still try and overthrow the society that he lives in?

 



Fahrenheit 451 Litblog Pages 81-110

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-5-13

Pages 81-110

Summary: Faber and Montag plan to plant books in the firemen's houses to make them look guilty and raise questioning. They will rally old professors, printers, and historians and start protesting at the end of the war. Faber gives Montag an earpiece so he can talk to him when he returns to work that night. Montag returns home and gets angry at Mildred and her friends, and reads them all a poem, horrifying the women. Montag returns to work and his book is burned and the first stop for the firemen is his house.

Quotation: "And you'll try to judge them and make your decisions as to which way to jump, or fall... But remember that the Captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy to truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority. We all have our harps to play. And now its up to you now to know with which ear you'll listen"(108).

Quotation Significance: Faber is saying this into Montag's earpiece. He wants Montag to make his own decision on which side he wants to be on but he wants Montag to know that Beatty represents the majority. The majority of people that believe in this fake happiness. He knows that everyone plays a part, and now it is Montag's turn to choose his side. 

Reflection: In this chapter, Montag is almost sure that he wants to overthrow the firemen and bring back books and the old ways. He goes to the professor Faber and they devise that plan. Montag becomes enraged at Mildred and her friends because they all only carry about the parlor. The women talk about how useless and annoying children are and Mildred and one of her friends refuses to have them entirely and the other one has had two children. In this society, abortion rates are high, and c-sections common. Children are thrown into school very earlier and only home 3 days of the month. The children and parents despise each other. This seems very wrong to me and gives me more of a understanding how twisted and sad this society is. Montag gets angry at the women and reads them a poem, making one of them cry. The women leave and Montag regrets what he did and rethinks his choice. When on a run later, the firemen all arrive at Montag's house and Montag is surprised.

Discussion Question: How do you think Beatty discovered that Montag had a collection of books?