Catcher in the Rye Litblog Ch. 1-2

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
4-15-13

 

Chapters 1-2

 

Summary: The narrator of this story is named Holden Caulfield who is seventeen years old and he tells us about being at Pencey Prep in Pennsylvania when he was sixteen. He was the captain of the fencing team and he was kicked out of school for flunking four of his classes. He goes over to his history teacher's house, Mr. Spencer, to say goodbye to him before leaving the next week. He talks with Mr. Spencer who lectures and interrogates him on flunking his classes and his future. Holden eventually makes up a lie and leaves Mr. Spencer's house.

Quotation: "I don't think I'll ever forgive him for reading me that crap out loud. I wouldn't've read it out loud to him if he'd written it- I really wouldn't"(12).

Quotation Significance: Holden becomes angry when Mr. Spencer reads the note that Holden left him on his paper about flunking the class. He feels that teachers are always treating him unfairly and that he wouldn't have read the humiliating note out loud.

Reflection: So far this book seems to be well written and I think it will be a good read. Holden has been to four schools and he obviously isn't focused on his future and doesn't care about the consequences about not taking advantage of his education and all that it can bring him. Holden is annoyed with teachers and he feels that even though he tries to be nice they also don't like him because he doesn't put in any effort. And now because of this he was kicked out of Pencey Prep and he has to go home and face his parents. Holden is narrating this story from when he is seventeen years old and he doesn't tell us where he is just that he is away from his parents in a place he doesn't like. I'm thinking that he is probably at a new school. Although Holden is flunking out of school and not thinking about his future it is easy to see that he is a good kid deep down.

Discussion Question: Why does Holden not try in school and why does he not care about his future?





A Seperate Peace Litblog Ch. 13

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
4-4-13

Chapter 13



Summary: The military arrives at Devon to stay the summer and train. Brinker's dad came and Gene, Brinker, and his dad had a talk in the butt room and Brinker tells his father wants to be in the coast guard and Gene says that he wants to be in the navy. Gene watchs the platoons doing calisthenics and imagines himself in their place in the next few years. Gene comes back as his older self from the war and tells how he never killed anyone and that the words of Finny helped him through rough times in the military.

Quotation: "I never killed anybody and I never developed an intense level of hatred for the enemy. Because my war ended before I ever put on a uniform; I was on active duty all my time at school; I killed my enemy there"(196).

Quotation Significance: This is Gene when he comes back as himself at the end of the book after the war. He is saying that being in the school was like being the war, he had killed his enemy. This enemy is inside himself. This enemy is not Finny like he had orginally thought, Finny had supported Gene and only tried to help him. This enemy inside Gene was the one who pushed Finny off the tree and tried to compete with him and after the war Gene has conquered this enemy.

Reflection: This is the final chapter of the book. Gene talks with Brinker and his dad and Gene knows that he wants to be in the navy and Brinker knows that he wants to be on the coast guard. Gene imagines himself in the military and he sees a future where he is part of it and joining the fight. Then Gene comes back from after the war and tells us that he killed no one in the war except his enemy at school, because that was when he was on active duty. This enemy is inside himself. This enemy is not Finny like he had orginally thought, Finny had supported Gene and only tried to help him. This enemy was conquered when he was at school,and this enemy is not Finny. This enemy is inside Gene is the one who pushed Finny off the tree and tried to compete with him and after the war Gene has conquered this enemy. Gene had to conqueror this jealously and envy feelings he was having for Finny and his feeling for competiviness. Gene had kill the enmy inside him that tricked him into believing that Finny was his real enemy. Overall, this was a great book but it didn't have the greatest ending. The ending felt very predictable and the reader could predict it was coming. But other than that, this book is a great read.

Discussion Question: How did Gene conqueror the enemy within himself?

A Seperate Peace Litblog Chapter 12

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
4-3-13

 

Chapter 12

 

Summary: After finding out the Gene jounced the limb, Finny broke his leg again after falling down the stairs but this time the break was clean. Finny gets taken to the Infirmary and Gene sneaks in through his window after the doctor was gone and Finny tries to attack him but is unsuccessful due to his condition. Gene then leaves Finny's room and comes back the next day with Finny's suitcase and Finny believes that Gene acted on a blind and crazy impulse. Gene comes back the next day to find out that Finny is dead from the marrow of his blood flowing to his heart.

Quotation: I did not cry then or ever about Finny... I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case"(186).

Quotation Significance: This quote is saying that Gene could not cry about Finny's death because Gene felt like that Finny's death was like he himself dying and dead people don't cry at their own funerals.

Reflection: In this chapter, Finny is in shock because he knows that Gene was the one who jounced the limb and Finny even tries to attack Gene because of it and Gene feels immensely guilty that his best friend is suffering because of him. When Gene comes back later and Finny is dead Gene feels extremely sad but cant cry. Gene can't cry because he feels like Finny dying is almost like both of them dying. Gene knows that in Finny's death he is losing his other half and part of himself. So Gene knows that he can't possibly cry at his own funeral. Finny could almost barely believe that Gene had actually jounced the limb on purpose and told Gene that he believed that Gene was only having an uncontrollable blind impulse. Gene agrees and the boys become friends again and the next day is when Finny dies by accident from blood marrow getting to his heart.

Discussion Question: Why does Finny refuse to believe that Gene jouncing the limb wasn't a crazy impulse?





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?