A Separate Peace
Chapter 11
Notes
Finny is having a snowball fight with the other boys. He is once again showing his
leadership qualities.
“This gathering had obviously been Finny’s work. Who else could have inveigled (trick)
twenty people to the farthest extremity of the school to throw snowballs at each other?”
(p. 153)
Gene is concerned that Finny could have hurt his leg in the snowball fight.
“Do you think you ought to get into fights like that? After all, there’s your leg-“
“No, of course I won’t break it again. Isn’t the bone supposed to be stronger when it
grows together over a place where it’s been broken once?”(p. 155)
Gene and Finny keep pictures on the wall over their bed. Finny has pictures of the
Roosevelt-Churchill meeting (“They’re the two most important of the old men,
getting together to make up what to tell us next about the war.”) and Gene has
pictures of plantation mansions, moss-hung trees, lazy road, cabins of Negroes.
(Part of his false identity when he came to Devon)
“But by now I no longer needed this vivid false identity; now I was acquiring, I felt a
sense of my own real authority and worth, I had had many new experiences and I was
growing up.” (p. 156)
Brinker is disappointed that there are 2 people who are unable to serve in the war,
Leper and Finny.
“Oh God. What’s the matter with our class anyway? It isn’t even June yet and we’ve
already got two men sidelined for the Duration.”(p.157)
Brinker thinks Gene is not enlisting because he pities Finny.
“You’ve been putting off enlisting in something for only one reason,” … “Well, I know,
and I’ll tell you what it is. It’s Finny. You pity him.” (p. 160)
Finny accepts that there really is a war going on; now that Leper has gone crazy.
“When I heard that about Leper, then I knew that the war was real, this war and all the
wars. If a war can drive somebody crazy, then it’s real all right. Oh, I guess I always
knew, but I didn’t have to admit it.” (p. 163)
Brinker calls for an investigation of Finny’s fall from the tree.
“that for Finny’s good … and for your own good too, by the way, Gene that we should
get all this out into the open. We don’t want any mysteries or any stray rumors and
suspicions left in the air at the end of the year, do we? (p.168)
Leper is called in to the trial as a witness.
“Oh sure, said Leper in his new, confident, false voice. I just shaded my eyes a little, like
this, and then I could see. I could see both of them clearly enough because the sun was
blazing al around them ….” (p. 174)
Finny becomes very upset, as Brinker continues to question Leper and break down
Finny’s wall of denial.
“Wait a minute!” cried Brinker. “We haven’t heard everything yet. We haven’t got all the
facts!” The words shocked Phineas into awareness. He whirled as though being attacked
from behind. “You get the rest of the facts, Brinker!” “You get all the facts!” “You
collect every f____ing fact there is in the world!”
Finny falls down the marble stairway.