Gene has taken the thankless position of assistant senior crew manager and has to work for Cliff Quackenbush, an unhappy, bullying type.
After practice is over, Quackenbush pesters Gene as to why he has taken the job: normally boys only tolerate the position of assistant in hopes of becoming manager the following year, but Gene is already a senior.
Quackenbush begins to insult him, implying that Gene must be working as a manager because he cannot row; indeed, as Gene knows, disabled students usually fill such positions. Gene hits Quackenbush hard and they start to fight and fall into the river. Gene pulls himself out and Quackenbush tells him not to come back. As Gene walks home, he meets Mr. Ludsbury, the master in charge of his dormitory, who berates him for taking advantage of the summer substitute and engaging in illegal activities: in addition to his escape to the beach with Finny, Gene had participated in late-night games of poker and transgressed the rules in other ways.
Gene only regrets not having taken fuller advantage of the summer laxity. Ludsbury then mentions that Gene has received a long distance phone call. Finny asks about their room and is relieved when Gene replies that he has no roommate. Finny then asks about sports and throws a fit when Gene tells him that he is trying to be assistant crew manager. Finny tells Gene that he has to play sports, for his sake, and Gene feels oddly joyful to think that he must be destined to become a part of Finny.
Brinker comes across the hall to see Gene and congratulates him on getting such a large room all to himself. He then declares that he must go study his French, leaving without having smoked.
It is not in Gene's nature to really lie, and as he tries to dodge Brinker's repeated questions, his voice becomes strained, he has to distract himself by moving books around, and his heart begins to pound. Gene even says, almost unconsciously, that "the truth will out," another remark prompted by the guilt that he is trying to hide. Gene's best defense in this situation is trying to distract Brinker with an offer to go downstairs and smoke; Gene proves himself to be very sensitive and still remorseful about what he did.
Once they get down to the Butt Room, Brinker's words intensify, and become even more accusing in his tone and choice of words. The scene Gene sets is of a dark, dilapidated room that seems like a prison; the image of the room is an oppressive one, adding to the discomfort and darkness of the scene. Brinker tosses about words like "prisoner" and calls the boys "proper authorities," and declares that Gene has committed "rankest treachery, practically fratricide" The words are ironic since the whole affair is treated like a joke by most of the boys, but that Gene is actually guilty of the charges and should perhaps be facing this kind of tribunal for real.
All of the boys except for one treat the little inquisition as an extended jest, and Gene has to play along, or else explode in a display of guilt, which is continuing to bother him. Gene's defense tactics are much the same as they were against Brinker at the first; he talks around the point, tries to adopt a carefree tone, and when all of that fails, he diverts attention from the issue at hand.
He decides that it is better to humiliate the one boy who takes the whole thing seriously, than draw any more attention to the debate at hand; Gene is a bit more hurtful than usual, betraying his ability to hurt people when he deems it necessary, and rationalize his actions after the fact.
The whole "inquisition" is ironic, since the boys take such interest in the mock-questioning of Gene, yet they think nothing of the truth of these accusations after Gene leaves them.
No one, according to Gene, takes the logical leap of thinking that maybe Brinker is accusing Gene for a reason, and that the events being discussed actually took place, and the inquisition ends, with only Gene's own guilt to betray the fact that a "crime" actually took place.
In the ongoing struggle between war and the peace of Devon, war finally starts to intrude on the boys' daily life. An early snow falls on the school, ironically seeming beautiful and peaceful, but described by Gene in a simile as "like noiseless invaders conquering" Gene is right, as the coming of the snow becomes almost analogous to the coming of war to Devon; the snow becomes a symbol representing unrest and reality coming for the boys, and proves to be the "advance guard" of the war for Devon The foremost among the few who are not affected by the war is Leper, the odd, peace-loving acquaintance of Gene.
Gene, upon meeting him in the woods on a snowy day, mistakes Leper for a "scarecrow," and the metaphor is actually a rather fitting one for Leper. Leper is not a person of action, nor is he particularly vital or lively like the rest of the boys; Leper prefers to remain on the periphery of things, in nature, like the scarecrow does.
He seems ridiculous because he isn't the sporting, outgoing youth that is typical of Devon; he acts a bit like an old man, and seems ridiculous to his classmates.
Leper is maligned because most of the boys do not try to understand his quiet, nature-loving ways, but Gene, as a more sensitive being, is able to better understand him. The war finally intrudes with the boys' first experience with hard physical labor at the railroad depot in Boston.
The once-white snow is now "drab and sooted, wet and heavy," quite a dramatic contrast with the pure white snow that had covered Devon; the image conveys how reality has become more pressing and more bleak for the boys. They gradually drop their "fresh volunteer look" as the day's work goes on; the change from boisterous young men to strained-looking laborers ushers in the influence of war, and foreshadows the change that will come upon them when they finally go to war.
The deceptive, ironic symbol of the boys' coming transformation into young soldiers is the "troop train" that passes them as they work in the railyard.
The troops hanging out the windows seem just a little older than the boys, according to Gene. This becomes the face of war for the boys; they begin to think that it is some glorious, honorable thing, and get fired up to enlist and join the battle. Suddenly they feel that they are "nothing but children playing among heroic men," and this feeling shames them.
That the boys appear downtrodden and the troops jubilant is ironic, since the boys are still enjoying youthful days in school, and are not about to face death like the troops are. Also, the boys' new view of war is ironic because of how unrealistic it is; they take the fresh recruits to be a symbol of the entire war, when the war is grim and bloody, and will change them into worn young men.
Quackenbush , who is probably more realistic than the rest of them about needing to get a high school diploma and not just rush into the war, is attacked by the other boys in their jingoistic fit; Brinker and the others think that the only right way is to enlist immediately and rush off to the glorious war, and are too young and blind to consider that they might not be correct.
Gene colors Brinker's declaration that he will enlist tomorrow as the "logical climax of the whole misbegotten day"; but it is a misguided decision, as the boys, in their sheltered environment, still do not understand the realities of war that they think they have learned everything about from seeing that train full of fresh, untried recruits.
Gene explains his feelings about enlisting with a metaphor relating his life to a woven cloth and a group of jumbled threads that he wants to be free of; he wishes to take "giant military shears" and just cut himself free from his history, so that he can start all over again.
It's not that Gene particularly wants to go to war, he just wants a fresh start, and to escape from the stale, constrictive atmosphere of the school; the boys all want the same thing as well, and their main motivation to enlist is this wish to escape, rather than a wish to go into battle. Gradually, Gene's motivation for making Finny fall from the tree become more and more evident. Gene is unable to set down the reasons why he did what he did, but gradually, he does add little pieces of information to the confession that he is unable to state all at once.
Here, he says that he is "used to finding something deadly in the things that attracted [him]," which is why he caused Finny's accident. If this confession is actually true, then it means that Gene, in hurting Finny, was aware that something worse might happen than Finny breaking his leg; if so, then Gene's character is darker than even he would like to admit. Gene observes the "single, chilled points of light" in the sky, trying to find guidance in them; what he sees is not beautiful or ideal, and he tries his best not to have an optimistic view of war like the others.
He takes the cold, remote looking stars as symbols for the war, and ascribes their qualities to the war as well. Even with his thoughts becoming more grounded and informed, he thinks of his duty for the war effort; but the image of the "thin yellow slab of brightness" that heralds Finny's arrival drowns out the cold pinpricks in the sky, and Gene chooses his friend over the war.
The only thing holding him back from enlistment is Finny, who turns up at a very convenient time, and gives Gene his only reason to stay at Devon. Gene is absolutely shocked at Finny's sudden, unannounced return; Finny proves to be his old self again, despite his bum leg, by making wisecracks immediately and expressing his distaste for Gene's work clothes. Finny looks very well and athletic again, completely unlike his small, invalid-like appearance at his home in Boston just a few weeks earlier.
Gene helps Finny make up his bed, since there are no maids at the school that year, and notes how Finny is completely dignified and doesn't seem helpless in any way, although he does need Gene's assistance for some things. Gene is happy that Finny is finally back; however, he can't simply ignore what he did to his friend since Finny is there as a constant reminder, and Gene lets himself be eaten away by his guilt and remorse, rather than try to face his feelings.
Brinker busts into their room in the morning, shocked to see Finny there; he uses the opportunity to reintroduce insinuations about Gene causing Finny's accident, but Finny doesn't want to think about it and deliberately doesn't take the hints. Gene brushes the uncomfortable situation aside by talking about enlisting, which Brinker is absolutely gung-ho about. Finny is not pleased at all with the idea that Gene could leave; he doesn't want Gene to do it, and makes this clear to Gene.
Gene immediately brushes aside any talk of him enlisting by saying it would be nuts of him to do it, and he wouldn't enlist with Brinker for anything. This makes Finny very happy, though it's not the truth, and Gene still wants, though not as passionately as before his friend came back, to join the military in order to get a fresh start.
Gene is relieved to find that Devon is suddenly a good, peaceful place again with his friend back and no more pressure to enlist, but he knows in retrospect that it will not last. Finny decides not to go to class on his first day back; Gene is a little dismayed by his suggestion that neither go to class, but he goes with Finny anyway, to the gym.
Finny asks Gene what sports he's been doing, and Gene confesses that he hasn't held up his end of the bargain, and is not doing any sports at the moment.
This gets Finny upset, and then Gene tries to make the war into some excuse for not trying out for anything. Finny goes off on a rant about how the war is not real, it was just designed to keep people in their place, and from having any real fun. Gene doesn't believe him at all, and asks him why Finny thinks he knows all this stuff that nobody else does; Finny then says "because I've suffered," opening another big, painful can of worms Gene takes this as a cue to start working out, doing more chin-ups than he's done in his lifetime.
Finny and Gene never talk about Finny's little streak of bitterness again, and it never resurfaces in Finny. Finny, with his usual disregard for reality, says he wants to coach Gene for the Olympics; Gene knows there won't be any because of the war, but of course Finny wouldn't listen.
Gene begins to see how unrealistic some people's view of the war is, especially with the teachers and headmasters; he doesn't believe Finny's desperate assertions that there isn't any war at all, but he also learns to be a little more skeptical of the manipulative claims of the authority figures.
Gene and Finny keep training, doing long runs in the morning; Gene thinks he can't do them, until one morning he just amazes himself and it comes naturally to him, just as it did with Finny before. For Mr. Hadley, the reality of war rises to its greatest importance years afterwards, in competitive talks with other men.
He urges his son toward dangerous war service, therefore, just as he would advise him to choose a prestigious college, to ensure respect and position in later years. In effect, for him, a man's war service becomes his resume. Gene's response to Mr. Hadley dramatizes how the acceptance of his own guilt has made him more accepting of others' weaknesses.
Brinker's resentment of his father rises from his anger at the older generation who caused the war but now face no threat from it. But Gene views Brinker's father with less anger, and even some compassion. In fact, unlike Brinker or Finny, Gene does not blame the war on the older generation, but on "something ignorant in the human heart" — the same incomprehensible feeling that prompted him to jounce the limb and make Finny fall.
The conclusion makes clear that Gene acknowledges both his guilt in Finny's death and Finny's enduring power in his life. At Devon, Gene recalls, "I killed my enemy" — the uncertain, angry self that caused Finny's accident. Drained of fury and fear, Gene accepts the challenge of service and lives through the war without the burden of hatred, falling into conventional military step "as well as my nature, Phineas-filled, would allow.
In his life and death, then, Finny gives Gene a part of his own vital spirit — a natural gift for friendship, humor, and peaceful harmony — that sees his friend through the war that awaits him, and adulthood, too.
Here, it represents the infantry fighting Gene hopes to avoid. Maginot Line after A. Maginot [], French minister of war , a system of heavy fortifications built before World War II on the eastern frontier of France; it failed to prevent invasion by the Nazi armies. Here, Gene uses the term to describe the barriers people put up to defend themselves against a perceived threat. Previous Chapter
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