Reflection

“In the deep, tacit way in which feeling becomes stronger than thought, I had always felt that the Devon School came into existence the day I entered it, it was vibrantly real while I was a student there, and then blinked out like a candle the day I left.”

This sentence reflects from Gene’s time as a man back to the childhood spent at Devon. His memory still has a tremendous hold on him, as evidenced by his ability to recall the events of fifteen years with such ease. He remembers the past with ease, and yet Gene admits that the school is valid only to him, existing simply within memory fifteen years later.  The presence of memory, and its role over time, is a major theme of this book. When Gene ponders his thoughts on the past and on the lasting impact of the events he is describing, he only increases the importance of this theme within the novel.

“I went back to the Devon School not long ago, and found it looking oddly newer than when I was a student there fifteen years before.”

“I didn’t entirely like this glossy new surface, because it made the school look like a museum, and that’s exactly what it was to me, and what I did not want it to be.”

1. In the beginning of the novel Gene is in captivity to Devon and it’s thorough rules, determined to create a name for himself that excels past the background of all other teenagers and their history. His origination being a poor home is the south, he scrambles to screen his identity from spectators and create a cover of pure grandeur. Phineas is the exact opposite of Gene, determined to reject the system of Devon and be a nonconformist. He relies on his own freedom and self-ability to survive and create a name for himself, not the standards and merits of the boarding school he attends.

2. There is a situation in the book that both Phineas and Gene have different beliefs about, concerning actions and the initial intentions behind them. Sometime in the summer semester both of the boys ditch class and head to the beach. Gene is worried about his test the next day, fearing he will fail it without intensive study. Afterwards, when he does in fact fail the test, he begins to believe that Finny is sabotaging his studies so that he can be the best out of the two of them. Gene is captive to his suspicion and lack of trust, while Phineas is free of guilt and seeks only to entertain himself with daring activities. To Gene the beach trip is a front used to destroy his perfect record, while initially it is an attempt at personal freedom.

3. The development of the plot follows an interesting pattern concerning both freedom and captivity. In the beginning Gene is in captivity, chained to the rules and standards of Devon. However, Phineas begins to break the chains and teach Gene the true freedom of oneself. Whenever the first “accident” occurs, Gene simply falls captive once again, instead only to his own guilt. On his best friend’s return he begins to remove his bonds and free himself completely, but near the end of the novel Phineas becomes injured once again. Gene quickly overcomes his feeling of guilt only for his friend to die, and lives on with a silent defiance. The system will not control him, because he is an extension of Finny, who never could be controlled by the “fat men” of the nation.

4. The tree is a symbol, used as a branch to a new subject from page to page. One of these is the dual subject  of freedom and captivity, which is mirrored perfectly from the defiant jump into the river to the excruciating fall to the ground. The tree becomes a symbol of hope, where Phineas can jump and remind himself that he doesn’t have to obey the school or become apart of the system and jump in his later years. However, the tree betrays him and sends him crashing to the ground, strapping permanent chains onto him for the rest of his inadequate life.

5. There are two rivers that simply cannot exist next to each other, being the complete opposite in every trait. The Devon is clean, pure and revitalizing to the touch, inviting a sense of superiority into any who enter it’s waters. It’s rival, the Naguamsett, is everything the Devon is not. “It [is] ugly, saline, fringed with marsh, mud, seaweed,” and dampens the spirits of all who glance at it. This is of course where Gene must have his first fight, being under the influence of   rage pent up against himself and against his jailer: guilt.