Chapter 12

This picture represents Finny in the infirmary.


After the fall all the students ran over to me. I could feel the pain in the leg that was broken before. Then the wrestling coach came over to give me first aid. They also sent someone to fetch Dr. Stanpole. When he arrives they put me into a chair and take me to the infirmary. I heard Dr. Stanpole exclaim to Gene that i broke my leg again but this time it was a more clean break. That night when the doctors left my room I heard someone crawl through the window. I looked and through their shadow I could tell it was Gene. I was so mad at Gene I began to shake and struggle in my bed until I fell out. Before he left he said, "I'm sorry(177)." This was all he said several times before he left. The next morning Dr. Stanpole sends a note to Gene to get me clothes out of the dorm. When he gets to the room I showed no emotion. He gave me my suitcase and I looked though it to find some clothes to wear. I burst into tears and exclaimed how there must have been a blind disturbance when Gene had shaken the limb of the tree forcing me to fall. I believed him when Gene told me there was no way he could have stopped what had happened, it just did. The doctor tells Gene that he has to set my bone tonight and will inform him after the surgery. After the surgery the Doctor informs Gene that a bit of marrow slipped out from the bone as he was setting it and Finny has died. In shock Finny does not cry throughout the funeral. He felt as though when I had died, he had.

Chapter 11

This picture represents the snowball fight Gene and Finny were in.


The next day Gene returns from Leper's house. When he returns Finny is in the middle of a snowball fight. The snowball fight was located in the "Fields Beyond(144)." This was passed the gym, the tennis courts,river, and the stadium right on the edge of the woods. A few kids stopped and said hello but no one asked about Leper. Gene was then hit with a snowball in the back of the head and I yelled, "You're on our side, even if you do have lousy aim(145)." I walked over to him with my cane and it seemed as though he was hesitant about joining. I then asked him how Leper was and he replied, "Oh Leper's-how would he be? You know Leper-(146)?" This was a strange answer and it seemed as though Gene was hiding something from me. In an instant I was struck by a snowball on the side of the face and I returned fire. Gene then joined in shortly. Later on Brinker comes to our dorm and says that Leper has "Cracked". As time passes all the eligible boys enlist into the war except Gene, but Brinker takes him aside and tells him he knows the reason he hasn't enlisted was because he pities Finny. After hearing this I told him the reason why I believe the war is a conspiracy is because I had tried to enlist many times but they would not accept me because of my Leg. Gene is in awe but for some reason seems to understand why I felt the need to say things that I said about the war. Later on that night Gene and I are told by Brinker to come into the Assembly Hall. Here there are judges and an audience to inquiry into the case of Finny's accident. Brinker first asks me what I believe happened and I tell him that I lost balance and fell. I also told them that I do not know how I lost balance and that Gene was at the bottom of the tree. He then sends us to retrieve Leper so he can testify. Leper says that he saw someone push me off the tree branch. I got up and exclaimed I didn't care what happened and I ran out of the room down the marble stairs. Going down the stairs I lost control and fell.

Chapter 10

This picture represents Leper and Gene taking a walk after eating lunch.


Gene left the next day in order to get to Leper's Christmas location. This location is his home in Vermont. Gene has to take the train then he gets off and rides a bus to where Leper is. He is trying very hard to believe that Leper has not deserted the army, thinking that when Leper said "escape" he meant from spies. When Gene gets there he finds out that it is true that he has deserted. He exclaims to Gene that the army was going to give him a section 8 discharge insanity. Leper did not seem like himself at all when he bursts out, "Like that time you knocked Finny out of the tree(137)." This infuriated Gene and he sprung out of his chair at him. His mother then came down and Gene exclaimed that he should be going. Before he left Leper, still laughing, told him to stay for lunch and he did. He did mostly because he felt bad and that it would be rude to just leave. After lunch the two boys go out for a walk. Leper explains how things have changed since he enlisted. He tells Gene about how he hallucinates a lot and that is what makes him so crazy. He would often think of things like, "the idea of his face on a woman’s body(140)," this would make Leper act very funny. Gene finally left knowing that there is seriously something wrong with Leper.

Chapter 9

This picture represents the winter carnival hat Finny created.

We find out that Leper has enlisted and everyone is shocked. I have a feeling that Gene beliefs for the war is that it is unreal. Jokes are made about Leper when it is heard that there has been an allied victory people would say such things like, "At it again(118)." This was just people joking that Leper was the cause of the victories. Gene and I were not ones to joke about this in such places like the butt room where it seemed like that was all they did. So we soon stopped going to the butt room all together. I thought it would be fun to create a winter carnival so I assigned everyone a task. Brinker would be the organizer of the transport of equipment from the dormitory to a park on the river as his roommate Brownie Perkins would guard the jugs of hard cider buried underneath the snow. At the carnival there would be a Ski jump, snow statues, prizes, and music provided by Chet Douglas. I had some of the cider and began to dance on top of a table showing off my graceful and wild side. I then saw Gene show off his athleticism to the crowd and I am proud to see that everyone was in awe. Later, Gene receives a letter from Leper that he has escaped, and his safety requires Gene to travel to Leper's Christmas location.

Chapter 8

This represents the locker room Gene and Finny go to when they skip class.

This picture of a boy doing chin ups represents Gene doing chin ups in the gym.

This picture represents the Olympics which Finny is Training Gene for.

This picture represents the bed Gene made for Finny.

When Gene got back to the room, i jokingly criticized his clothing, "Where did you get those clothes(95)!" I could tell he was just happy to see me and wasn't effected by the way I was talking to him. "You don't have to advertise like that, we all know you're the worst dressed man in the class(94)," even when I had said that he still seemed fine. He told me those were is working clothes, and that he has been working all day. I then asked him, "In the boiler room(95)?", but he corrected me and said he was out shoveling the train tracks. Gene then began to take off his clothes that he had been working in all day. When he finally got to his undershirt I told him he should have worn that all day. He then noticed my crutches, this was no surprise to him because he had seen me in crutches the time i broke my ankle playing football.I then asked him, "Whats is all this crap about no maids(96)?" He explained that there were no more maids accounting we were at war and that was not such a huge sacrifice. This kind of surprised me to hear Gene talk of war, he seemed unselfish. He then kindly went and found sheets and made up my bed. Gene looked surprised that I was not sensitive about being helped. Gene told me he was thinking about enlisting with Brinker and I became furious. I then convinced him to tell Brinker that he wasn't going to and i succeeded. This was a relief to me because if Gene left then who would be here as my leg heals. I began to make fun of Brinker nicknaming him, Yellow Peril. This was his nickname because we joked about how Brinker was Madam Chiang Kai-Shek's son from China. My favorite time of the year is winter and i suggested we skip class so I could revisit some of the school that I haven't seen in a while. We first went to the Gym and into the locker room, where I asked Gene if he has picked a team to join. Gene tells me that he hasn't because of the war. I explained to him that the war is a conspiracy by the adult establishment, "The fat old men who don't want us crowding them out of their jobs(107)." I then tell Gene to do chin ups, I push him far enough to get 30 reps. I told Gene of how I wanted someday to be in the Olympics, so now Gene has to be in them. As I train him for the Olympics of 1944, he will train me academically.

Chapter 7

This shovel represents what the boys used to shovel the snow.

This dungeon represents when Brinker refers to the butt room as a dungeon.

This picture represents the snowy train tracks where the boys shovel.

This picture represents Leper Cross Country skiing.

Gene was at many times confronted with questions about the incident that occurred. Often times jokes are made to Gene such as when Brinker says, "I bet you knew all the time Finny wouldn't be back this fall. That's why you picked him for a roommate, right(79)?." This was Brinkers way of joking around with Gene saying he made me fall off the branch so he could have the whole dorm room to himself. obviously this was not true but Gene still felt like it wasn't right to joke about what had happened. The two then go to the butt room where Brinker makes another joke and says, "Here's your prisoner, gentlemen". This refers to Gene being a prisoner for "Doing away with his roommate so he could have a whole room to himself(81)." Gene once again is furious about what the boys are saying and yells, "God damn it! Shut up! I swear to God you ride a joke longer than anybody I know(81)." He Then leaves the room explaining he has to go study, which isn't the case but he doesn't feel comfortable with all of the negative jokes about what happened to me at the tree. The next day Gene, Brinker, and Chet Douglas were set out to shovel near the tracks. Leper on the other hand is of cross country skiing in search of a dam. The troop train then goes bye and the boys wave and cheer. Later that day Gene comes back to Devon where I am waiting for him in the dorm.

Chapter 6

This chapel represents the first chapel service of the year for Gene.

This picture represents the footbridge the boys walked across.

This picture represents what Finny wanted Gene to do for him, play sports.

This picture represents when Finny was mad at Gene for being assistant.

Gene mentioned to me how when he returned to school for the winter session, everything was a lot different. Most of the discipline was the way it was before Finny had left. This was very surprising to me because it made it seem like I was the cause of all the discipline that had left, and now that I had gone, it has all returned again. I could tell this bothered Gene a lot because not only am I not there anymore, everything has changed as if me leaving was something good. "If you broke the rules, they broke you(66)," this shows you how it used to be and how it is now because I'm gone. Finny had seemed to remember me a lot when he was at school such as, "Whenever I glimpsed at this river, I thought of Phineas(67)." He remembered me there because i did one of his favorite tricks where i would balance on the prow of a canoe like a river god. I called Finny a few days later to see how things were and if he still was acting "Crazy". I remember the first thing i said was, "Happy first day of the new academic year(75)!". He then started to stutter as he was talking to him and i told him to stop because I was paying for the call. When i asked him who they roomed him with he told me he didn't get any new roommate and was by himself. "Saving my place for me! Good old Devon(75).", i said to pick his spirits up. I also said to him he wouldn't let that happen anyway, in a friendly tone. He told me he wouldn't and of course i believed him because "roommates are roommates(75)." I was angry at my self thinking that my best friend Gene were ever to be crazy enough to let them put someone else in my room, and i apologized. I thought this until he told me he became assistant crew manager. I was really upset at this because what I really wanted him to do was to succeed in sports in my place. "Listen, pal, if I cant play sports, you're going to play them for me(77)," I wanted him to become a part of me.