June’s Comments (group member since Nov 20, 2019)

June’s comments from the The Leftovers group.

Michael wrote: "A huge change in behavior is Gene finally learning some self respect. Although Phineas was certainly not a toxic friend, Gene did let Phineas pressure him into doing things he didn't want to do con..."

Additionally, I wonder if the absence of Phineas affected Gene as well. I believe this because when Finny was out of the picture, gen began doing his own thing, and separated from Finny's way of living. For example, instead of joining a sport as Finny requested, Gene jouins as a manager, later enraging Finny.

Michael wrote: "June wrote: "Michael wrote: "Gene was constantly jealous of Phineas and it really made him a very annoying main character. It came to a point where Gene felt that every move Phineas made was to mak..."

Michael, I totally agree. No one should treat their friend like that, especially if you hurt them.

Michael wrote: "Gene was constantly jealous of Phineas and it really made him a very annoying main character. It came to a point where Gene felt that every move Phineas made was to make his life worse. When Gene s..."

Michael, while I agree with you, I also wanted to note that not all protagonists are likable, especially Gene. Originally I thought that his character seemed relatively decent, he revealed his true colors when he became jealous of Finny. I truly felt disgusted when he went as far as making Finny fall off the tree.

Michael wrote: "I think a really mature moment was when Gene confessed to Phineas that he was the cause of the accident. Gene was obviously very nervous to reveal this, saying that his, "...blood could start to po..."

This example also shows immaturity as well, as Finny's reaction was to ignore it instead of confronting the truth.

Michael wrote: "Brigid wrote: "I had a student say this once:

"We all wish we were Finny, but in reality we are all Gene"

What does Knowles represent about humanity, relationships, and society in general with th..."

Michael, I disagree with your prior statements on how we are not all like Gene. As you said, Gene takes his intense jealousy to the next level. However, I think that Gene was not intended to be connected to people up to that level, only the part in which he was jealous of Finny.

Thomas wrote: "Well Gene was always very jealous in the way Finny could get away with anything. He also was jealous of his athleticism especially when Finny was able to beat the schools swim record in one try wit..."

Thomas, you make a good point. Another addition I also wanted to add was that another thing that Gene was jealous of was just how easily Finny's charisma. I believe that this goes into partially how you were saying that Finny could get away with anything. Because of Finny's charisma, he was able to bring people to him, and get them to do things just because he said so.

Alec wrote: "Gene speaks extremely highly of Finny, especially with phrases such as “It was quite a compliment to me, as a matter of fact, to have such a person choose me for his best friend.” (29) This particu..."

Alec, Althogh your perspective makes sense, Gene visits Finny in Finny's home and tells Finny that he shook the tree on purpose, though Finny refuses to belive this.

Michael wrote: "The immaturity of the characters are shown when Phineas avoids trouble from Mr. Prud'homme. Phineas and Gene skipped dinner ten times within a span of two weeks, which should have prompted punishme..."

Michael, this is a great example o just how immature Finny is. His lack of grasping the concept of consequences, as he refuses to acknowledge the fact that Gene made him fall off the tree. Eventually, when Finny accepts the fact that Gene made hm fall on purpose, he is crushed and rashly attempts to leave, falling down the stairs and hurting himself more.

Throughout the novel, Gene displays many signs of intense jealousy towards Finny that slowly lead to the deterioration of their friendship. Find an example of Gene's jealousy and how it affected Gene and Finney's relationship as best friends.

As Michael stated, Gene is very jealous of Phineas due to Phineas' innate talent to draw people around him and sway people with his words. This jealousy clouded Gene's judgement that when he and Phineas climb the tree again, he shakes the branch that they both are standing on and makes Phineas fall off the tree, with the result of Phineas breaking one of his legs severely.

As Gene assumes that Finny is attempting to prevent Gene from becoming better than him, Gene is blinded due to his jealousy of Finny and hs a severe lapse in judgment. State an example of how Gene's assumptions about Finny affected his judgment and thought process.

One character that displays immature tendencies is Phineas or Finney. An example of his immature behavior is his recklessness as a daredevil. This is evident when Finney brought Gene with him to jump out of the tree when they arrived at the river. Asv they were preparing to jump, Gene almost falls off the tree but is saved by Finney. Although Finney had saved Gene's life, it would have been Finney's fault if Gene had actually fallen out of the tree. This is best stated by Gene, as he says"Yes he had practically saved my life. He also had practically lost it for me... I don't need to feel any tremendous rush of gratitude towards Phineas" (Knowles 33).

At the beginning of the novel "A Separate Peace", certain characters display behaviors that can be seen as immature and naive. Provide an example of a specific action that shows the naive behavior of a character in "A Separate Peace". Additionally, do any characters display mature actions as well?

Michael wrote: "Hey June. I completely agree with your example. The use of the simile turns a violent scene into a gruesome horrific scene. Comparing the blood to water pumping out creates a more clear image in th..."

Very true, Michael! Even as I was reading this section, it made me somewhat nauseous due to the image of a stump spurting blood ingrained in my head.

Thomas wrote: "Within the book, O'Brien often uses heavy imagery when talking of death and deadly occurrences. In some cases such as Ted Lavender he uses imagery to show how tranquility and happiness is very shor..."

Thomas, I think that the tranquility before death you explained is very interesting and prevalent in another scene when Curt Lemon died. To describe the tranquility before the death of Curt Lemon, O' Brien described how "handsome" Lemon looked and "when he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him"(67).

O'Brien uses heavy use of imagery and simile when describing the death of Lee Strunk when he stepped on a land mine that blew his leg off. When Strunk's leg was blown off, it states that "there were slivers of bone, and the blood came in quick spurts like water from a pump" (62). This makes use of remarkable, yet gruesome, imagery and simile to describe just how bad Strunk's wound is, leading to the reader assuming that Lee Strunk will die.

Although I wouldn't count this as a war story since it takes place before O'Brien entered the war, the story of O'Brien running away to the lodge definitely imposed its emotional weight on me. As he cried, I felt his fear, anxiety, and desperation as he cried on the fishing boat with Elroy as company was something I did not feel from many other pieces of literature. He felt human and relatable due to the panic he felt, but even so, he ended up serving in Vietnam, just like a war story, As O'Brien states, "A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue" (65).

One story that definitely struck a chord with me was the war story of rat Kiley and the letter Curt Lemon's sister. As Michael said, the death of Curt Lemon hits Rat Kiley very hard, and he writes a beautiful letter to Lemon's sister. However, when he sends the letter, he does not get a response and is rightfully outraged. This connects to the ideas of O'Brien regarding war stories as evidenced by the quote "If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from a smaller waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie" (65). I know Thomas has used this quote as well, but what I wanted to say was that there are many stories that do not end with happy endings, and that is the truth of war, and even life. No matter how much you want things to work out in the end, they just don't, and we have to move on, one step at a time, carrying that weight with us.

Michael wrote: "June wrote: "Brigid wrote: "What else about O'Brien's writing seems prevalent in these beginning paragraphs? Besides switching POV --- what else (regarding his writing) is on every page? That is, w..."

Michael wrote: "June wrote: "Brigid wrote: "What else about O'Brien's writing seems prevalent in these beginning paragraphs? Besides switching POV --- what else (regarding his writing) is on every page? That is, w..."

Michael, I agree with your statements that staying at Tip Top Lodge was a pivotal moment for O'Brien, Even to the reader, it's so evident how strong this moment is. I also want to include that what he learns from his is that he will have to carry on, even if he does not want to. I believe that this is the mindset of many soldiers, including O'Brien, that they will carry on, even if the going gets tough.

Brigid wrote: "What else about O'Brien's writing seems prevalent in these beginning paragraphs? Besides switching POV --- what else (regarding his writing) is on every page? That is, what is his style -what is hi..."
One point definitely sticks out: it's what these soldiers carried in their campaign in Vietnam and even into the present day in the novel. This is evident in Lieutenant Cross' love for Martha and O'Brien's painful story of almost running away to Canada after being drafted to fight in the Vietnam War.