Describe a character (one that no one else has done yet). How is the character introduced? What seems important about him? What is his relationship to Gene? Why do you think he's in the story?
Phineas is brave, and likes to joke around a lot. He is really athletic, and he doesn't like to focus on school as much as he does sports. He always likes to be the leader of something, and he is sort of a trend setter, basically the opposite of Gene. Finny also really likes adventure, and he likes to live life to the fullest. Finny and Gene are best friends, and there is a lot of rivalry between them. I think that Finny is in the story because he is a really important character, and you see a lot of Gene's personality through Finny.
Gene is the total opposite of Finny. He is cowardly, not athletic, and usually doesen't have the same experiences Finny has. Finny never gets into trouble and can talk his way out of situations being clever. Gene can't do that. FInny does not think, he just acts, while Gene thinks and does not act. Gene makes me so mad because all he does is follow Finny and does what Finny tells him to do. It gets really tiring after a while. It's like Gene is Finny's dog. I think Gene is important to the story because he is a thinker and he can help Finny out with some things. The good part about the two friends is that they help out one another. Two negatives make a positive. Gene's main focus is on school while Finny's is on sports. They are very different people, but when together they are inseparable because they are best friends
I am going to describe the doctor at the infirmary. He reminds me of a little kid because he seemed totally oblivious to why Gene was crying when he said Finny can't play sports again. He also reminds me of the rest of the school. No one knows what happened to Finny so the rely on conclusions that they decide themselves. The doctor also didn't really seem as upset as I expected. I thought he would be in complete sadness that the schools most prized athlete had been injured,
p. 76: Cliff Quackenbush was somewhat anonymous at the beginning of the section because Gene didn't know his first name, but as the section goes on he becomes a more complicated character, changing often. At first, Gene thinks Quackenbush might be an outcast because people are intimidated by him and how fast he matured, addressing him by only his last name. Quackenbush seems very serious about crew, as if it's all he has considering he has no friends. He doesn't understand why Gene would want to be assistant manager as a senior, and he judges Gene as others have him, assuming he is maimed. Quackenbush and Gene don't understand each other, as Gene states on pg 79, "He was so ignorant, he knew nothing of the gypsy summer, nothing of the loss I was fighting to endure..." Gene is angered by the way Quackenbush takes advantage of "the last inferior person to himself," and it results in violence.
I am going to write about Quackenbush. He seems like the type of person who everybody is scared of, so they respect him. No one actually likes him, but he' really known. He seems like Roland in a sense, for he seems like the type of person who would be big, strong, and stupid but is actually thinking deeply. He is also the kind of person who is serious about everything, like when he says to Gene: "Starting a little late to manage teams aren't you?" "Am I?" "Damn right you are!" He is really serious, probably because he's used to being that competitive. He also has bad anger issues, even though Gene hit him first. He will want to get in a fight with you.
pg 80: Mr. Ludsbury is introduced by Gene saying,"No one could pass over these stones with such contempt for the idea of tripping." This alone says so much about him, that he detests any little slip in composure. He scolds Gene for taking advantage of Mr. Prud'homme, the summer substitute, and letting the dorm break the rules when he knew what was right. He's just another person highlighting Gene's mistakes over the summer. Gene realizes he was wrong during the summer, saying on pg 82: "If only I had truly taken advantage of the situation, seized and held and prized the multitudes of advantages the summer offered me; if only I had." Mr. Ludsbury's scolding is just another result of Gene's selfishness of the summer session.
Leper is a solitary character who hasn't been developed very much until chapter seven. In this chapter, Gene sees him in a snow-covered field with skis, about to look for a beaver dam. He says that "With Leper, it was always a fight, a hard fight to win when you were seventeen years old and lived in a keyed-up, competing school, to avoid making fun of him. But as I had gotten to know him better this fight had been easier to win." After describing Leper sliding slowly off into the woods, he says, "I turned and trudged off to help shovel out New England for the war." I think these two lines connect and help describe Leper. What he's saying is that Leper seems easy to make fun of, but he's realized that Leper maintains an innocence that a lot of people can't keep. It's as if Leper is the only one who can keep the war from disrupting his life. I notice Gene doesn't actually seem to interact with Leper that much, but he says he is an old friend.
Brinker Hadley is described as being very straight- his eyes, eyebrows, nose, the way he dresses, everything. However, the back of him (mainly his butt) is not straight at all. Everyone likes Brinker and is the hub of the class. Brinker thinks that Gene purposefully hurt Phineas, and when Gene quickly denies it, Brinker is sure that Gene did it. Despite the fact that Brinker accused Gene, Gene seemed to get over it by the time the went to work in the apple orchard and the railroads. Brinker also made childish poems while they were working. I think the part about Brinker's appearence (straight in front, surprising butt in the back) was to symbolize that people can have different sides to themselves. Gene seems like this passive person who doesn't seem rash, but than he practically pushed someone out of a tree. It symbolizes that you can't know someone until you put them in different situations (like in the situation that Brinker turns around, you see his butt). At the end of the chapter, Brinker announces he is going to enlist in the war, which triggers Gene to think about enlisting.
Hello, I'm Katherine and I will be posting about the importance of the character Leper.
Leper symbolizes the transition from boy to man, and how it is speeded up by the war.
Before the transition, Leper was perhaps the second most innocent character, besides, of course, Finny. He enjoys several activities, among looking at beaver dams. These adjectives and descriptions make him appear childlike, niave.
He watched a war video, which encouraged him to join the war. Here is a quote:
"It's all right to miss seeing the trees and the countryside and all the other things when you've got to be in a hurry.... don't you?.... Yes, sir. You know what? I'm almost glad this war came along. It's like a test, isn't it, and only the things and the people who've been evolving the right way survive."
This quote describing him speeding through childhood, and the almost depressing changes war bring upon children.
Tonight, I'm going to post about the character Chet Douglass. I believe that the first time Chet is mentioned is on page 132 when he comes to play trumpet for the Winter Carnival as a substitute for the school band. I think that, although Chet isn't by any means a principal character in the book, he does have some significance. Gene, our self-concious, unsure, and struggling narrator, describes Chet as playing the trumpet with "easy, inborn skill.", almost idolizing him. This is similar to the way Gene describes Finny at the beginning of the book: leading people and being almost naturally perfect without even seeming to try at all. I think that Gene describing Chet this way after realizing his hidden bitter feelings towards Finny and crippling him is important. Last section Gene mentioned that when he walks, Finny now has to stop and catch his breath. Finny doesn't seem so perfect to Gene anymore, in fact, he almost doesn't even seem like competition at all. However, Chet and his perfect trumpet playing and tennis skills, is someone Gene can idolize, and focus his still burning jealousy on.
I am writing about Leper's mother for this part of the book. in this section Leper's mother doesn't show up much but when she does show up there was importance to her presence. The first time she was mentioned is when the comment about three meals came up on 142. Gene mentioned that Leper's mother probably isn't too pleased while she is making him meals. I found it weird that Gene was the one to first mention Leper's mother not Leper, actually Leper never really says anything to his mom or talks about her in this section. That comment really shakes Leper up. You would expect a reaction from Leper because most people don't let other make assumptions about their mothers or diss their mothers. Leper's reaction is a rant about it is only him that matters not her. That rant made me mad because it was selfish, but it turned around at the end of the section when Gene stopped listening to his stories because Gene thought it was only about himself and not Leper. She shows up again a few pages after the first time she is mentioned on page 145 after Leper accuses Gene of jouncing the limb. She comes down stairs hurriedly in heels (why would she wear heels if she were at home and no one was around?) because she heard Leper hit the ground, a result of Gene's violent reaction to Leper's accusation. She is described in a way that makes her appear nervous, timid, and having little control over her son or things going on around her. Gene comes up with a hardly believable excuse that wouldn't make what he did right anyway, but Gene come to the conclusion that Leper's mother thinks he is a nice boy with a temper, but a nice boy, well after he complimented her food by eating an almost rude amount of it. I think that is more Gene reassuring him self he is good. The last time she shows up is when she is weakly suggesting they go on a walk. They do and the walk goes horribly wrong.
I am going to write about "The Voice" of the boys in the rising at the front of Brinker's court.
I think that "The Voice" should be considered one character because that is how Gene sees it. At first, "The Voice" seems cruel and sarcastic, saying things such as, "You do agree, don't you Gene?" Then, "The Voice" becomes more questioning and confused. Lastly, "The Voice" becomes innocent and playful as soon as Brinker leaves. This is a reverse of what has been happening to the others at Devon. "The Voice" seems to be gaining innocence over time. Sense the book is coming from Gene's view, I think that this is what Gene wants everyone else to be doing. If everyone becomes more innocent, then he will end up with little or no punishment and embarrassment. Close to the end of this chapter, "The Voice" starts stating the obvious, another thing that Gene would like everyone to start doing, instead of focusing on him.
So the character I’m going to talk about is Mr. Hadley, Brinker’s dad. I think there must have been a purpose for putting him in I mean it’s almost the end of the book well actually it is the end of the book.
I thought that Mr. Hadley seems very old fashion stuck in his ways. He had his own ideas about how things should be like for example with the sewing machines he said he couldn’t image men sitting down to sew. He reminded me a great deal of Brinker. Because the way he seemed to want things to go the way he wanted them to go like how Brinker really wanted Gene to enlist with him but to both Brinker and his dad he said he wasn’t or wouldn’t. He also in a way reminded me of a general giving a pep talk to boys who are just about to go and kill someone. I don’t know if I missed something about this character and I thought there might have been something more to his character than that but I just really couldn’t put my finger on it.
Phineas is brave, and likes to joke around a lot. He is really athletic, and he doesn't like to focus on school as much as he does sports. He always likes to be the leader of something, and he is sort of a trend setter, basically the opposite of Gene. Finny also really likes adventure, and he likes to live life to the fullest. Finny and Gene are best friends, and there is a lot of rivalry between them. I think that Finny is in the story because he is a really important character, and you see a lot of Gene's personality through Finny.
ReplyDeleteGene is the total opposite of Finny. He is cowardly, not athletic, and usually doesen't have the same experiences Finny has. Finny never gets into trouble and can talk his way out of situations being clever. Gene can't do that. FInny does not think, he just acts, while Gene thinks and does not act. Gene makes me so mad because all he does is follow Finny and does what Finny tells him to do. It gets really tiring after a while. It's like Gene is Finny's dog. I think Gene is important to the story because he is a thinker and he can help Finny out with some things. The good part about the two friends is that they help out one another. Two negatives make a positive. Gene's main focus is on school while Finny's is on sports. They are very different people, but when together they are inseparable because they are best friends
ReplyDeleteI am going to describe the doctor at the infirmary. He reminds me of a little kid because he seemed totally oblivious to why Gene was crying when he said Finny can't play sports again. He also reminds me of the rest of the school. No one knows what happened to Finny so the rely on conclusions that they decide themselves. The doctor also didn't really seem as upset as I expected. I thought he would be in complete sadness that the schools most prized athlete had been injured,
ReplyDeletep. 76: Cliff Quackenbush was somewhat anonymous at the beginning of the section because Gene didn't know his first name, but as the section goes on he becomes a more complicated character, changing often. At first, Gene thinks Quackenbush might be an outcast because people are intimidated by him and how fast he matured, addressing him by only his last name. Quackenbush seems very serious about crew, as if it's all he has considering he has no friends. He doesn't understand why Gene would want to be assistant manager as a senior, and he judges Gene as others have him, assuming he is maimed. Quackenbush and Gene don't understand each other, as Gene states on pg 79, "He was so ignorant, he knew nothing of the gypsy summer, nothing of the loss I was fighting to endure..." Gene is angered by the way Quackenbush takes advantage of "the last inferior person to himself," and it results in violence.
ReplyDeleteI am going to write about Quackenbush. He seems like the type of person who everybody is scared of, so they respect him. No one actually likes him, but he' really known. He seems like Roland in a sense, for he seems like the type of person who would be big, strong, and stupid but is actually thinking deeply. He is also the kind of person who is serious about everything, like when he says to Gene: "Starting a little late to manage teams aren't you?"
ReplyDelete"Am I?"
"Damn right you are!" He is really serious, probably because he's used to being that competitive.
He also has bad anger issues, even though Gene hit him first. He will want to get in a fight with you.
pg 80: Mr. Ludsbury is introduced by Gene saying,"No one could pass over these stones with such contempt for the idea of tripping." This alone says so much about him, that he detests any little slip in composure. He scolds Gene for taking advantage of Mr. Prud'homme, the summer substitute, and letting the dorm break the rules when he knew what was right. He's just another person highlighting Gene's mistakes over the summer. Gene realizes he was wrong during the summer, saying on pg 82: "If only I had truly taken advantage of the situation, seized and held and prized the multitudes of advantages the summer offered me; if only I had." Mr. Ludsbury's scolding is just another result of Gene's selfishness of the summer session.
ReplyDeleteLeper is a solitary character who hasn't been developed very much until chapter seven. In this chapter, Gene sees him in a snow-covered field with skis, about to look for a beaver dam. He says that "With Leper, it was always a fight, a hard fight to win when you were seventeen years old and lived in a keyed-up, competing school, to avoid making fun of him. But as I had gotten to know him better this fight had been easier to win." After describing Leper sliding slowly off into the woods, he says, "I turned and trudged off to help shovel out New England for the war." I think these two lines connect and help describe Leper. What he's saying is that Leper seems easy to make fun of, but he's realized that Leper maintains an innocence that a lot of people can't keep. It's as if Leper is the only one who can keep the war from disrupting his life. I notice Gene doesn't actually seem to interact with Leper that much, but he says he is an old friend.
ReplyDeleteBrinker Hadley is described as being very straight- his eyes, eyebrows, nose, the way he dresses, everything. However, the back of him (mainly his butt) is not straight at all. Everyone likes Brinker and is the hub of the class. Brinker thinks that Gene purposefully hurt Phineas, and when Gene quickly denies it, Brinker is sure that Gene did it. Despite the fact that Brinker accused Gene, Gene seemed to get over it by the time the went to work in the apple orchard and the railroads. Brinker also made childish poems while they were working. I think the part about Brinker's appearence (straight in front, surprising butt in the back) was to symbolize that people can have different sides to themselves. Gene seems like this passive person who doesn't seem rash, but than he practically pushed someone out of a tree. It symbolizes that you can't know someone until you put them in different situations (like in the situation that Brinker turns around, you see his butt). At the end of the chapter, Brinker announces he is going to enlist in the war, which triggers Gene to think about enlisting.
ReplyDeleteHello, I'm Katherine and I will be posting about the importance of the character Leper.
ReplyDeleteLeper symbolizes the transition from boy to man, and how it is speeded up by the war.
Before the transition, Leper was perhaps the second most innocent character, besides, of course, Finny. He enjoys several activities, among looking at beaver dams. These adjectives and descriptions make him appear childlike, niave.
He watched a war video, which encouraged him to join the war. Here is a quote:
"It's all right to miss seeing the trees and the countryside and all the other things when you've got to be in a hurry.... don't you?.... Yes, sir. You know what? I'm almost glad this war came along. It's like a test, isn't it, and only the things and the people who've been evolving the right way survive."
This quote describing him speeding through childhood, and the almost depressing changes war bring upon children.
Tonight, I'm going to post about the character Chet Douglass. I believe that the first time Chet is mentioned is on page 132 when he comes to play trumpet for the Winter Carnival as a substitute for the school band. I think that, although Chet isn't by any means a principal character in the book, he does have some significance. Gene, our self-concious, unsure, and struggling narrator, describes Chet as playing the trumpet with "easy, inborn skill.", almost idolizing him. This is similar to the way Gene describes Finny at the beginning of the book: leading people and being almost naturally perfect without even seeming to try at all. I think that Gene describing Chet this way after realizing his hidden bitter feelings towards Finny and crippling him is important. Last section Gene mentioned that when he walks, Finny now has to stop and catch his breath. Finny doesn't seem so perfect to Gene anymore, in fact, he almost doesn't even seem like competition at all. However, Chet and his perfect trumpet playing and tennis skills, is someone Gene can idolize, and focus his still burning jealousy on.
ReplyDeleteI am writing about Leper's mother for this part of the book. in this section Leper's mother doesn't show up much but when she does show up there was importance to her presence. The first time she was mentioned is when the comment about three meals came up on 142. Gene mentioned that Leper's mother probably isn't too pleased while she is making him meals. I found it weird that Gene was the one to first mention Leper's mother not Leper, actually Leper never really says anything to his mom or talks about her in this section. That comment really shakes Leper up. You would expect a reaction from Leper because most people don't let other make assumptions about their mothers or diss their mothers. Leper's reaction is a rant about it is only him that matters not her. That rant made me mad because it was selfish, but it turned around at the end of the section when Gene stopped listening to his stories because Gene thought it was only about himself and not Leper. She shows up again a few pages after the first time she is mentioned on page 145 after Leper accuses Gene of jouncing the limb. She comes down stairs hurriedly in heels (why would she wear heels if she were at home and no one was around?) because she heard Leper hit the ground, a result of Gene's violent reaction to Leper's accusation. She is described in a way that makes her appear nervous, timid, and having little control over her son or things going on around her. Gene comes up with a hardly believable excuse that wouldn't make what he did right anyway, but Gene come to the conclusion that Leper's mother thinks he is a nice boy with a temper, but a nice boy, well after he complimented her food by eating an almost rude amount of it. I think that is more Gene reassuring him self he is good. The last time she shows up is when she is weakly suggesting they go on a walk. They do and the walk goes horribly wrong.
ReplyDeleteI am going to write about "The Voice" of the boys in the rising at the front of Brinker's court.
ReplyDeleteI think that "The Voice" should be considered one character because that is how Gene sees it. At first, "The Voice" seems cruel and sarcastic, saying things such as, "You do agree, don't you Gene?" Then, "The Voice" becomes more questioning and confused. Lastly, "The Voice" becomes innocent and playful as soon as Brinker leaves. This is a reverse of what has been happening to the others at Devon. "The Voice" seems to be gaining innocence over time. Sense the book is coming from Gene's view, I think that this is what Gene wants everyone else to be doing. If everyone becomes more innocent, then he will end up with little or no punishment and embarrassment. Close to the end of this chapter, "The Voice" starts stating the obvious, another thing that Gene would like everyone to start doing, instead of focusing on him.
So the character I’m going to talk about is Mr. Hadley, Brinker’s dad. I think there must have been a purpose for putting him in I mean it’s almost the end of the book well actually it is the end of the book.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Mr. Hadley seems very old fashion stuck in his ways. He had his own ideas about how things should be like for example with the sewing machines he said he couldn’t image men sitting down to sew. He reminded me a great deal of Brinker. Because the way he seemed to want things to go the way he wanted them to go like how Brinker really wanted Gene to enlist with him but to both Brinker and his dad he said he wasn’t or wouldn’t. He also in a way reminded me of a general giving a pep talk to boys who are just about to go and kill someone. I don’t know if I missed something about this character and I thought there might have been something more to his character than that but I just really couldn’t put my finger on it.