Parachute riggers, after all, work to make falls safe for young men. The outcome of Finny's fall emphasizes the importance of their job, despite the domestic connotations of the sewing machines. The vision of thousands of Finnies falling to the ground and surviving brings an unexpectedly optimistic angle on the war. Hadley, Brinker's father, also arrives, representing in his pink-cheeked "portliness" the fat and foolish old men that Finny once imagined as the conspirators of the fake war.
Appropriately for the flesh and blood model of the boy's fantasy, Mr. Hadley speaks on only one subject — war service — and his remarks make clear that he sees young men as either adventurers — like him — or else worthless cowards.
The insensitivity of his talk, his condescending bullying of Gene and Brinker, gives a human voice to Finny's fat old men in their stuffy clubs. Hadley sees himself differently, of course. He proudly stands on his World War I experience — which is sketchy, according to his son — and advises the boys to choose a high-risk service, to ensure an impressive collection of stories to tell. 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 Leper compares the new sport of downhill skiing with his own preference, Nordic or cross-country skiing. His critique reveals his core personality: Leper likes to pause and reflect, to enjoy nature, and to go at his own pace. Gene explains how he and his friends reacted to the film of ski troops.
Immediately upon seeing the film, Leper, an avid skier and outdoorsman, decides that joining the ski represents the perfect way for him to serve in the military. Gene reflects on the moment Leper reveals that he ran away from the military. After enlisting, Leper was sent to basic training. There the combination of stress, lack of sleep, and bad food eventually caused him to have a mental breakdown, which took the form of frightening hallucinations.
As a result, he has deserted. Even preparing for war produces permanent internal scars. Leper confronts Gene with troubling truths he never let himself express before. It has made him more willing to describe honestly what he already knew.
Leper shares his understanding that he failed in his military service and that his time in training has, in some way, driven him crazy. Ironically, Leper, while in a state of insanity, sees the truth more clearly than anyone else.
Jekyll and Mr. SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Themes Motifs Symbols. Quotes Leper Quotes. You get carted up, and then you whizz down. You never get to see the trees or anything. Oh, you see a lot of trees shoot by, but you never get to really look at trees, at a tree.
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