A Separate Peace Chapter 13 Summary

In chapter 11 of A Separate Peace, Gene arrives back at Devon, wanting to see Finny to get his mind off Leper and the war. Finny, when he inquired of Leper, was shut down by Gene, who was dodging questions. Later than night, Brinker comes to their room wanting to know about Leper. Gene was tired of lying and told both Brinker and Phineas Leper was “AWOL.” Both boys were shocked, thinking Leper was crazy and Gene confirmed he really was. As the war becomes more realistic at Devon, the boys finds ways around hearing of it. One night, Finny decides there really is a war, and that he had seen Leper earlier in the day hiding around the school. That night Brinker and his friends took Finny and Gene to the assembly room where more Senior boys waited. Brinker set up the whole thing to find out about Finny’s accident. He soon realizes Finny’s memory is hazy and he will not get anywhere, so they go to find Leper, as Leper always had a head for details. Lepers begins to give his side of the story, but does not end because he will not implicate himself. …show more content…
Mr. Hadley, one of those men all about the war lectures the boys on the importance of fighting for the country and one another. After the visit and Mr. Hadley had left, Brinker apologizes for his father and when Gene attempt to brush off the old man’s words, Brinker becomes angered. Saying, “He and his crowd are responsible for it!” (“It” means the war currently being fought.) Gene finally figures that this is why Brinker acts the way he does, because of his father. Throughout the rest of his day Gene had thought of Finny, how he was different and how “he wasn’t really dead”. During Gene’s time in the war he never killed anyone and he never had hate for the enemy, rather he had killed his enemy in his time at Devon. Gene ends the story by saying that once again Phineas was different from