Throughout the novel, Phineas creates moments of illusory placidity to conceal the truth about the impending war, by equating games to war. Phineas yearns to avoid the war, and in order to do so he constantly forms games for Gene and the other students, as an escape. Rather than admitting to the illusion of tranquility, Phineas views games as self-accomplishment and pure entertainment, where there was always victors, never losers. In contrast, war always has a loser. During the summer session at Devon, there was a sense of peace and relaxation. When the summer session draws to a close, it heeds way for the winter session, where its bitterness signals the encroachment of the war on Devon. During this winter session, Phineas diverts the students’
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During the Winter Carnival, the boys ski, drink cider, and participate in the 1944 Olympic Games that the World War II was interrupting. Gene, Phineas’s best friend, refers to the Winter Carnival as an “escape [we] had concocted, that afternoon of momentary, illusory, special, and separate peace” (137) with a dream-like atmosphere, that shut the boys away from reality. However, Gene’s description of the dream-like Winter Carnival reveals that the peace was only temporary, but the war was inevitable. The theme of truth versus illusion is present as Phineas’s illusions of peace are a way to permanently escape the deviousness, where in truth, war can corrupt the most innocent. Following the carnival, Phineas learns the truth about the war, as Brinker questions Gene about the transpiration of events at Leper’s house. At basic training, Leper’s idealist character transforms into one that is unstable, as the war releases the inner darkness inside of him. As a result, Leper begins to visually perceive gory hallucinations of men with legs separated from their bodies, as well as men with the countenance of …show more content…
Although Phineas attempts to combat the war with peace and games, he realizes that war is inevitable. Even war corrupts the spirit of pure, innocent Leper. His admittance to the truth and deflection of fantasy, reveals the change in his character. Like Leper, Phineas sees the beauty in the world around him and cannot fathom the darkness that lies on the inside. Phineas’s games, no matter how dangerous, are carried out without a trace of vindictiveness, just simply pure enthrallment of life. Instead, Phineas accepts the truth rather than arguing that the peace is real. Earlier in the novel, Phineas says that the war stems from “fat old men who don’t want [us] crowding them out of their jobs” (115), after Gene asks him if he actually believes that the war is a fantasy. This time, Phineas opts not to be argumentative and reluctantly accepts that his fantasy of peace was no longer
During the Winter Carnival, the boys ski, drink cider, and participate in the 1944 Olympic Games that the World War II was interrupting. Gene, Phineas’s best friend, refers to the Winter Carnival as an “escape [we] had concocted, that afternoon of momentary, illusory, special, and separate peace” (137) with a dream-like atmosphere, that shut the boys away from reality. However, Gene’s description of the dream-like Winter Carnival reveals that the peace was only temporary, but the war was inevitable. The theme of truth versus illusion is present as Phineas’s illusions of peace are a way to permanently escape the deviousness, where in truth, war can corrupt the most innocent. Following the carnival, Phineas learns the truth about the war, as Brinker questions Gene about the transpiration of events at Leper’s house. At basic training, Leper’s idealist character transforms into one that is unstable, as the war releases the inner darkness inside of him. As a result, Leper begins to visually perceive gory hallucinations of men with legs separated from their bodies, as well as men with the countenance of …show more content…
Although Phineas attempts to combat the war with peace and games, he realizes that war is inevitable. Even war corrupts the spirit of pure, innocent Leper. His admittance to the truth and deflection of fantasy, reveals the change in his character. Like Leper, Phineas sees the beauty in the world around him and cannot fathom the darkness that lies on the inside. Phineas’s games, no matter how dangerous, are carried out without a trace of vindictiveness, just simply pure enthrallment of life. Instead, Phineas accepts the truth rather than arguing that the peace is real. Earlier in the novel, Phineas says that the war stems from “fat old men who don’t want [us] crowding them out of their jobs” (115), after Gene asks him if he actually believes that the war is a fantasy. This time, Phineas opts not to be argumentative and reluctantly accepts that his fantasy of peace was no longer