What happens to Finny at the beginning of Chapter 12?
Dr. Stanpole finds him in the hall outside Finny’s room and tells him that Finny is dead. As Gene listens numbly, the doctor explains that a bit of marrow escaped from the bone as he was setting it, entering Finny’s bloodstream and stopping his heart.
Why does Gene go back to Devon?
Although Gene has deliberately returned to Devon, in many ways his purpose seems to be to prove the impossibility of true return: he wants things to be different on this visit to his old school; he wants to have a sense that time has passed—and erased, we assume—the dark events of his high school years.
Why does Finny tell Brinker that Leper is at Devon?
Working on a translation of Caesar’s Gallic Wars, Gene and Finny discuss the current war. Finny admits that Leper’s mental breakdown has convinced him of the reality of the war, and he tells Gene that he has even seen Leper at Devon.
Why did Gene Forrester return to Devon?
Why did Leper leave Devon?
Expert Answers Leper goes AWOL (away without leave) before the army discharges him as a “Section Eight”, signifying that he is unfit for service due to mental illness. Going AWOL is a serious offense, but Leper does not want to be branded as a mental case for the rest of his life.
How did Finny beat the record with Gene as his timekeeper?
With Gene as his timekeeper, Finny beats the record by .7 seconds, but there are no witnesses so the time will not count. When Gene encourages his friend to try again the next day to make it official, Finny refuses and asks Gene not to speak about it to anyone.
Why did Finny want to form the Super Suicide Society?
Finny did not so much save his life, Gene concludes, as nearly get him killed. Finny’s inspired idea to form the Super Suicide Society simply compounds Gene’s growing fears about their friendship, because the “suicide” here seems to suggest Gene’s own possible self-destruction.
When did Finny try to break the world record?
The two boys are alone in the pool when Finny notices a record from 1940 and decides to try to break it. With Gene as his timekeeper, Finny beats the record by .7 seconds, but there are no witnesses so the time will not count.
Why does Finny never go to the nightly meeting?
This nightly meeting is the only scheduled activity Finny never misses. Gene goes along every time, but secretly he hates it. Early in the summer, Finny becomes dissatisfied with the school sports program — badminton, in particular — and decides the boys should make up their own game (blitzball).