1. On the beach, Finny calls Gene his “best pal,”
but Gene cannot respond in the same way. At this point
in the novel, how is Finny a “best pal” to Gene? How
is Gene not a “best pal” to Finny? Do the friends’
feelings about each other change as the novel
progresses? Explain your answers with references to
the novel.
2. The tree by the river strongly recalls the Tree
in the Garden of Eden, the site of original sin. Three
different characters offer their own ideas about
Gene’s moral guilt in making Finny fall. Leper accuses
Gene of being always “a savage underneath,” Finny
talks about “some kind of blind impulse,” and Gene
confesses to “some ignorance inside me.” What do each
of these descriptions mean? Which do you think is
closest to the truth? Defend your answer with evidence
from the novel.
3. The two rivers, the Devon and the Naguamsett,
play important roles symbolically in the novel. What
does each river tell us about Devon? How does Knowles
use the rivers to make his point about innocence and
experience? Why is it important that the Devon runs
into the Naguamsett and the Naguamsett runs into the
sea?
4. Leper’s delusions are clearly the product of his
psychosis. Yet when he describes the events at the
tree in his testimony, he seems to be telling the
truth in a kind of poetry. Discuss the images and
poetic symbols Leper uses in his testimony about
Finny’s fall. What does Leper’s poetic testimony tell
us about this tragic event?
5. Leper’s mother and Brinker’s father are the only
parents who actually appear in the novel. What does
the character of each parent tell about that parent’s
son? If both parents represent the older generation,
what conflict exists between the generations?
6. Like Gene, Brinker grows over the course of the
novel. Discuss Brinker’s changing views of Gene, the
war, enlistment, and responsibility. How does the
Brinker who first appears at Gene’s door become the
Brinker who prepares to leave Devon with Gene in the
last chapter?
7. Finny’s views on the war include great
contradictions, from his wearing of the pink shirt as
an emblem, to his conspiracy theory, to his letter to
Chiang Kai-Shek proposing to join the Chinese army.
What does Finny really think of the war? Do his
feelings change over the course of the novel? If so,
how and why?
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