In 1942, introverted and intellectual Gene Forrester attends the summer session at the Devon School in New Hampshire, soon becoming best friends with his roommate, Finny.
Reckless and charming, Finny tends to get away with many of the dangerous decisions he has made; Convincing Gene that he will too, the two best friends build a secret society surrounding a harmful jump from a tall tree, straight into a flowing river.
After Finny breaks the school swimming record on his first try, jealousy strikes Gene over Finny’s athleticism, as well as a sudden stream of paranoia that Finny is envious of Gene’s intelligence; Gene feels that Finny has been attempting to distract him from his studies, easily converting his suspicions into a fiery hatred, though Gene keeps his feelings to himself as he continues his facade of a genuine friendship. Gene realizes how wrong he was about holding a resentful grudge against Finny when, one day, Finny conveys an honest wish for Gene to succeed, shocking Gene into following his best friend to their secret spot for their daily routine of tree jumping. Just as Finny reaches the end of the tree branch, Gene bends his knees, shaking the branch slightly, causing Finny to fall to the river bank which tragically shatters the bones in his leg; though it is deemed accidental, the grief eats away at Gene’s conscience after the discovery that Finny’s athleticism has sadly come an end. Gene is prompted by his discovery to admit his part in Finny’s ‘accident’ but the doctor waves him off and sends Finny home; not receiving another chance to confess until after his vacation back to the south, Gene stops at Finny’s house to spill everything, but Finny does not want to hear one second of it which causes Gene to take back everything he said and continue on his way to school. At school, Gene wants nothing to do with ‘real’ athletics, so he decides to become the assistant manager of the crew team but soon quits after fighting with the crew manager. With World War II upon them, the boys of Devon are longing to join the military, including a class politician named Brinker Hadley, who makes an …show more content…
After Finny opens up to Gene about his prior dream of becoming an olympian, Gene agrees to train for the 1944 olympics for him; not even the shock that a nature-lover named Leper Lepellier was the first from Devon to enlist in the military could break the constant olympic training sessions that the two boys held.
Leper sends Gene a telegram that says he has escaped and he needs Gene to meet him at his house in Vermont, causing Gene to take off; when he gets there, he discovers that Leper has gone a little crazy since the last time he had seen him, Leper informing Gene that he knew what really happened when Finny broke his leg.
Leper’s hystarity causes Gene to second guess how military life would treat him, so he heads back to Devon, telling Finny and Brinker that Leper has gone crazy; this causes Brinker to go on about how Devon has already lost Finny and Leper, two potential soldiers, though not even Finny having the ability to calm Gene’s mind, now only denying the war
Reckless and charming, Finny tends to get away with many of the dangerous decisions he has made; Convincing Gene that he will too, the two best friends build a secret society surrounding a harmful jump from a tall tree, straight into a flowing river.
After Finny breaks the school swimming record on his first try, jealousy strikes Gene over Finny’s athleticism, as well as a sudden stream of paranoia that Finny is envious of Gene’s intelligence; Gene feels that Finny has been attempting to distract him from his studies, easily converting his suspicions into a fiery hatred, though Gene keeps his feelings to himself as he continues his facade of a genuine friendship. Gene realizes how wrong he was about holding a resentful grudge against Finny when, one day, Finny conveys an honest wish for Gene to succeed, shocking Gene into following his best friend to their secret spot for their daily routine of tree jumping. Just as Finny reaches the end of the tree branch, Gene bends his knees, shaking the branch slightly, causing Finny to fall to the river bank which tragically shatters the bones in his leg; though it is deemed accidental, the grief eats away at Gene’s conscience after the discovery that Finny’s athleticism has sadly come an end. Gene is prompted by his discovery to admit his part in Finny’s ‘accident’ but the doctor waves him off and sends Finny home; not receiving another chance to confess until after his vacation back to the south, Gene stops at Finny’s house to spill everything, but Finny does not want to hear one second of it which causes Gene to take back everything he said and continue on his way to school. At school, Gene wants nothing to do with ‘real’ athletics, so he decides to become the assistant manager of the crew team but soon quits after fighting with the crew manager. With World War II upon them, the boys of Devon are longing to join the military, including a class politician named Brinker Hadley, who makes an …show more content…
After Finny opens up to Gene about his prior dream of becoming an olympian, Gene agrees to train for the 1944 olympics for him; not even the shock that a nature-lover named Leper Lepellier was the first from Devon to enlist in the military could break the constant olympic training sessions that the two boys held.
Leper sends Gene a telegram that says he has escaped and he needs Gene to meet him at his house in Vermont, causing Gene to take off; when he gets there, he discovers that Leper has gone a little crazy since the last time he had seen him, Leper informing Gene that he knew what really happened when Finny broke his leg.
Leper’s hystarity causes Gene to second guess how military life would treat him, so he heads back to Devon, telling Finny and Brinker that Leper has gone crazy; this causes Brinker to go on about how Devon has already lost Finny and Leper, two potential soldiers, though not even Finny having the ability to calm Gene’s mind, now only denying the war