Brinker Hadley:
Age: seventeen
The LOOKS: I cannot say much because I was not told but guessing, plain and tall-medium height.
Job: The law. He seeks justice and practices order.
Relationships: Brinker does not really have friends. He has Papa Hadley.
Personality and attitude: Brinker bullies and manipulates to not get buillied and manipulated in a sense. He is the seeker of order and a follower of justice. Basically, he is the exact opposite if Phineas. Brinker is not a spontaneous person and he follows the rules unlike Phineas. Brinker is a big bully but he is also a leader because people follow him sometimes willingly.
Symbolism: Brinker is part of the "conformity" theme with Devon. Brinker is obedience and form. He himself is according to the rules and laws of what he has been told he is right. He seems to be in competition with Phineas but Phineas does not really notice this "competition" between them. Brinker is about being the better bigger man. He feels the need to impress and does a good job of it with the boys at the school.
Quotes:
"Here you are in your solitary splendor," he went on genially. "I can see you have real influence around here. This big room all to yourself. I wish I knew how to manage things like you." He grinned confidingly and sank down on my cot, leaning on his elbow in a relaxed, at-home way. (Knowles 87)
Brinker knows how to get the truth out by manipulating. Brinker used sarcasm and the know it all attitude to really get to Gene. Brinker suspected Gene of foul play on the tree branch and wanted to get a rise out of Gene to get the facts and get Gene on his side by making Gene realize why he did it and why it is "unhealthy" in a sense to be friends with Phineas. Brinker knows how to group and what kind of people to surround himself with and wants Gene on his side because Gene is capable of destruction. Gene destructed peace a.k.a Phineas.
I felt the blood flooding into my head. "After all," Brinker continued, "there is a war on. Here's one soldier our side has already lost. We've got to find out what happened." (Knowles 168)
Brinker at this point of the novel is putting Gene and Phineas on the spotlight because he suspects that Phineas as well knows the truth about what happened on the tree branch. Phineas is in denial and Brinker wants thaat denial gone and wants Phineas to admit about Gene's crime and leave Gene for being a bad bad friend. Brinker truly wants Gene on his side and he will get his wish once Phineas leaves Gene. Gene is obviously destructive and is very capable of doing just about anything like a mindless puppet for anybody who shows him loyalty.
Character-Tie-In-Theme: Conformity vs. Nonconformity. Brinker is in a way both. He is all about laws and rules but at the same time uses foul play to get it. Brinker rips out hearts and makes people feel very uncomfortable by confronting them about all the thinga that are so raw to them like Gene jouncing the limb. Brinker even made Phineas cry. Brinker is a true leader but it is all through manipulation and his order; Brinker is no fun at all and in that he is the exact opposite of Phineas.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Group 3: Esther Kwon's Character Blog
Phineas:
Age:around sixteen~seventeen
The LOOKS: devilishly handsome, athletically built but not so "built" and tall enough for a girl.
Relationships: Gene's bestfriend in the whole wide world : D
Personality and attitude: so amazingly cool, "what a heart swooner" for the girls, absolutely flawless when it comes to sports and anything physical, favorable when it comes to the social life and popular enough to start things that people will follow. Phineas is able to talk his way out of everything and the way he faces life and how he deals with it, he shares with his friends because it is fun and spontaneous. He lives off inspiration and sees life as something to accomplish and not a big competition.
Job: ... nope, he broke his leg : O
SYMBOLISM: Phineas is a magnificent and important symbol in A Separate Peace. He is what the world was not all about. He represents the heart of a spirited young guy who had no bad intentions toward anybody. He denied the bad and the corrupt. He represented anarchy based on pure fun and not chaos. He loved, he inspired, he had fun, he ruled, he brought change and he had a heart. Kudos Phineas, kudos...
Quotes:
He climbed out of the pool. "I'm not going to do it again," he said quietly.
"Of course you are!"
"No, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Now I know. But I don't want to do it in public."
(Knowles 44)
This is when Phineas breaks the school's swim record with only Gene watching. Gene goes on telling him to do it again with officials and people around but humble and simple-minded Phineas does not want the attention Gene is craving. Phineas does not use his talent to compete against anybody because he does not feel the need to prove anything to anyone except to himself. Phineas is really all about self-contentment because he does not care what other people think.
"You aren't going to start living by the rules, are you?"
I (Gene) grinned at him. "Oh no, I wouldn't do that," and that was the most false thing, the biggest lie of all. ( Knowles 71)
Now that Phineas was going to be home-bound and suffering of boredom because of Gene's inhumane action toward Phineas, Phineas just wanted Gene to have fun even though Phineas had left Devon. Gene can lie and deceive and over think but Phineas is so simple. He is not emotionally retarded because he is in denial about what his bestfriend did and does not do the unmanly way of making Gene suffer with verbal torture. Phineas is honest with pure, good intentions.
Character-Theme-Tie-In: I think that Phineas supports the "friendship" theme of this novel. Well more like he is the "friendship" theme. Phineas is so good to Gene when Gene is so cruel to Phineas. The story is told through Gene and the fact that we know Gene's thoughts makes it harder to know that Phineas trusts Gene. Trust, honesty, loyalty and love is what makes a frienship strong and Phineas shows all of those qualities. The friendship seems like a one-way from Phineas to Gene when we put into consideration what friendship consists of and what it really is. When things got rough and true inner thoughts got pulled out to the surface, Phineas denied the ugly that Gene had committed. Phineas never twisted anyone's actions or what they said to turn it all against himself. Phineas is the exact opposite of Gene and Gene really needed a friend like that.
Age:around sixteen~seventeen
The LOOKS: devilishly handsome, athletically built but not so "built" and tall enough for a girl.
Relationships: Gene's bestfriend in the whole wide world : D
Personality and attitude: so amazingly cool, "what a heart swooner" for the girls, absolutely flawless when it comes to sports and anything physical, favorable when it comes to the social life and popular enough to start things that people will follow. Phineas is able to talk his way out of everything and the way he faces life and how he deals with it, he shares with his friends because it is fun and spontaneous. He lives off inspiration and sees life as something to accomplish and not a big competition.
Job: ... nope, he broke his leg : O
SYMBOLISM: Phineas is a magnificent and important symbol in A Separate Peace. He is what the world was not all about. He represents the heart of a spirited young guy who had no bad intentions toward anybody. He denied the bad and the corrupt. He represented anarchy based on pure fun and not chaos. He loved, he inspired, he had fun, he ruled, he brought change and he had a heart. Kudos Phineas, kudos...
Quotes:
He climbed out of the pool. "I'm not going to do it again," he said quietly.
"Of course you are!"
"No, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Now I know. But I don't want to do it in public."
(Knowles 44)
This is when Phineas breaks the school's swim record with only Gene watching. Gene goes on telling him to do it again with officials and people around but humble and simple-minded Phineas does not want the attention Gene is craving. Phineas does not use his talent to compete against anybody because he does not feel the need to prove anything to anyone except to himself. Phineas is really all about self-contentment because he does not care what other people think.
"You aren't going to start living by the rules, are you?"
I (Gene) grinned at him. "Oh no, I wouldn't do that," and that was the most false thing, the biggest lie of all. ( Knowles 71)
Now that Phineas was going to be home-bound and suffering of boredom because of Gene's inhumane action toward Phineas, Phineas just wanted Gene to have fun even though Phineas had left Devon. Gene can lie and deceive and over think but Phineas is so simple. He is not emotionally retarded because he is in denial about what his bestfriend did and does not do the unmanly way of making Gene suffer with verbal torture. Phineas is honest with pure, good intentions.
Character-Theme-Tie-In: I think that Phineas supports the "friendship" theme of this novel. Well more like he is the "friendship" theme. Phineas is so good to Gene when Gene is so cruel to Phineas. The story is told through Gene and the fact that we know Gene's thoughts makes it harder to know that Phineas trusts Gene. Trust, honesty, loyalty and love is what makes a frienship strong and Phineas shows all of those qualities. The friendship seems like a one-way from Phineas to Gene when we put into consideration what friendship consists of and what it really is. When things got rough and true inner thoughts got pulled out to the surface, Phineas denied the ugly that Gene had committed. Phineas never twisted anyone's actions or what they said to turn it all against himself. Phineas is the exact opposite of Gene and Gene really needed a friend like that.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
