Chapter 9 Summary and Analysis

Gene understands that he has drifted into Finny’s world of fantasy, but does not try to get away from it due to the sense of happiness that he now feels in the school in the company of his friend. Despite all the excitement about enlisting from the boys, the one who actually goes through with it is Leper Lepellier, the naturalist, and this makes Gene wonder if the war was actually real. He reflects, “No real war could draw Leper voluntarily away from his snails and beaver dams.” The adult Gene makes no comment on the issue, but the tragedy of Leper’s recruitment was that he, and other recruits like him, were conned by the recruiter. The recruiter showed videos of ski troops, making war seem all fun and games.

Leper’s recruitment makes him the symbol of war heroics, and jokes about how Leper was behind every successful war effort by the Allies were common among the boys. Finny was the only exception. Not only did he not joke about Leper at war, but he also disapproved of Gene doing so. Finny pulls Gene away from conversations about the war and tries to get the both of them to focus on sports and the Olympics.

The school goes through a bleak winter, and while Gene resonates with the gray atmosphere, Finny’s stead represents the contrary. He wants a winter carnival to happen, and gets plenty of support from others. The carnival breaks the oppressive atmosphere, with the boys drinking hard cider, Finny doing the dance of peace and a wild party spreading into the dorms. The chapter describes this moment as a “liberation” from the reality of war. The carnival and celebration also works as an overt display of Finny’s view of the world, which is one of a separate peace and detached from the troubles of war.

The mood does not last, as a telegram arrives from Leper, breaking the bubble that Finny worked to establish and flushing it with reality. It says, “I have escaped and need help. I am at Christmas location. You understand. No need to risk address here. My safety depends on you coming at once. (signed) Your best friend, Elwin Leper Lepellier.”

The oppressive and draining nature of winter could only be dealt with by sheer will and celebration with Finny ideas, but even this bubble of fantasy cannot withstand a single letter from Leper, which quickly establishes that the world is not one of celebration and things are dire. It also shows that the boys, even if they do not enlist, cannot escape the repercussions of war, and they have no choice but to deal with reality and its problems.