In chapter nine of A Separate Peace, Finny and Gene (mostly Finny) decide to organize a winter carnival, to celebrate winter. At first, Gene is hesitant, as he doesn't find much to celebrate during the winter, and neither do the other students at Devon. Finny convinces the boys to have this carnival and to enjoy their last moments of freedom before the war. Finny makes it seem like he is hosting this carnival in the spirit of the winter season. However, he is organizing this carnival for other reasons, mainly the fact that he wants his attention back. When he returned to Devon after injuring his leg, everyone was excited o have him back and showered him with attention constantly. But when Leper enlisted in the war, all attention was turned on him, and his sudden exit. "Leper sprang up all over the world at the core of every Allied success. We talked about Leper’s stand at Stalingrad, Leper on the Burma Road, Leper’s convoy to Archangel; we surmised that the crisis over the leadership of the Free French would be resolved by the appointment of neither de Gaulle nor Giraud but Lepellier; we knew, better than the newspapers, that it was not the Big Three but the Big Four who were running the war." (Knowles, 126). Everyone starts talking about Leper all the time, and Finny feels robbed. He refuses to engage in conversations about Leper and the war, "Everyone contributed to this legend except Phineas. At the outset, with the attempt on Hitler’s life, Finny had said, '“If someone gave Leper a loaded gun and put it at Hitler’s temple, he’d miss.”' (Knowles, 127). Finny holds this carnival to get his attention back, and to keep everyone focused on him.
Why does Finny require so much attention? How does Finny feel about Leper enlisting? How will Finny respond to Lepers letter?
Finny is extremely frustrated by the fact that he can't be a part of the war due to his injury. This manifests itself in many ways, including his quip about Leper. Leper was a very pacific person who never got involved in the war and had a passion for nature, yet he was the first to enlist. Meanwhile, Finny had always been more or less interested in the war, and super athletic. He was supposed to be the one to enlist in the war. It hurts Finny to see Leper, an outcast, getting all of the attention and glory that was supposed to be his. This makes Finny organize the Winter Carnival in an effort to get the attention back. This hurt also leads to his denial of the war. He convinces himself that he couldn't have enlisted so that he is less hurt. Finny evidently has some issues to work through, and is definitely no longer the carefree, charismatic jock that we saw at the beginning of the book.
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