Julia Schwartz

English I H (A)

A Separate Peace Journal Entry (3)

“ ‘Do you really think that the United States of America is in a state of war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan?… Don’t be a sap- there isn’t any war… They’ve made it all up… The whole world is on a Funny Farm now. But it’s only the fat old men who get the joke… and me.’ ” (106)

                Finny is confused: There is no way about it- he doesn’t want to believe the war at all, so instead he chooses to refute its authenticity. Not only this, he also scoffs at his friend Gene for believing it. He credits the war to a bunch of fat of men who want to keep young boys out of their jobs, and are now getting fat and rich because they are the only ones working.

                Phineas comments on the whole world as being ‘on a Funny Farm.’ By this, I think that he means that basically, the whole world has been brainwashed by these ‘fat old men’ who are supposedly putting out information into the news networks about the war and its happening.

                Of course, Finny thinks that he gets it. In one sense, he has to get it, because it’s really his idea, and no one else could get it if they don’t know about it. Finny also gets it because he is the leader. He is the one who always initiates everything, and the one who chooses what to do. He needs this power to feel a sense of control over others, because he doesn’t really feel much of a sense of control over himself anymore, especially since he broke his leg. Finny says he gets it because “he has suffered” (108). Well, Phineas, here’s news for you- everyone living at the time of the war has suffered. Maybe Finny did break his leg, yes, and got everything taken away from him, as his athletic ability was his ‘main charm’; however, everyone in the war loses something, be it a son, father, brother; arm, leg, or foot; sanity, serenity, or comfort; or just something else on an emotional level which you just can’t place. You could lose