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In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, what does the inability to participate in sports mean for Finny?

Finny's whole world is sports. Without sports, Finny is just a swimmer without a pool, or a runner without a track. Phineas is average when it comes to academics, but that doesn't mean that he isn't intelligent. It's just that his passion and talents are all wrapped up in sports, competition, and expressing himself through athletics. In fact, he creates a game called Blitzball in Chapter Three, which is still played at Devon nearly two decades later. He also creates a Winter Carnival in Chapter Nine that includes winter sports in a competitive spirit. Everyone involved in the carnival enjoyed the distraction from homework, cabin fever, and the looming war ahead of them.


Phineas is humble, too. In Chapter Three, when he breaks the school swimming record with only Gene as a witness, he makes his best friend swear not to tell anyone about it. Unfortunately, when he breaks his leg in Chapter Four, the doctor later says that he will never be able to play sports again. This also means that Finny might not be accepted into the military and he won't be able to save the world as a soldier--something he really wanted to do. As a result, Finny goes into denial about the war and tells everyone there really is no war because it's just a hoax. He holds onto that public lie until he thinks he will be accepted by some military department, but he breaks his leg again and all hopes to fight the war are lost. It's just one tragedy after another for poor Finny. 

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