Quackenbush

Character description

Cliff Quackenbush who is 17 is the manager of a crew team. He is a tall guy who is very much disliked. He is known for his reputation and is thought to be disliked for maturing faster than the other boys. He is said to be strict, ignorant, a bully, firm, and masculine type. He has no friends because he picks on everyone and has major conflict with Gene.

Symbol

Picks on others to make himself feel bigger and higher. He insults Gene the worst to bring himself up. Quackenbush has a strong reputation of being a bully and the clue to that was that his first name was never used. (68) He has been systematically disliked since he first set foot in Devon. He threw out insults at everyone he met eyes on. This represents Him becasue he always is causing trouble towards others.

Analysis

Quackenbush, I think, is just a mean person and is filled with anger and bitterness. He hasn't been given a chance to be nice and will never be given one because he is so cruel. Personally, I think Quackenbush needs to learn the hard way to be able to treat others nicely. "Quackenbush had been systematically disliked...with careless, disinterested insults coming at him from the beginning." (70) He has taken as a man who no one wants to cross paths with. All he thinks about is himself and doesn't seem to care about others feelings he has hurt. "Get out of here, Forrester, he said bitterly from the water your not wanted around here, Forrester get out of here." (71)

THeme

Humans in conflict. Quackenbush illustrates this theme because all he does is make other's lives miserable. He will take his frustration out on anyone, and it doesn't matter who it is. THe choices he makes on others will effect the ones he bullys. Even though he knew nothing about the ones he picks on he does it for himself because he is ignorant (69). Because he is feared upon others look to him as a class leader.

Gene Forrester

Character description

Gene Forrester is a 17 year old boy who is five feet nine inches tall and weighs 140 pounds. He is fair haired and fair skinned.(8) He is intelligent, a steady student, thoughtful, fearful, and very competitive. He was assistant crew manager and his best friend was finny with their love/hate relationship.(69) His enemy who he despised was Quackenbush. 

Symbol

Gene is the jealous type and is very competitive with his friend Finny. (38) He may be opposite but when it comes to him and finny their a double. He is very much a rule follower and does what he can to make his life easy for him. (18) Even though he is good at studying and grades and following rules he wants to be known for more. So he chooses to step outside his saftey zone by jumping from the tree and facing his fears. (23)

Analysis

I think Gene is very much fearful (23) He is fearful of life with the war going on and the eternal war that is going on. He faces a difficult friendship with Finny and isnt really prepared or aware of his choices and consequences. He is noticing changes that are happening frequently at Devon and he can't control what is going on. "I knew, perhaps, I alone knew that this was false. Devon had slipped through their fingers during the warm overlooked months, the tradition had been broken, the standards left down all rules forgotten." (65) Even though Gene didn't see himself as reserved, lonely he found out who he was underneath the mask. He saw himself striving to beat Finny. He even envied him to a point where he was accused of jouncing the limb on purpose. Overall Gene was lost of finding himself. "I was beginning to see that Phineas could get away with anything. I couldn't help envying him that a little, which was perfectly normal. There was no harm in envying even your best friend." (18) 

Charactar and Theme

Gene illustrates the theme choices and consequences. His anger churns within him and emerges in unconcious forms. He showed us the truth inside of him and turned into something he couldn't see within himself. Gene's actions caused him pain but yet that the choices that you make can affect you for the rest of your life. In the end, he lost one of the most important things to him, friendship, because he lost the sight of himself becoming someone else.