He writes short, rhyming odes. Brinker goes along with several other boys to help clear snow from the railroad tracks. When he boys get back to campus, Brinker makes fun of Leper for being a naturalist. He decides that Devon is no use in a time of war, and publicly declares that he's going to enlist. The next morning, Brinker wants to talk about enlisting with Gene, but Finny is having none of it. Brinker and the others imagine Leper's participation in all the biggest events of the war.
Brinker, disillusioned, steps down from all his leadership positions and becomes something of a rebel on campus. Nowhere is this more clear than during Finny's Winter Carnival. A successful, conventional student leader, Brinker stands in contrast to both Finny the unconventional leader and Gene the unquestioning follower.
Smooth and carefully dressed, Brinker strives to impress people and, when he can, exercise control over them. The glimpse of Brinker's father in the last chapter throws some light on Brinker's character.
The son of an overbearing father, Brinker develops his aggressive tendencies in self-defense; he manipulates and bullies people to avoid being manipulated or bullied himself. In fact, Brinker uses his manipulative powers to compete with Finny for Gene's loyalty.
Brinker senses Gene's dark secret — that he envies and resents Finny — and tries to exploit it by needling him about his friend. Gene explains how Brinker reacts to his new nickname. Readers previously learn that the name is created during a silly exchange that happens among Brinker, Gene, and Finny, as Gene backs out of the plan for enlisting, accusing Brinker of being Madame Chang Kai-Shek, the wife of the leader of China at the time.
Gene speculates that if Brinker had been the first of the class to enlist, his example would have influenced all of the other students for the better. Gene envisions Brinker inspiring others with his feelings about enlisting, which he would have shared loudly and publicly. In addition, once gone, his loss would be felt by all. However, Leper enlists first, not Brinker, and Leper has a less inspiring influence.
Brinker takes his role as a class leader seriously. Brinker gives up for now on the idea of enlisting, but he begins to take small steps away from civilian life. In addition to changing his dress, he quits the many clubs and societies he previously led. When Finny comes back to Devon, we expect a showdown of sorts, and Knowles delivers, via the Winter Carnival. The battle is brief, and Phineas wins out. Or, as Gene says, "Brinker the Lawgiver had turned rebel for the Duration" 9. But it's not until the end of the novel that Finny realizes what initiated Brinker's transformation in the first place.
Like much else in A Separate Peace , this has everything to do with the war. Brinker, who everyone thought would be the first to enlist, quickly becomes disillusioned with the idea of fighting.
Gene identifies his feelings as "a faintly self-pitying resentment against millions of people he did not know"
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