ASP Ch.1-6 Quotes

“And at this teen-age period in life, the proper person is your best pal...which is what you are.”

Speaker -Finny
Listener- Gene
Situation- Finny and Gene biked about three hours to the beach, a very forbidden act at Devon. Before falling asleep on the beach, Finny apologizes for dragging Gene along on this adventure, but admits that engaging in these rebellious adventures is something you do with your best friend when you’re a teenager.

“Nothing bad ever happened in sports; they were the absolute good.”

Speaker- Gene
Listener- the reader
Situation- One of Finny’s “commandments” is “You always win at sports”. In other words, Finny felt you could never lose when playing sports. Gene is describing Finny’s positive perception of sports here. This, again, showcases Finny’s excessive optimism.

“It felt as though I had a stopwatch in my head and I could hear myself going just a little bit faster than A. Hopkins Parker”

Speaker- Finny
Listener- Gene
Situation- In the pool house, after seeing that A. Hopkins Parker holds the record for the 100 yard freestyle race, Finny decides to see if he can beat his time. Finny beats his time by .7 seconds! Finny says this after he discovers that he beat A. Hopkins Parker. This shows that Finny is confident in his athletic ability, but doesn’t desire recognition for his feats.

“You are even in enmity. You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone. You did hate him for breaking that school record, but so what? He hated you for getting an A in every course but one last term.”

Speaker- Gene
Listener- the reader
Situation- As this enigmatic rivalry between Finny and Gene arises, Gene starts to get in his head. In the race to “get even”, he realizes they are even in the sense that they both are looking out for themselves. Gene feels threatened by Finny’s athleticism, while Gene thinks Finny is threatened by Gene’s intellect.

“Anybody could see it was time to come in out of the rain.”

Speaker- Gene
Listener-the reader
Situation- Adult Gene has returned to Devon and is visiting “the tree”. He notes that the tree seemed different-- “weary from age, enfeebled, dry.” Not only is Gene drenched and literally needs to come in out of the rain, but this also represents that maybe it was time for him to let go of the past. Hint- think about what rain represents!

“I wore this, you see, because it goes with the shirt and it all ties in together-I didn’t mean that to be a pun…”

Speaker- Finny
Listener- Mr. Patchwithers, his wife, Gene
Situation- The boys are dining at Mr. Patchwither’s home, and Finny has broken the dress code. He is wearing a pink shirt and a tie as a belt. In his usual charming way, he explains the reasoning behind his outfit. He says he feels the shirt and tie-belt look nice together. He didn’t mean to be “punny” by saying the TIE TIES the outfit together. This demonstrates how Finny can talk his way out of anything!!

“I know. We kid around a lot and everything, but you have to be serious sometime, about something. I mean if there’s nobody or hardly anybody, who’s as good as you are, then you’ve go to be serious about that.”

Speaker- Finny
Listener- Gene
Situation-In those moment, Finny realizes that Gene does, in fact, need to study! It does not just come completely naturally to him. Finny playfully reprimands Gene here, encouraging him to study so he can get all A’s. This is significant because Gene now realizes that Finny wants the best for him, and that maybe this rivalry is all in his head.

“You keep your arms crossed like this on your chest, and you just butt the ball carrier.”

Speaker- Finny
Listener- The boys playing blitzball
Situation- Finny has just invented the game of blitzball. As the boys toss the medicine ball around, Finny starts shouting orders at the boys, explaining the rules of the game. This conveys how inventive Finny is, but also how aggressive the game was intended to be (like war).