Leizel's Character Analysis

Welcome everyone! Today, I will be interviewing members of the esteemed Devon School. It is my pleasure to introduce Gene, Phineas and Mr. Prud’homme. Now to begin the interview, I’d like to ask, being that you are all a part of such a prestigious school, what are your goals?

Gene: “In that short lived and special country we spent this summer at Devon when Finny achieved certain feats as an athlete.” (Knowles, 37) His goal is to be the best athlete in the Devon School.

Phineas: (directed to Gene) “You want to be head of the class, valedictorian, so you can make a speech on Graduation Day—in Latin or something boring like that probably—and be the boy wonder of the school. I know you.” (Knowles, 46) As for Mr. Prud’homme, his goal as a teacher goes as far as that “He enforced such rules as he knew; missing dinner was one of them” (Knowles, 20)

With such goals in mind, what is your motivation?

Phineas: Well, Mr. Prud’homme, “He did not have the careless, almost British look of most of the Devon Masters, because he was a substitute for the summer.” (Knowles, 20) Overall, he being a supply teacher was quite lax in his conduct.

Mr. Prud’homme: As for Phineas, “He had won and been proud to win the Galbraith Football Trophy and the Contact Sport Award, and there were two or three other athletic prizes he was sure to get this year or next.” (Knowles, 46) Academics are Phineas’ weakness and so for him, excelling at sports is his salvation. Being good at sports and the potential to win awards is his motivation.

Gene: “If I was head of the class on Graduation Day and made a speech and won the Ne Plus Ultra Scholastic Achievement Citation, then we would both have come out on top, we would be even, that was all. We would be even....” (Knowles, 46) I don’t particularly like to bring it up, but pure competitiveness fuels me to reaching my goals.

Sometimes in such a grand school, I would think that you might begin to lose yourself amongst your large group of peers. My final question is: what are your values?

Gene: “Finny could shine with everyone, he attracted everyone he met. I was glad of that too. Naturally. He was my roommate, my best friend.” (Knowles, 36) I value my friendship with Phineas.

Mr.Prud’homme: “Finny’s life was ruled by inspiration and anarchy, and so he prized a set of rules. His own, not those imposed on him by other people, such as the faculty of the Devon School.” (Knowles, 31) So I suppose Phineas’ values consisted of freedom and having a good time.

Gene: “One day I found myself describing to Mr. Prud’homme how Phineas and I had slept on the beach, and he seemed to be quite interested in it, in all the details, so much so that he missed the point: that we had flatly broken a basic rule.” (Knowles, 49) Since he was a substitute teacher, he didn’t have a steadfast value in following the regulations of the Devon School. He too valued freedom and having a good time.

Thank you all for joining me today for this interview!