Chapter 7

What is this chapter mainly about?

Brinker Hadley, who is the most popular boy in Gene's class, and the boys smoking in the Butt Room playfully accuse Gene of something. What do they accuse him of?

What do the Devon students do to help the war effort?

What did Leper do instead of joining the others at the railroad yard?

Brinker Hadley talks about enlisting in the war. How does Gene react to this?

When Gene returned to his dorm room, what did he find?

Find the section at the beginning of the chapter where Brinker comes into Gene's room and suggests that Gene knew in advance that he would have a dorm room to himself this semester. Gene nervously denies this. "My voice sounded too strained even to my own blood–pounded ears."

What does "strained" mean in this context?

Find the section at the beginning of Chapter 7, where a group of boys are smoking in the Butt Room and teasing Gene about having gotten rid of his roommate. One boy asks, "So, you killed him, did you?" "Well," Brinker qualified judiciously, "not actually killed. Finny's hanging between life and death at home."

What does "qualified" mean in this context?

Is there anything that you are unsure about in this chapter?