Nathaniel Hawthorne

Form II English

The Winter Tone at Devon

As the freedom of the summer session at Devon slipped away from the boys, the general atmosphere of winter quickly took its place. The tone of the winter session was different than usual because it came after their first summer session at Devon. The fun they had jumping into the river and paying attention to no rules and playing blitz-ball, made the winter session at Devon seem so monotonous. Suddenly the boys had to do chores and go to many classes. There was no free time to mess around anymore. The transition from a zero effort term to a normal one was not a smooth one for Gene. Also, many of the traditions of the school were broken over the course of the summer session.

Gene says:

“I knew, perhaps I alone knew, that this was all false. Devon had slipped through their fingers during the warm overlooked months. The traditions had been broken, the standards let down, all rules forgotten.”

Because of all the broken traditions, the boys seemed unprepared for the school year. They had to get used to the idea that they now had leaders and rules to follow, but they did not want to be told what to do. This made the winter session depressing, tedious, and controlled.