The quote “Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me,” (Knowles, 33) shows the power that Phineas has over Gene. As an initiation to the ‘suicide society’ that Finny and Gene have just formed, Finny decides that all members must jump from a specific tree into the river. Gene originally doesn’t realize how dangerous this is, but while on the top branch, he stumbles, and almost falls backwards. Realizing after the event how close he was to harm, Gene thinks “If Finny hadn’t come up right behind me… if he hadn’t been there… I could have fallen on the bank and broken my back!” (Knowles, 32). Gene is attributing his livelihood to Phineas, and in the moment, he forgets that it was actually Finny who pressured him into jumping in the first place. Finny is the ringleader of many of the boys at Devon, and Gene’s best friend. Because of this, Gene looks up to him, and follows through with many of his ideas, even if they are dangerous. In some cases, this puts Gene at risk, but he doesn’t realize this, because he sees Finny as almost an idol. This is because Finny is very charismatic, and has a way of convincing people to do what he wants. In the moment, even though he is scared, Gene wants to jump from the tree, so that Finny will think he is brave, and because it is what he is expected to do, as Finny’s best friend. After this though, Gene realizes the kind of danger that he was in because of Phineas. His retrospective self thinks that he was silly for looking up to Finny so much. Even though he scolds himself, Gene repeats similar actions in the future. During other meetings of this society, Gene thinks “At that time, it never would have occurred to me to say “I don’t feel like it tonight,” which was the plain truth every night,” (Knowles, 34). This quote also demonstrates that Gene does a lot of what Finny wants, because he looks up to him so much, and also sees no other choice but to follow him. This becomes a pattern: Phineas has an idea, and Gene does not see a way to say no to it. Phineas has power over Gene, because of his charisma, and the two boys’ status at best friends.
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
Assignment #2: Re-read the opening paragraph of chapter 3. Explore and explain the quote “Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me” (33). Explain what Gene is saying and why he is saying it at this point. What are the larger implications of what he is saying? (Julia)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Julia makes a great point here about how Phineas has power over Gene in a negative way. I also think the way Gene copes with this peer pressure is sarcasm, as readers know that Gene refers to the summer of 1942 as the Sarcastic Summer. After remembering the term tea with Finny, Gene states "it was only long after that I realized sarcasm as the protest of people who are weak," (29). Knowles uses the word "weak" in this sentence. He does so to show Gene's weakness, as Gene always does whatever Finny wants, even if Gene doesn't want to. Examples of this would be jumping off the tree, or playing games of Blitzball. Before each event Gene makes a series of sarcastic comments which show that he doesn't want to participate. Gene uses sarcasm to try and convince himself that he wants the same as Finny, but all he truly wants is to fit in. Overall I think Gene's use of sarcasm represents a coping method, but Finny's power over Gene may have unfortunate results in the future.
ReplyDeleteGene is saying that since Finny saved his from falling, he saved his life, but if he had fallen it would have partially his fault that he fell. I think this might be a foreshadow. When he says, “yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me,” (Knowles 33), he mentions being saved from a dangerous situation FInny put him in. I think this a foreshadow for the war. I think this might foreshadow the war if Finny and Gene get drafted together, they will be put in a situation because of Finny, but Gene is saved by Finny.
ReplyDeleteGene is describing how in some cases Finny can almost kill him, but at the same time save his life. Right after Gene almost falls off the tree after Finny made him fall but also kept him from falling he said, "Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost if for me." (Knowles 33). This isn't unexpected as Finny is a very outgoing person and someone that will get you into a lot of sticky situations, but also someone who is smart enough to get you out of them and help you get out of them.
ReplyDelete