On page twenty-nine, Gene states that only after his sarcastic summer of 1942 did he realize that “sarcasm {is} the protest of people who are weak,” (Knowles 29). Gene is shown, time and time again, to not be able to stand up for himself, especially this summer, so he uses sarcasm as a way to mask this. A few lines before the aforementioned quote, Gene and his friend Phineas, Finny for short, have finished having a party with their teacher, Mr. Patch-Withers. Gene notices throughout the meeting that Finny does most of the talking and as they walk back to their dorm, he brings it up. However, Finny denies the claim stating that “You don’t mean to infer that I talked too much!” to which Gene replied, sarcastically of course, “You? Talk too much? How can you accuse me of accusing you of that!” (Knowles 29). It seems that Gene thought he had overstepped his boundary with Finny as he brings up how much Finny talked. In order to cover up what Finny might see as a weakness if he backs down, he quickly makes a sarcastic comment and leaves it at that. Though Phineas and Gene are best friends, it seems that Finny often takes authority, and though Gene disagrees with some of Finny’s ways, Gene simply goes along with it, using sarcasm as his only tool to show he isn’t weak.
Gene also shows his fear of being judged by Finny when they created the "Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session." Gene revealed his dislike of the club when he explained it to the reader. He says, "At that time it would have never occurred to me to say, 'I don't feel like it tonight," which was the plain truth every night" (Knowles 34). This quote shows how Gene never really enjoyed the club, but he feared judgement from Finny, so he stayed quiet instead of risking it. Gene shows his fear of standing up for himself and Finny not accepting him when he reveals that he never truly wanted to attend the club that they created.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Gillian and CC on how Gene uses sarcasm to mask his weakness, and does not want to be shown as weak to Finny. He didn't want Finny to judge him in fear of losing him as a friend. When the boys are playing blitzball, Gene seems apprehensive of playing the game, but still plays in fear of losing Finny as a friend. When Finny was explaining the rules to the game, Gene commented, "'Knock him down! Are you crazy? He's on my team!'" (Knowles 38). Rather than objecting and trying to figure it out himself, he lets Finny take control and slinks away, only following, not wanting to overstep his boundaries. Gene is afraid to make his own decisions, not wanting to lose Finny as a friend.
ReplyDelete