Q1: What is the significance of the incident at the swimming pool? What does the reveal about Finny and Gene and what does it add to our understanding of their relationship?(Tyler)
In the summer of 1942, Gene and Finny lived at Devon and formed a special and unique friendship. Despite the closeness of the two friends and their formation of “The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session” there is a recurring theme of threat and difference in the relationship between the two boys that is magnified one day at the swimming pool.
One day at the pool during that “special summer” Finny noticed a record at the pool for the 100 yard freestyle (53.0 seconds). Amazed that no student had broken the long standing record during their time at Devon, Finny believed he may be able to swim fast enough to break the record. After finding a stopwatch, Finny mounts the starting blocks and “dominates the water” breaking A. Hopkins Parker’s school record by .7 seconds. It is not the athletic feat of breaking the record that strikes Gene that day at the pool, as he knew the athletic superiority of his friend.
Instead, what struck Gene was the desire for Finny to keep the swimming record a “secret” and Finny’s adamant insistence that the two boys “aren’t going to talk about his. It’s just between you and me. Don’t say anything about it, to...anyone.” (p. 44). Gene cannot understand Finny's insistence on secrecy when his naturally gifted athletic best friend broke the school's swim record without practice. Like other athletic activities/achievements of Finny that summer, his “record breaking” feat at the pool embodies something very different that the other students at Devon-- a lack of rivalry. As Gene notes, “there were few relationships among us at Devon not based on rivalry” (p. 45).
This record breaking feat at the pool and Finny’s lack of conversation and discussion regarding it, demonstrate his disregard for official records or even keeping score. In contrast to Finny, Gene seeks the approval of authority and desires formal success. Despite going along with almost all of Finny’s suggestions, Gene is subtly threatened by Finny’s athletic ability, his rebelliousness, and his consistent ability to get out of trouble. Like all students at Devon except Finny, Gene sees school and sports as formal competition — a public form of rivalry with clearly defined rules and expectations. As a result of the day at the pool and Finny’s low key reaction to the record breaking swim, Gene begins to question his friendship with Finny, “it made Finny seem too unusual for---not friendship, but too unusual for rivalry.” Gene begins to wonder how he can be friendly rivals with someone who will not play by the rules, who stands so clearly superior to him, and yet someone who remains unassuming as well.
I definitely agree that it was the fact that Finny didn't want to publicize his record-breaking accomplishment that struck Gene. In this passage we see Gene's confusion when his usually up front friend decides to keep something quiet, but also we see the themes of competition and jealousy. After Finny instructs to "not say anything about it," Gene thinks about how extraordinary it was, especially because "he had broken a school record without a day of practice," (Knowles 44). Gene is not only threatened by Finny's abilities, but he is also extremely jealous of him, and therefore Gene wants to be better than Finny-which we see later on in the book. In chapters four and five we begin to unfold Gene and Finny's relationship and how they are striving to keep up with each other. The Devon school is so consumed with competition that even friendships can live off of the very basis of rivalry.
ReplyDeleteI agree with both Dylan and Tyler about how Gene was shocked when Finny did not want to publicize the fact that he broke a swimming record without any practice. As Dylan was saying, Gene felt that Finny was almost too good for him, and begins to feel extremely jealous of him. He thinks to himself, "Finny had deliberately set out to wreck my studies" (Knowles 53). Gene works himself up so much about it to the point where he convinces himself that Finny only wanted to be friends with him so he could be better student. Overcome by his jealousy of Finny, Gene begins to question their relationship in an effort to give himself a false reason for acting that way.
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