Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Assignment 6, Pages 82-102: Explore and explain the significance of the scene in the Butt Room (CC).
In the Butt Room, amongst all of his classmates, Gene finds himself spinning a tale of how Finny got hurt so as to keep what little power he has over the truth. Earlier, before the Butt Room scene, Brinker Hadley comes into Gene’s room and accuses him of purposely pushing Finny off the tree, however, this accusation is somewhat of a joke. What Brinker doesn’t know, or perhaps he does, is how close he hit to home with his accusation. Worried that Brinker will discover the truth, Gene quickly suggests the two head down to the Butt Room, where all those who attend Devon go to smoke. Unfortunately for Gene, Brinker’s joke follows him down the hallways and comes up again in the Butt Room with Brinker telling a wild tale of Gene’s “murder”. Realizing how close Brinker is coming to the truth, Gene butts in (get it? Butt Room? Butting in?) with a more exaggerated tale of his own, knowing he “had to take part in this, or risk losing control completely,” (Knowles 89). Gene continues to tell a story of how he manipulated Finny to get his own room at Devon. The more he tells, the more implausible it’ll seem that Gene truly pushed Finny off the tree and the truth will remain a secret for now.
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I definitely agree with CC that in the Butt room Gene is forced to lie about Finny to stay somewhat in control. However, I also think that the Butt room is yet another symbol of Gene and is senior friends entering manhood, and how the seniors appear to have matured into manhood. The war has obviously taken over any thoughts and emotions that flow through Devon, and everyone is constantly thinking about enlistment which causes their young life to be accelerated. In many different occasions Knowles shows us how fast the boys are growing up, and when Gene and Brinker decide not to take a walk or something, but visit the Butt room once again the transition into manhood is portrayed. Gene notices that even a young boy, maybe a freshman or sophomore, is there, and he says, "'Tell us everything,' a younger boy at the table said huskily. There was an unsettling current in his voice...as though he believed literally everything that had been said," (Knowles 90). Everyone at Devon is forced to grow up quickly because of the war, and in this younger boy's mind, Gene and the other upper class-men seem to be grown up and trust worthy, and it even seems like the boy wants to be just like them. A lot happens in the Butt room, and just as Gene and his friends looked at last years seniors as men, the younger students now see the same.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Butt Room also reveals characteristics of Devon as a school. When Gene is describing the setting of the Butt Room, he says "The school's policy, in order to discourage smoking, was to make these rooms as depressing as possible," (Knowles, 88). Devon has many different sides of its character, but it likes to focus on the public side that is attractive to people. The Butt Room represents a different side of Devon: with less upstanding behavior, that the school doesn't want to reveal, but has to acknowledge the existence of. This is similar to the 'veneer' that Gene talked about at the beginning of the book: painted over the school to make it seem shiny, but imperfect underneath. When Gene is being interrogated by his classmates, he says "being 'sincere' about a joke, [is] a bad mistake at Devon," (Knowles, 90). The students of the school do not want to take jokes seriously, because it undermines them. Devon's boys are expected to be hardworking, of good character, and to also take things in their stride. This sincerity about jokes makes it easier for Gene to get out of his interrogation. The scene in the Butt Room reveals new layers of the Devon School.
ReplyDeleteDuring this sequence of events Gene akso starts to notice the implications of when he pushed Finny. As he starts to create a web of lies Gene starts to trip over himself in a desperate attempt to cover up what happend. This combination of events makes this a heated moment for Gene. It is also ironic how if Finny had been with Gene, which would have been the case if he had not been puched, then he would have spoken their way out of it, but Gene is not as quick on his feet.
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