Upon returning from working on the railroad, Gene finds Phineas back in their shared room at Devon. Their first conversations upon Gene returning to the room and finding the unexpected return of his injured roommate is a combination of random, unimportant dialogue regarding clothing and Gene’s lack of style, combined with somewhat significant and revealing conversations about each of the friend's viewpoints regarding the current war with the United States, Nazi Germany and Japan. Ironically, in the first conversations between the two, there is no mention of Finny’s injury, his recovery progress or any other details relevant to how the injury occurred.
“I can see I never should have left you alone...Where did you get those clothes!” (p. 103) was what Finny first asked the startled Gene upon his return to the dorm. The conversation about Gene’s unorthodox, and poor tasting clothing seems natural between the boys and leads to a discussion about where Gene had been working. The conversation turns sarcastic which is typical of the Finny we know prior to his injury. As Gene undresses his layers and explains more about where he was working, Finny jabs, “you should have worn that all day, just that. That has real taste” (p. 104). This conversation serves as informational to Phineas who because of his absence is unaware of the Devon boys being paid to clear snow from the railroad. The conversation about clothing is slightly ironic because immediately following the accident, Gene coped with his guilt and worry for Phineas by actually wearing his abstract and weird clothing when he was alone in their shared room. There is some silent conversation between the two, as both carefully look each other over and make mental note of similarities and differences since their last encounter at Finny’s home at the end of the summer. The final parts of their initial conversation turn from commentary on Gene’s clothing to, Finny sarcastically complaining about his bed not having sheets, “Oh Christ, it’s not made up. What is all this crap about no maids?” (p. 104). This quickly elicits a more serious retort from Gene about there not being maids because “after all, there’s a war on. It’s not much of a sacrifice, when you think of people starving and being bombed and all the other things” (p.104). The war, and the beliefs and viewpoints of the two boys regarding the actuality of the war even going on, as well as whether the boys at Devon should enlist is seemingly a topic that the two roommates “have grown apart on”. The continued conversation between the boys on the war continue to show their varying and differing viewpoints regarding the war between the two. All parts of the conversations have sarcastic undertones by Finny, and seemingly thoughtful, more serious insights from Gene. The conversation between the two boys seems very natural to me given that the return of Phineas was unexpected and how awkward the conversation was between the boys at Finny’s house when Gene attempted to insinuate that he purposefully knocked Finny out of the tree. There is no doubt tension in the conversation between the two, but that is seemingly where they left off with growing tensions during summer session and prior to Finny's injury.
I agree with Tyler that it was ironic and kind of weird that they didn't talk about the injury that much when they saw each other for the first time. This shows that they are both trying to forget about it and put it past them. They turn it into a funny conversation talking about clothes and the maids with Finny poking fun at Gene by saying, "You should have worn that all day.... that has real taste,"(Knowles 104). Finny is back to himself being funny, sarcastic, and playful and Gene a little more hesitant to move on from the situation is looking like he is starting to forget about it.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find interesting about Finny and Gene's conversations is how much their friendship dynamic has amplified. Finny has always been the playful, sarcastic one of the duo, while Gene has been more serious and caught up in his own thoughts. What I find interesting about Finny and Gene's conversations is how much their friendship dynamic has amplified. Finny has always been the playful, sarcastic one of the duo, while Gene has been more serious and caught up in his own thoughts. For example, in the beginning of the Summer Session of Devon, Finny receives a gift from his mother of a pink shirt which he sports as an emblem, though Gene isn’t sure of what the shirt is originally. In response to Gene asking “What’s that thing?” he replies, jokingly of course, “This is a tablecloth,” (Knowles 24). Here, it is clear of Finny’s joking, somewhat ambiguous nature. When Finny returns after his injury, this dynamic is amplified. As Gene walks into the room and begins to change, Finny makes a jab at his clothes, reminding Gene that “You don’t have to advertise like that, we all know you’re the worst dressed man in the class,” to which Gene tells him that he’s “been working that’s all,” (Knowles 103). While the conversation that follows is tense no doubt, it is clear how much the two have, not changed, but expanded in their natures. Finny remaining as sarcastic as ever, and Gene, having been set on the war, remaining serious and business-like.
ReplyDeleteDuring this conversation, both boys also seem to be quite wary of each other and change their manner of speech significantly, testing the waters. Throughout this first encounter not only do they not talk about his injury, as Tyler said, but that speak much less candidly as they had previously. One notable sign of this is that although Gene usually uses the name Finny, for the first three pages of the chapter, Gene always uses the more formal Phineas. They also make fewer jabs at each other, for instance on page 19 Finny jokes about being sent to the guard house, whereas on page 104 their language is more sophisticated and far less jovial.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn’t really feel realistic because as the reader was shocked to see Finny had returned. When Finny says, “you should have worn that all day, just that. That has real taste,” (p104), it feels like they had never been apart because it's still a joking relationship. This was nice to read but also made me nervous because I didn’t want the relationship to turn back to its old ways. Also, I didn’t want Gene to feel like he couldn’t be the same which would make Finny change and shift their entire relationship more than it already did.
ReplyDelete