I think if Finny had survived the operation Gene and Finny would still be friends. One of the last conversations Finny and Gene have before the operation is when Gene brings Finny’s clothes. The tree accident seems to be on Finny’s mind, sparking his question about why Gene pushed him. Finny says to Gene, “it was just some kind of blind impulse you had in the tree there, you didn’t know what you were doing. Was that it?”, and Gene responds, confirming Finny’s explanation (191). Both Gene and Finny seem more at ease now, and Finny is a lot more calm than when he exploded at Gene at the night before. At the end of this conversation he says, “It’s okay because I understand and I believe you. You’ve already shown me and I believe you” (191). Finny had a had time getting these words out but it seems he finally has come to peace with Gene and the tree. He got over his resentment against Gene. If he can forgive Gene for the first accident, I think Finny could have overcome this too. I think, if he even blamed Gene for falling down the stairs (we don’t even know that), then I think their friendship would have survived. Finny’s wording, “you’ve already shown me”, makes me think he sees past these actions in Gene and sees he is a good person who made a snap decision. Finny did start to move on and forgive Gene, leading me to the conclusion that I think that their friendship would have survived.
Though I do agree that Finny and Gene could remain friends, I also think that their friendship could never be the same as it once was. Finny is able to believe Gene at the end of the chapter, but that doesn't mean that he will be able to move on from what Gene did. When Gene comes to see Finny in the infirmary for the first time, the reader sees a side of Finny that they have never seen before. He says to Gene, "'You want to break something else in me! Is that why you're here!' He thrashed wildly in the darkness, the bed groaning under him and the wild sheets hissing as he fought against them" (Knowles 184). This pure anger is something that is almost never shown by Finny, especially directed towards Gene. Though Finny does believe that Gene didn't know what he was doing when he hurt him, I don't think that he could ever have the same trust in Gene that he once did.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mali, I think Gene and Finny would have continued to be friends, and I think that this is even foreshadowed in the text. On page 155 after the snowball fight, Gene brings up Finny’s leg and whether Finny should be rough-housing with a broken leg. However, Finny points out that “the bone {is} supposed to be stronger when it grows together over a place where it’s been broken once,” (Knowles 155). The broken leg symbolizes Finny and Gene’s friendship. When Gene caused Finny to break his leg, it was almost like their friendship had broken. However, the bone grows stronger over where it’s broken. Not entirely unlike how Finny and Gene’s friendship could have potentially grown stronger over where it was broken.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Gene and Finny have survived some ups and downs in their quirky friendship, I tend to agree with Gillian in believing that the boy's acknowledgement of Gene's role in Finny's fall would have forever changed their friendship. Additionally, I believe that Phineas' angry realization and acknowledgement of the war, "he slammed his fist against the suitcase. "I wish to God there wasn't any war"" (p. 189) would have driven the friends further apart. I believe that the two friend's final conversation before Finny's surgery regarding the war and regarding Gene's involvement in the fateful fall from the tree would have impacted their friendship had Phineas survived his surgery.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with Gillian and Tyler: Gene and Finny's friendship would never be the same, and I think it would become more of a formal/polite friendship if Finny survived. After Finny falls again, Gene goes to Finny's room in the infirmary. They then have a conversation about the accident on the tree and Finny states "I believe you," (191) while "he was nodding his head, his jaw tightening and his eyes closed on tears," (191). Finny's physical description shows how he understands Gene, but is still hurt. Now that the truth has been accepted more tension has been created. The boys cannot lie to each other and themselves anymore (this is shown when Finny accepts that he knows the war is real). Overall Finny and Gene's friendship would not survive if Finny had made it through the surgery.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all these statements, but I also think their friendship would remain the same on the outside, but internally would never be the same. Finny and Gene have been through so many ups and downs together and rely on each other. Finny wants their friendship to last and this is why in the infirmary he acts like this, " his jaw tightening and his eyes closed on tears," (Knowles 191). Finny doesn't want to accept the truth that Gene is not who he thinks and wants him to be. Finny and Gene have always wore masks that hid the imperfections of their friendship. Finny's second fall took off this mask and released the truth. I think they would continue their unrealistic friendship on the outside, but on the inside they would never be the same. Finny and Gene would still keep their friendship alive because they don't know that to do without each other.
ReplyDelete