In the scene in the Butt Room, Gene is pressured by his friends to tell the truth, even if they unknowingly do this. They were just joking around, making fun of the matter. Gene goes along with the joke, and just wants to get out of the Butt Room so nothing suspicious arises. He does not want the reality of the matter unfold in front of him and scatter all around the school. He would get an immense amount of heat, and not be looked at as a smart, intelligent boy. Negativity would attack him like a shark. His wishes of being head of the class would diminish right in front of his eyes. The truth is would be alarming or deeply unpleasant to most of the boys at Devon, as well as the teachers. Gene's hopes and dreams would be lost.
Do you think the truth will come out? When? What would be the reaction? How will this affect Gene's psychological challenges? How will Finny and Gene's friendship fare out once the truth is confirmed and known by all? Will this force Gene to join the army?
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ReplyDeleteI agree with all of these thoughts. I think that the truth will eventually come out at a time that it shouldn't. I can't give a specific time, but I can tell that it's no going to be pretty when Gene spills it out to the world. It will definitely affect his reputation and grades. He will be so focused on that problem, and won't be able to focus of classwork. It must be hard for Gene at this time, but he has to get through it one way or another.
ReplyDeleteThe truth will have to come out because the guilt is eating away inside of him. He can't even stand thinking or talking about the accident. This can be shown when he was about to say that he pushed Finny out of the tree in the Butt Room, but refused to. He became nervous and got out of there as quickly as possible. It will affect his grades soon if not now because Finny is back and Gene will see him every day causing Gene to remember the incident. The future for the relationship is hard to predict, but nevertheless I don't think it will be a healthy friendship.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the truth will come out at a very significant moment, but i don't feel that this moment will be shared with the entire world. I fell that this will be shared only with finny, and the downfall of his relationship with FInny will affect everything else in his life. At the end of the chapter when he sees FInny, it says, "Everything that had happened throughout the day faded like that first false snowfall of the winter," and this shows that Finny is everything to him. Due to this When the truth actually comes out ti Finny, then his whole life will go down the drain.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Louis about the fact that the truth will come out but not at the right time. I think that right at Gene's peak in popularity, Finny will get upset and reveal the truth. But before that happens, I think that Finny will become Gene. We will get the sense of what Finny is feeling like without getting into his head. I think that they will argue and fight and Finny will be mad. In the end Gene will feel bad about hurting Finny and they will make-up. But, I think that Finny is going to say "If I'm not going to war, then you aren't either", and Gene will be just fine with that.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely is hard for Gene to have what happened up in the tree on his shoulders, when no one really knows what happened except for him. I think the truth could come out, and it would probably ruin him, but I think it may stay between Gene and Finny. It is hard for Gene because he does not want the truth out. He is defending himself and Finny at the same time. As for Finny, he is in denial. He does not want to know that Gene jounced the tree. If it stays between them hopefully they can mend the friendship and hopefully Finny won't turn on him. But if i gets out I think it will be bad for both of them. Everything will go bad for Gene people won't like him and is not this where it all started, Gene being envious of Finny and what he had. Finny was good at sports and popular. And now if this does happen they both will not have anything.
ReplyDeleteThe truth had already been partially let out, when Gene told Finny he made Finny fall out of the tree. Because Finny knows this I think that he will tell the rest of Gene's friends about what really happened at a point in time when he is jealous of Gene. By doing this Finny would make Gene's friends hate him and send Gene into to a depression in his mind. This depression will make Gene realize that he has no friends at Devon. Because he has nothing left for him at Devon Gene will join the army to get away from Finny and his other former friends.
ReplyDeleteMax, I do agree that his reputation would be severely damaged if the truth was spread all around Devon. Even though Finny doesn't believe that Gene caused his fall, their classmates will. Eventually the truth will come out, whether Gene admits to it or not. The truth could either make their friendship stronger or weaker. Finny may forgive Gene because he told the truth, or Finny could be too mad at him for their friendship to work. Louis, I agree that no matter what happens Gene has to find a way to get through it. This may even mean going to war. However, don't you think Gene's friendship with Gene will make him stay?
ReplyDeleteAll Gene ever thinks about is what he has done to Finny, and he is constantly full of guilt. I also agree that if other students or teachers found out about what Gene did to Finny he would be shunned and definitely not be honored with the "Best Student" award. Finny would never tell what Gene did to him because he is such a good and loyal friend. I feel that Gene will let the secret out because he is so overwhelmed with guilt and this is constantly on his mind. All of Devon knowing may make Gene want to join the army to get away from everyone. I do not think he will stay just because of his friendship with Finny. When do you think that the truth will come out?
ReplyDeleteAnswering Michael's question, I don't think the truth will ever come out. I agree that if it did no one would like Gene or even respect him, but I don't think the truth will come out. Finny is to loyal a friend to even believe the truth himself so he would not tell anyone. Why would Gene tell anyone? Finny wouldn't want him to and everyone else would hate him. However, it is possible that if things get worse between him and Finny in some way Gene will enlist in the army to get away from the school and his guilt.
ReplyDeleteAnswering your first question Max, I do believe that the truth will be exposed in the upcoming chapters of this book. We have seen the difficulty that Gene faces when it comes to possessing guilt, and he is bound to tell another student in the future. When Gene is in the Butt Room he forgets that he was the reason that Phineas fell off that tree, and thought of that event as a joke. For one moment he escaped the horror of the reality and he lied to himself. Gene enjoyed the feeling of not having guilt. I agree with what the other students said, that he will eventually go to the war and push his guilt to the side temporarily. We as readers know that he will not permanently escape his guilt because at the beginning of the novel he visits the tree fifteen years later, obviously possessing guilt.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the truth will be let out. Gene has already told Finny what actually happened so its practically out at the moment. Then again, Finny seems like he wouldn't tell anyone about it. I do believe that the guilt on Gene with eventually get the best of him and he will tell everyone eventually. My prediction is that the truth will go out right after Gene gets drafted or after another major conflict. Like all accidents I believe that everyone will probably be mad at first, but in the end his close friends will forgive him. This will probably ease Genes psychological challenges, because he has been having a lot of internal conflict and I believe that that this will help to relax his mind. I believe that when the truth is revealed Finny will try to make it seem like it isn't a big deal and that he will try to help Gene deal with it internally. I do believe this choice to let the truth out would force Gene to join the army. Gene tries to avoid sticky situations whenever possible and I believe he will be too afraid to own up to what he has done and face the consequences. I believe that Gene will get scared of what will happen and run off to war.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the truth will come out in the near future. As was seen in the Butt Room, Gene is extremely paranoid about the fact of him causing Finny's accident being revealed to the world. His guilt is continuously eating away at him and therefore he will eventually spill the beans or go crazy trying to keep it within him. Though when the truth does come out I do not believe that it will effect him as badly as it would if he kept the truth in him and let the guilt grow. Even if he did come out, the other students will be able to see that Finny has forgiven Gene for what he has done and consequently will forgive him as well. Therefore, Gene's grades will not be negatively impacted too badly, and although he may get a little heat from other students in the beginning, the students will eventually lay off of Gene. How long do you think it will take for the other students to forgive Gene?
ReplyDeleteI think that the truth will come out. I agree with Graham and Indra that the truth is partially out already. I believe that Finny will feel so much guilt that he has to tell someone he can trust. Who can he trust? It doesn't seem like he feels comfortable telling anybody right now, so as of now I am not sure. Maybe Leper? When Gene reveals the truth I think everyone will be shocked, including Finny. I believe that their relationship will grow stronger because Gene won't feel as guilty and they will be able to trust each other. I think Gene will feel that he needs to make something up to Finny and will then join the war to honor Finny and his country.
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