Gene fought this fight for Finny and himself. "I fought that battle, that first skirmish of a long campaign for Finny."(p.79) Along with the fact that he is fighting for Finny this is foreshadowing many more fights to come. As long as Finny is gone Gene will get himself into trouble defending Finny and himself. "But it didn't feel as though I did it exactly for Phineas. I felt as though I had done it for myself." (p.80) This also shows that he not only did it for Phineas, but also did it for himself. He needed to prove that he could stick up for himself as long as Finny was gone. He felt very insecure without Finny by his side, but now realizes he can stand on his own.
What do you think this fight foreshadows for the rest of the time Finny is gone? Will Gene be focused on school when he is always trying to defend Finny? Will Finny be an inspiration or a distraction to Gene? Why? What will happen to Gene when Finny does come back?
I think Gene will start thinking about joining the army now. I think he may feel like he has to protect everyone and stand up for himself. I think Gene will be focusing on school because he is going to try to be good at everything so that he does not let Finny down. I think Finny will be a distraction for Gene because he is going to worry to much about Finny and lose himself. For example at the end of this chapter when it says "and I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas." (page 85) Gene started out with not wanting to do sports, but now Finny is telling him that he has to do sports for him. I don't think that is actually what Gene wants to do. I don't know what will happen to Gene when Finny will come back because Gene has not told him that he was the one to jounce the limb. Do you think that he is going to play sports for Finny and do whatever Finny wants him to do because of the guilt he feels? Do you think there will be more fights coming from Gene?
ReplyDeleteGene did fight for himself and for Finny. Gene is set off by Quackenbush using the word maimed. He fought for Finny to relieve some of his guilt. He caused Finny to become "maimed", so if anyone uses that word it upsets him and overwhelms him with guilt. He feels that since it was his fault that Finny became "maimed" he should stand-up for himself and Phineas. After the fight Gene says "I wish I had hit him [Quackenbush] harder (Pg 80)." This shows that Gene did not regret fighting him, and Gene will do anything to continue his fight for Finny. When Finny hears that Gene is assistant manager, he becomes furious. He says "Listen, pal, if I can't play sports, you're going to play them for me (Pg 85)." Gene is now becoming Finny, which has been his dream since the beginning. Will Gene play sports for Finny? How will Gene playing sports affect Finny? Will he become jealous or will he find happiness?
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the fight, Gene realizes that he will be fighting a lot of battles for Finny. I think this will cause some conflict between them and between Gene and the school. Finny is used to being pretty much in charge of Gene but now that he is crippled Gene feels the responsibility to stand up for him. I think this responsibility becomes from being a friend but also because he feels guilty. When Finny comes back to school and he realizes that Gene has been fighting for him he will feel out of place. The roles in the friendship have switch and its a bit weird for both of them.
ReplyDeleteI think that Gene sort of tries to convince himself that if he fights for Finny, he's making the fact that he virtually shattered his 'best pal's' leg not sound as harsh as it is. He uses that as a comfort to his guilt, and I think that when Finny gets back to Devon, there'll be sort of an awkward air between them. It's not just that they both know that it's Gene's fault Finny can't play sports anymore, it's that Gene's now the more athletic, the smarter, the 'better' one in the relationship. Both of them are unused to that.
ReplyDeleteThe author has always implied that no matter how mad at Finny Gene may be, he will always secretly wish he were Finny. Now that Finny's 'gone', he has a chance to be this person, and he starts by defending himself and Finny. He also becomes more active in sports, and it seems as if there'll be a nearly unarguable role switch in the friendship.
I think when Finny comes back to school their friendship will be closer because Gene will fight all these battles for Finny. Also I think Gene will try to work harder in sports and school so he can make Finny proud.On the last page Gene said that he was a part of Finny,so Gene is trying to represent Finny's love and passion of sports and is letting Finny live through Gene in sports.
ReplyDeleteI also think there will be some conflict in story when Finny comes back. Like Madeline said Finny is used to being on top, the best, in charge, and Finny won't be used to being below Gene. When Finny comes back Gene will likely face guilt of having to see Finny and knowing what he did to him. As everyone else has said there will be a huge change in roles between Finny and Gene.
Chapter 7: How does Gene feel about the war and enlisting in this reading? Do you think that he will enlist?
ReplyDeleteAt the end of chapter seven, Blinkers spontaneous idea of enlisting in the war tomorrow sparks a new interest for Gene. Before Blinker had brought this up, Gene had never given this idea of going to war much thought. After Blinker shares this new concept with Gene, he decides that this is something that he may take an interest in. Although he knows that going to war would change his old way of life and possibly damage his education, this is a price Gene is willing to pay. He somehow finds that he is attracted to anything that has to do with death, as it states on page 101, “The war would be deadly all right. But I was used to finding something deadly in things that attracted me; there was always something deadly lurking around in anything I wanted, anything I loved. And If it wasn’t there, as for example with Phineas, then I put it there myself. But in the war, there was no question about it; it was there.”
This new idea not only excites him, but also gives him great pleasure in showing that this is a decision he has the power to make by himself. He has finally came to the conclusion that he does not owe anyone anything by staying in school at Devon, and because of this, he is free to what he wants. The statement can be supported by the first paragraph on page 102: “There was know one to stop me but myself. Putting aside the soft reservations about What I Owed Devon and my duty to my parents and so on, reckons my responsibilities by the light of the unsentimental night sky and knew I owed no one anything. I owed it to myself to meet this crisis in my life when I choose, I choose now.”
Because of the information provided above, I do believe that Gene will end up enlisting in the war with Blinker. Given the fact that he has decided to let himself choose to enlist, it shows a promising sign that he will follow through. As shown in the beginning of the novel, Finny at a young age had always showed eagerness in being able to participate in the war. Although Finny’s opinion on whether or not he thinks this is a good idea could influence Gene’s decision, I do think that his opinion will only be a positive one. Sense Finny had always talked about wanting to go to war and plans to live through Gene; I think Finny will only support this new idea.
Here are some new questions I thought of for further discussions:
1.) Do you, the reader, believe that Gene will enlist in the war with Blinker tomorrow? Why or why not?
2.) Why do you/or do you not think Finny’s opinion on gene enlisting in the war could affect what happens next in the book?
3.) Do you think that this idea of Finny trying to live through Gene is a positive or negative one? Why or why not?