In a more figurative sense, Gene attacks Leper because he doesn't want to face the truth. He wants his friends and the people around him to continue falsely seeing him as a peaceful, kindhearted boy. Gene wants the secret of what he did to Finny to stay between only him and Finny, and as a result does whatever it takes to keep up his image of goodness. You can see this when Gene tries to deny the incident and push the blame onto Leper by saying, "It was a mistake, he said something crazy. I forgot myself - I forgot that he's, there's something the matter with his nerves, isn't there?" (145 - 146). In this passage Gene pushes the blame onto Leper by saying that Leper is crazy and therefore said something crazy that sparked something within himself. Gene doesn't want others to see him as he sees himself. He thinks that he is a savage, and that "Leper was closer to the truth" (146) than his mother when he imagines her, or any other person in the world, thinking that he is a good boy.
What do you think will happen to Leper in the future?
How do you think this event will affect Gene further on in the book?
Do you think Gene is really the savage that he is accused of being?
I think in the future that Gene will build up to much guilt on his shoulder. I think Leper will understand the Finny is his real friend. I think that Finny and Leper will get closer and then Leper will end up telling Finny that Gene "jounced" the limb. I do think that Gene is a savage for many reasons. One is because he has so much guilt built up that somehow he needs to let it out. I would have to go back to the quote that you send which was , "It was a mistake, he said something crazy. I forgot myself - I forgot that he's, there's something the matter with his nerves, isn't there?" (145 - 146). I am wondering about how could you loose yourself and purposely move the limb when Finny is your best friend. How do you think Leper will take knowing that Gene hurt Finny? Why do you think Leper invited Gene if he was going to call him out on the whole Finny situation?
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DeleteIn the past few chapters talk of Gene pushing Finny off the tree did not come up. Gene has not been mentioning it as much and when Leper suddenly does mentions it, it startles Gene and he gets upset. I think he starting to realize that this really could be hard living with that in his head and its getting all caught up inside him. Before he felt bad, but now he really feels like a bad person. I think he will try to keep it a secret and put it out of his mind, but after hearing Leper yell at him he will know that most people know the truth. This will probably only make him feel worse about what he had done.
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