This is not the climax of the novel. The climax of the novel was Finny's second fall. Everything builds up to this fall. When Finny sates how he can feel his bone getting stronger, he is foreshadowing that it will be broken or hurt again. Finny dying is not a climax, as it wraps up the novel. Finny now knows the truth about his fall from the tree, but he runs away because he does not want to face the harsh reality. He convinces himself that Gene had a sudden "impulse" and Gene backs up this thought. Finny dying is a logical ending for the novel. Finny must die now that he and Gene both know the truth. Their dependence on each other dies prior to Finny's physical death, when Brinker forces them to recall the truth. Part of Gene has died with Finny "I [Gene] could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral...(Pg 194)."Can you think of any other evidence from the book which foreshadows Finny will die? How will the school respond to Finny's death? Do you think it was necessary for Finny to die?
Monday, October 17, 2011
Chapter 12: Is Finny's death surprising? Why? Is this the climax? Does it seem like a logical climax for the novel?
While Dr. Stanpole was setting Finny's bone, some of his bone marrow went into the blood stream, traveled up to his heart, and caused it to stop. Finny's death was not surprising. The reader knows that something even worse than the fall will happen to him. Finny's death becomes more evident throughout the novel. When the doctor says "...a much cleaner break I think, much cleaner. A simple fracture (Pg 180)." It is clear that the problem is not this simple. While reading the book, you know that either Finny or Gene is going to die. They depend too much on each other and keep each other from facing reality. Finny is the most unreal character in the book; he is pure and innocent. No real person is as kind and perfect as Finny, and this is why Knowles made Finny the one who dies.
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I have a feeling that the whole school will have some sort of collective reaction. They will probably just talk about it for a while like the typical rumor that we would hear in school. All of the other boys would probably try to see if they can console Gene, but I don't think that Gene will need any help if he didn't really cry during the funeral or when he was told that Finny died.
ReplyDeleteI do think that it was necessary for Finny to die. It was one of those events that was inevitably going to happen. I was honestly surprised that Finny didn't die when he had his second fall. Of course the way that Dr. Stanpole explains the only possible way for Finny to have died was a bit random, but it had to happen. It's like Leper, Gene, or Brinker changing personalities, we didn't think it was possible, but it was going to happen.
Michael, I agree with you that neither Finny nor Gene can stay alive for long. They are too dependent on each other for both to survive the harsh reality. However, I do not believe it was Gene who caused Finny's second fall. It was Finny clumsily fell down the marble stairs, and it was Dr. Stanpole who caused Finny's surgery to go wrong. The only reason Finny got mad at Gene was because he learned the truth of the first fall through Leper. I believe the students at Devon will be shocked. The war is slowly breaking through the walls of Devon, and Finny's death is just a reminder that they all have to face reality soon. Do you think that because of this event, many of the students will enlist in the war?
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with most of the points that you bring up, Michael, I disagree with you when you say that Gene and Finny's codependence dies prior to Finny's actual death. I think that even though Finny finally realizes that Gene was responsible for him falling out of the tree, he understands why Gene did it: "It's okay because I understand and I believe you." (P. 191) This shows how, regardless of the gulf that separates them, Gene and Finny's codependency lives on, at least until Finny is no longer able to offer his part. If Gene and Finny's codependency had died before Finny's death, however, I think it would have been during the conversation that Gene and Finny were having when Gene brings him his clothes. In that conversation, Finny all of a sudden reveals the huge secret that he's been hiding the whole winter; namely, that he actually does care about the war, and wants to be out there fighting. Gene is totally taken aback by this news, since the entire winter Finny has been persuading him not to care about it. I think the divulgation of Finny's secret is what may have ended his and Gene's bond, and not the revelation of the tree incident that Brinker and his friends put Finny through.
ReplyDeletefor anyone offended just a JOKE
ReplyDeletefor anyone offended just a JOKE
ReplyDeleteIt might be a joke but is in no way relevant and if anything hinders the educational view point of this post that was created for positive purposes.
ReplyDelete