In the last part of this quote when Gene says, "I lost part of myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Finny." Gene is saying that he gets to in a way "take over" Finny's position as being really good at sports. He is saying that he will become Finny as in he will get his personality, status and skill. What Finny is thinking when he says this to Gene though, is actually different then what Gene has in mind. I believe Gene is already feeding his wild imagination more ridiculous ideas and that this could be foreshadowing an upcoming climax involving Gene taking this too far.
I believe that the last part of the quote was also foreshadowed earlier in the novel during our last reading. On page 62 Gene puts on Finny's clothes in attempts to almost bring his presence back, but also I think he wanted to see what it felt like "to be Finny." Gene during the course of the whole novel has envied Finny and everything about him. Gene has always wanted to be in Finny's shoes and at the end of this chapter he believes that that has been his purpose in life. Now that this opportunity has presented itself to Gene I believe that he will be very excited to take advantage of it.
Here are some questions for thought:
- What are your opinions on foreshadowing in this chapter? Have you made any connections from foreshadowing in the past or can you make any for the rest of the novel?
- Do you think that because of this event Gene and Finny are now "friends" again? Why or Why not?
- Do you believe that they could ever be in a friendship where they are completely honest with each other?
- Do you think Gene will go overboard trying to take Finny's place?
Great Job Indra!
ReplyDeleteAnswering your third question, I do not believe that Finny and Gene can ever go back to the way they were before because there relationship is "shattered," meaning that it is permanently damaged. When Finny calls, I believe that he is wearing a mask, shielding his true emotions about the event at the tree from Gene. They will never be able to have a real friendship because of Gene's guilt and Finny's secret hatred towards Gene for destroying the only thing that is important to him.
I can think of quite a few moments where I can foreshadow about the phone call and about the chapter. The first example would be when they start reading the hymn: Lord and Father of Mankind Forgive Our Foolish ways. I think that John Knowles placed this hymn in this chapter because it is time for the climax. If you think about it, Gene does not have Finny with him, he’s met a guy who is surely up to no good, and he misses Finny so much that he wears his clothes to comfort him. Originally I was going to write about how Gene may do something bad and that would be the foolish thing and he’d be asking for forgiveness, but I’ve thought of something else. What if John Knowles put this subtle message in the text because Gene did not feel comfortable because of what had happened with the visit with Finny? And the long distance phone call was the “Lord and Father of Mankind” forgiving him for what he had done. Clearly the author did not place this in there for no reason. The second foreshadow would be when Gene says “…this must have been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas.” (pg. 85) I think that Gene is going to become more athletic to the point were when Finny comes back, people will treat him like Gene and people will treat Gene like Finny. Another thing that may be irrelevant is the fact that as the book progresses there is less and less Finny... possibly meaning that when Finny comes back, he will be less and less popular. Also, and this may just be at the end of chapter six, Gene refers to Finny as Phineas for one of the first times which I find to be a little strange.I can think of quite a few moments where I can foreshadow about the phone call and about the chapter. The first example would be when they start reading the hymn: Lord and Father of Mankind Forgive Our Foolish ways. I think that John Knowles placed this hymn in this chapter because it is time for the climax. If you think about it, Gene does not have Finny with him, he’s met a guy who is surely up to no good, and he misses Finny so much that he wears his clothes to comfort him. Originally I was going to write about how Gene may do something bad and that would be the foolish thing and he’d be asking for forgiveness, but I’ve thought of something else. What if John Knowles put this subtle message in the text because Gene did not feel comfortable because of what had happened with the visit with Finny? And the long distance phone call was the “Lord and Father of Mankind” forgiving him for what he had done. Clearly the author did not place this in there for no reason. The second foreshadow would be when Gene says “…this must have been my purpose from the first: to become part of Phineas.” (pg. 85) I think that Gene is going to become more athletic to the point were when Finny comes back, people will treat him like Gene and people will treat Gene like Finny. Another thing that may be irrelevant is the fact that as the book progresses there is less and less Finny... possibly meaning that when Finny comes back, he will be less and less popular. Also, and this may just be at the end of chapter six, Gene refers to Finny as Phineas for one of the first times which I find to be a little strange.
ReplyDeleteGreat job Indra! I will be answering the third question about Finny and Gene’s friendship. No, I do not think that they will ever be able to be completely honest with each other because even if Gene wanted to come clean about the fall, Finny would be too arrogant to listen to the truth. Gene has tried twice now to tell Finny the he jounced the limb, but Finny wants to believe that this is not true so badly that he is willing to lie to himself to get there. When Knowles uses the word “shattered” to describe Finny’s injury, it is a symbol for their friendship. Not only is Finny’s leg broken, but it also is unfixable beyond repair. This shows that even if Gene in the future was able to tell Finny about what he did, the damage of his actions would still be there, and in the long run Finny knowing the truth could hurt him more than if he had not been informed.
ReplyDeleteI feel that this is major foreshadowing for the future. Gene is some what obsessive of Finny. He might take this "I must become him" thing too far, and when Finny returns, he will not let go of it. I also sense that there friendship is still hanging by a thread in a way. Finny must feel good that Gene told him the truth, yet it is also hurtful that Gene "purposely" jounced the limb. I say "purposely" since we are hearing this from Gene's perspective from 15 years ago, and he is also very unsure of himself, so his opinion could be altered. In there friendship they were not always honest to one another. Gene has never really expressed to Finny that his brain is pretty much "plagued" by Finny, and all he thinks about is Finny. There also might be some things that Finny has not told Gene, and we might not ever find out what these are, since we don't get his perspective at all. All in all, Gene is going a bit overboard with himself going in Finny's shoes, since I don't believe it will work when Finny gets back, and will create more conflict between the two.
ReplyDeleteIndra, I think you're on to something here with Gene's ever growing obsession with Finny foreshadowing a future event. Throughout the progression of the novel we've witnessed Gene's obsession with Finny constantly increasing and becoming more intense. I feel that, like you said, this reading is foreshadowing upcoming events where Gene may go above and beyond this mostly internal obsession and do something that hurts or effects others. Does anybody else think that Gene has the ability to possibly hurt Finny again?
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