Everybody has guilt. Guilt doesn't have to be a big thing. Everybody has to make decisions which lead to people having regret and guilt. Gene made the decision to have Finny fall off the tree, but if he didn't maybe Finny would have even better than Gene. Then, Gene would become even more envious and forever have guilt that he was too scared to shake the tree. Guilt is a part of being human. There is no such thing as a guilt free life, but there is a way to deal with guilt which can result in guilt not taking over you.
What is the difference between guilt and regret? How will Gene try to cope with the guilt he has? What does going to Finny's house show about Gene's character. What will Gene's guilt do to affect there friendship?
I agree with you that everyone has to face guilt, but there are ways to overcome or at least lessen it. Guilt is something that you feel when you have done something that you know is wrong, while regret is the feeling you get when you look back on an incident and wish that you had done things differently. I think that Gene will try to deal with his guilt by pushing it to the back of his mind and by striving to convince himself that maybe he didn't actually do anything. I believe that the guilt that Gene is feeling about hurting Finny will cause him to pull away from Finny in order to forget about what happened. I think he'll either begin to be around him less or less, or he will and Finny will become better friends than ever, and pretend as though nothing happened.
ReplyDeleteEverything that Zack previously stated shows that Gene is vulnerable. Although there is no evidence its safe to assume that Gene has serious trust issues because of something that happened to him earlier in life. However it is also clear that Gene is loyal enough to come to his friends house and tell him the truth. In this case guilt is completely dependent on trust, the less trust Gene has for finny, the less guilt he feels for hurting him but its clear that its all an illusion of Genes mind. It is clear that Gene is confused as of this point in the book. Where is his social status going? Where is his competition gone? However most importantly where is his friendship going?
ReplyDeleteGood job Zack, for making the post clear about what guilt is. I agree with everything in your post except when you said how Gene would have guilt for not making Phineas fall off the tree. I believe Gene would definetly not have guilt, but I think Gene would regret not making him fall. Regret and guilt are two different things because guilt is when your conscience reminds you about the bad things you did, and regret is when you wish you did not do something because of all the guilt you had and you knew it was a wrong action. Gene would not have guilt because you cannot have guilt for not doing anything bad. Gene would have to tell Finny the real reason how he fell and this would make their friendship more real because he is not lying to his friend and is being honest with him.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that everybody has guilt including Gene.My definition of guilt is, having the feeling that you did something bad and committed an offense. Regret is feeling disappointed over an incident or wishing you hadn't done something that already happened. Gene doesn't regret what he did because he is now better than Finny is his eyes. Gene feels guilty because Finny doesn't know what really happened and won't believe Gene. I think that Gene thinks some of his guilt will go away if he tells Finny that he was the one who jounced the limb and caused Finny to fall off. What Gene doesn't realize is that he is hurting Finny by telling him that. I think that guilt will tear apart their relationship. Gene will never be able to separate himself from his guilt. I agree with Genna, that Gene will try to forget about the incident and convince himself he didn't do anything. I think that Gene's guilt is hurting Finny, without Gene realizing it, and eventually Finny will wonder what really happened on the day he "shattered" his leg.
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