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.

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?