Chapter 5: Briefly explain Gene’s visit to the infirmary. How does Finny act? Why? Does this feel “realistic”? How does Gene’s visit impact Finny?

In the beginning of Chapter 5 Gene is told that Finny's leg has been shattered. When Gene learns this he starts to feel a tremendous amount of guilt on his shoulders since he was the one who caused Finny to break his leg. Gene starts to worry if Finny told others that it was Gene's fault and Gene becomes more paranoid and anxious. After a few days Dr. Stanpole tells Gene that Finny wanted to especially see him and Gene figures that Finny wanted to confront him face to face. This seems so realistic because Gene is about go face to face with Finny for real for the first time after the fall. But before Gene goes in to see Finny Dr. Stanpole tells him that Finny will not be ever able to play sports again and will take a long time just for Finny to be able to walk. The fact that Finny could not play sports ever again, the only one thing he was good at, Gene felt even more guilt for the fact that he was the one that made Finny lose his only ability.

When Gene enters Finny's room he sees that Finny is wired up to machines from his body and sees that Finny was not his usual glowing self, but rather weaker and less vibrant. Finny acts nice to Gene by saying jokes and seeming to care more about Gene's health than his own . Finny acts this way because he did not think that Gene had anything to do with him falling out of the tree and rather feels guilt that he had a feeling that Gene caused it. As soon as Gene sees how Finny is acting towards him he becomes more anxious and asks Finny what was the reason that he fell. When asked this Finny says, "I don't know, I must have just lost my balance. It must have been that. I did have this idea, this feeling that when you were standing beside me, y-I don't know, I had a kind of feeling. But you can't just say anything for sure from just feelings. And this feeling doesn't make any sense. It was a crazy idea, I must have been delirious. So I just have to forget it. just fell. "I'm sorry about the feeling I had."(pg. 66) When Gene hears Finny say this it shows how much a loyal and better friend Finny is than himself and that Finny was feeling guilt and was a apologizing to Gene for having feelings that were right on the truth. After Finny says this Gene is pushed over the edge with guilt and is about to tell Finny the truth when he is interrupted by Dr. Stanpole. In this visit it is ironic because instead of Gene confessing and apologizing to Finny, Finny is the one who is feeling guilty and is the one who is telling Gene that he should have never felt that way even though his feelings were right. Do you think this incident will permanently damage Gene's and Finny's friendship? Do you think Gene should have told Finny the truth in the beginning of the visit? Did you ever cause anyone harm and fell guilty about it?

Chapter #3-4. What exactly happened in the tree and who do you think was responsible? Why do you say this?

What happened in the tree was the result of the tensions building up inside Gene's head in the beginning of chapter four. Earlier in the chapter, Gene, while trying to catch up with the trigonometry test that he failed, begins to suspect that Finny is trying to stop him from being head of the class. As they chat while studying, he interprets every casual remark that Finny makes as further evidence of Finny trying to hinder him, and drives himself paranoid trying to become Finny's "Equal". Gene comes to the conclusion that "Finny had deliberately set out to wreck [Gene's] studies," (p. 53) and decides that Blitzball and the Super Suicide Society were all just distractions to keep him from studying. In order to foil any more of Finny's sinister attempts at his grades, Gene redoubles his effort in studying, and sees Finny's subsequent increase in studying effort as final proof of his theory.

Through all this conflict, Gene continues to attend all S.S.S.S.S. meetings, in order to not let on that he has figured out Finny's "secret". This conflict comes to a head one day as Gene is trying to study for an upcoming french exam. Finny asks him to proceed to the tree for the next meeting, and Gene finally says no, he has to study. To Gene's total shock, Finny tells him to continue studying as long as he needs to. This is a huge moment for Gene, because all of a sudden he realizes that he has been wrong all along, and Finny only wants what's best for Gene. Instead of considering himself Finny's equal now, he suddenly sees himself as "not of the same quality as [Finny]" (p. 59). As he realizes that Finny has been virtuous all along in his games and activities, and it was him who actually had the evil thoughts, a huge wave of jealousy rolls over him. Caught up in the moment, Gene makes the decision to shake the branch, causing Finny to fall to the river-bank below. At the last second, Finny turns his head to look at Gene, realizing that he is responsible, and that at that moment their entire friendship had changed forever. Why do you think Gene went with Finny to the tree, even after Finny said he shouldn't? Do you think that their friendship could have carried on as before if Gene hadn't gone to the tree that time?

Assignment 2: (pg. 21-40) Question 3: Why was the talk with Patch- Withers so important? What do we learn about Gene, Finny, and the faculty?

Finny can get away with anything. For example, when Mr. Prud'homme found both of the boys, he had planned on punishing them for missing dinner the night before. But because Finny is such a calm, sly character, he was able to escape punishment by making up a story that was not entirely true, but very believable. (pg. 22) "The real reason sir was that we just had to jump out of that tree... We had to do that, naturally because we're all getting ready for the war. What if they lower the draft age to seventeen? Gene and I are both going to be seventeen by the end of the summer, which is a very convenient time since it's the start of the academic year and there's never any doubt which class you should be in." Finny was also able to escape when Patch-Withers caught Finny wearing the Devon tie as a belt. He said he could not find his belt and would much rather not have a tie than have his pants fall down in front of Patch-Withers and his wife.

I'm sensing jealousy coming from Gene. Most people in the Devon school appreciate Finny and his athletic appearance as well as his calm and sly tactics. Finny is a kid that is popular but does not like to brag about it. On page 29 Gene says, "It was quite a compliment to me, as a matter of fact, to have such a person choose me for his best friend." Gene said this almost as if Finny took him under his wing and raised him to be the person he is today. Sort of like Gene is a sidekick or a follower, yet he is the main character of the novel. I'm assuming that Gene will get sick of being a sidekick and betray Finny later on in the book.

Name a moment when you feel like you've been someone's sidekick, follower or third wheel. Explain how that felt. Or, if you have not been one of these three, name a moment when you felt like you were a leader or a main character to put in into different words. Explain how that moment felt.

The novel opens up with Gene narrating his return to Devon 15 years after he graduates . Why does John Knowles begin the novel this way?

For the first 5 pages of the novel, Knowles tries to hook the reader to the novel. He does this subtly however; he doesn't include dialogue or introduce any main charachters so the reader doesn't become overwhelmed with the story. This is a nice way to start the story, because it gives you time to soak in the information and feel comfortable with the start of a new book (which can be challenging at times). By having the main character walk through the well pictured town, a reader also gets a sense of the authors style.

John Knowless chose to start the book in mid november during a rain storm. The benefits that he got from that setting, were that it help to form the basic feel of the story. If Knowles had started the story in a sunny august setting, the story would be more fast paced; Gene wouldn't have to dodge puddles or get his shoes dirty, and the imagery wouldn't develop as well.

Overall i believe that Knowles was attempting to get the readers more comfortable with the beginning of a new book, as well as attempting to help the readers imagine the novels tones and styles.