Assignment #5 (72-85): 1.) Explore the significance of the fight with Quackenbush. Why does it happen? What exactly sets Gene off? How is related to h

The fight started with Gene slapping Quackenbush across the face after Gene was called a maimed son-of-a-b****. They fall into the river still fighting and as Gene is leaving he says "The next time you call anybody maimed you better make sure they are first."(p.79) Gene's anger built up from being looked at and talked to by Quakenbush as if he was disabled added onto the fact that Finny wasn't with him in Devon. Ultimately the anger becomes too powerful and the situation becomes another one of Gene's acts of impulse.

Gene fought this fight for Finny and himself. "I fought that battle, that first skirmish of a long campaign for Finny."(p.79) Along with the fact that he is fighting for Finny this is foreshadowing many more fights to come. As long as Finny is gone Gene will get himself into trouble defending Finny and himself. "But it didn't feel as though I did it exactly for Phineas. I felt as though I had done it for myself." (p.80) This also shows that he not only did it for Phineas, but also did it for himself. He needed to prove that he could stick up for himself as long as Finny was gone. He felt very insecure without Finny by his side, but now realizes he can stand on his own.

What do you think this fight foreshadows for the rest of the time Finny is gone? Will Gene be focused on school when he is always trying to defend Finny? Will Finny be an inspiration or a distraction to Gene? Why? What will happen to Gene when Finny does come back?