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?
Thursday, September 29, 2011
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.
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ReplyDeleteIn your second paragraph you brought up the point that Finny was sorry about the feeling of suspicion he had. I think this adds to his character in the sense of Finny acting similarly to different situations. When Gene was visiting Finny in the infirmary, Gene hinted many that he jolted the branch on purpose. Finny may not be the smartest student but I'm sure he understood the point Gene was making; however, he really didn't make a big deal about it. I feel like this can relate to the time when Finny beat Devon's swimming record. He knew he did it, but he didn't feel the need to tell everyone and make it a big deal. Finny didn't spread any rumors about the event, because he again had the feeling that he had nothing to prove. As long as he knew the truth, that is all that mattered. The truth is important to Finny, and he doesn’t need everyone else to know it for it to be any more important or meaningful. (revised)
ReplyDeleteI think that Finny always knew that it was Gene who jounced the branch, but he didn't want to believe it himself. Finny wasn't comfortable with the idea that his "best pal", as he told Gene himself at the beach, would purposely make him fall. He apologized to Gene for even thinking this - I think that this only added to Gene's guilt about the event. I wonder if this was intentional? Maybe Finny knew how Gene would feel, so he purposely made him feel worse about himself.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe that Gene did the right thing in trying to tell Finny the truth, and I think that he would have, if Mr. Stanpole hadn't interrupted. Finny knew, though, when Gene wore his undoubtedly guilty expression and began to admit it. He must have- he would have been an idiot if he didn't. It's always better to say the truth right away. Not only do you get over with it sooner, you never want someone to believe in a lie.
Answering the question of should gene have told Finny that he jounced the limb in the first place, yes he should have said that. I say that because if Gene waited he would have to carry on the burden of guilt or if he told Finny some other time it would be worse because Finny was lied to for a while. Finny still was absorbing the incident, in other words it was still fresh in his mind so if Gene told him he jounced the limb Finny would have a better reaction that he would have if Gene waited and told him some other time. Also I think that this will change the relationship because they won’t be competing over who’s better. So Finny in my opinion would change as a person and become more calm and average or he will become mean, impulsive, and a darker person because he will be angry that this happened to him. So my question is will Finny be mad at Gene and become that bad person once he finds out the truth or will he just accept it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Phoebe that finny knew in the back of his mind that Gene probably jounced the limb. In terms of their relationship, i believe that FInny will forget about his theories and the friendship will look and feel the same to Finny. For Gene on the other hand, he will always have these thoughts in the back of his mind that will slowly tear him apart. Answering the second question, I personally don't believe that Gene should have confessed at the beginning of the visit because of a few important reasons. First of all if Gene had said it at the start of the visit it would have ruined Genes only opportunity to see his best friend because Finny would be upset with him. Secondly, there was no good time to do it since when the visit first began they were saying hello and telling jokes and if Gene had done it then it would have hurt Finny's feelings and made him think that Gene was not happy to see him. Overall, the visit was a very powerful part of the story and added a lot of emotion that impacted the characters.
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ReplyDeleteAlex, I do believe that this event will permanently damage Gene and Finny's relationship. Both sides will continue to doubt the legitimacy of each other's friendship. Gene will continue to be followed by the guilt of crippling his best friend and Finny will not be able to trust Gene as he did before. Though they may act the same way together on the outside, both friends will be forever different on the inside. In answer to the second question, I do believe that Gene should have told Finny the truth because it would have given Finny more time to sort things out in his head and decide what to do about their friendship. Whether he wants to stay friends or be mortal enemies, Finny will be able to make the right decision if he's given some time to think about it. However, because Gene did not tell Finny the truth, Finny will continue to believe in and accept a false truth that will be shattered later on when he is told what really happened. Therefore, although it may have been the more difficult choice to make, I do believe that it would have been for the best if Gene had in fact told Finny the truth during the visit.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever had to make a difficult decision in a friendship?