What is the irony in Gene and Finny's conversation on page 155?

Gene and Finny are in their dorm after the huge snowball fight on the Fields Beyond. During the fight it never occurred to Gene but then he decided to inquire whether what Finny was doing was safe. This is ironic because Gene was a part of the group that had attacked Finny at the end of the snowball fight. Remember what it said on page 155, "We ended the fight in the only way possible; all of us turned on Phineas." Notice the keywords of the sentence: "we" and "us". These words show that Gene was a part of the mob. Gene also said on the same page right before the break, "I thought it was pretty funny, didn't you?" This shows that not only did Gene join the mob but he thought that potentially hurting Finny again was funny.

Another thing that made this situation ironic was that Gene had been feeling so much guilt for hurting Finny, but he was given the opportunity to attack Finny he didn't even think twice about his decision. Gene was also laughing at the fact that he attacked a disabled person. Gene should have been the first person to be against the attack. Although Gene did join, a good thing was that he was able to let go and have some fun. Gene was able to stay calm and not yell at Finny for thinking that he was going to become as good as new.

Some things to think about:

• Why was Finny grinning even when he was getting pummeled by about nineteen other people?
• Can a broken/shattered leg fix to the point that it is stronger than it was before?
• Do you think that Gene actually believes that Finny's leg is growing stronger?