If Finny had survived his operation Finny and Gene would remain friends because Finny doesn't hate anyone. At the end of the book, Gene explains how everyone has their own ways to deal with the war but Finny's is different, "Only Phineas was never afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone" (Knowles 204). In this quote, Gene talks about how Finny was the only person who would ever get past the war and the hardships everyone else had because he had a special way of dealing with it which was that he never hated anyone, even the enemy. In this case in the book, Gene was the enemy because he shook the branch that Finny fell off of but even with that, Finny still would remain friends with Gene because he didn't hate anyone. The friendship was not too broken to fix because Finny kept on trying to figure out why Gene shook the branch and was trying to figure out if it was real or not. When Finny was talking to Gene about what happened, he realizes that he can understand and believe Gene because he has gotten angry in the past and done horrible things on impulse, "I do, I think I can believe that. I've gotten awfully made sometimes and almost forgotten what I was doing... Then that was it. Something just seized you. It wasn't anything you really felt against me, it wasn't some kind of hate you've felt all along. It wasn't anything personal" (Knowles 191). In this quote, Finny is trying to come up with excuses about why Gene did what he did to Finny on the branch and he tries to calm himself down with all these ideas. Finny was correct in when he was saying that Gene shook the branch because it wasn't anything personal but Gene felt too bad to try and make up any more excuses for what really happened. Although Finny and Gene have a complicated relationship, Finny is finding a way to forgive Gene for what he did to him and Gene is trying to figure out a way to forgive himself.
Questions:
1) Do you think that Gene will ever forgive himself or do you think he already has? Why or why not?
2) Do you think Finny really believed Gene in that passage? Why or why not?
I think that Finny did believe Gene, because as Gene says "Only Phineas was never afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone" (Knowles 204). Finny was not afraid to trust even during the war when tension's were high among everyone and when Gene even doubted himself. When Gene talkes to Finny for the last time, Finny says "Then that was it. Something just seized you" (Knowles 191). Finny came to terms with his injury and accepted that Gene was not himself on the evening when he jounced the branch.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Oakes that Finny believed in Gene when he told him that he didn't knock Finny off the tree. Finny started out with a very unfriendly and reserved approach towards Gene, " The tone of his voice fell dead center, without a trace of friendliness or unfriendliness (Knowles, 188). In my mind there was no possibly way that Finny was going to accept Gene's apology, especially with his current condition. Although Finny may have said, "I believe you" (Knowles, 191). Right before that his action's showed as if it was hard to even believe him, " He was nodding his head, his jaw tightened and his eyes closed on the tears" (Knowles, 191). Although Finny may have said he believed Gene, there friendship dead just as suddenly as Finny died.
ReplyDeleteIf Finny had survived his operation Gene and Finny would still be friends. When Gene confesses that he caused the jump Finny believes that it wasn’t intentional. The last words that Finny tells Gene are, “You’ve already shown me and I believe you”(Knowles 191). At the beginning of the book, Gene doesn’t know what to think of Finny, whom he he sees as his friend and his competitor. Right before the jump many thoughts ran through his head and he couldn’t think straight. He realizes that, “There never was and never could have been any rivalry between us”(Knowles 59). Finny thinks that Gene didn’t intend on hurting him, “It wasn’t anything you really felt against me, it wasn’t some kind of hate you’ve felt all along. It wasn’t anything personal”(Knowles 191). If Finny had survived Gene and he would still be friends because Finny doesn’t believe that Gene intended to shake the branch.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Gene will ever truly forgive himself for injuring Finny. I think that after a while Gene will start to forget about the incident, but until then, he will never forgive himself for causing the death of his best friend. On page 185, it says, "I want to fix your leg....... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'n sorry" (Knowles 185). This quote shows how Gene is already having guilt issues about causing Finny's death. Therefore Gene hasn't forgiven himself. If he hasn't forgiven himself by now, I don't think that he ever will.
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