Monday, April 8, 2013
Chapter 5/ pg 61-71/ question #4: 6.) What is guilt? Do we all have it? Is it part of being human? Can someone live guilt free?
Guilt is the feeling of doing something wrong and not taking responsibility for it. For instance when Gene was in the infirmary with Finny, he felt guilty for jouncing the branch that it was eating him up on the inside until he could finally let it out at Finny's house."I was thinking about you...about you because-I was thinking about you and the accident because I caused it (Knowles 69)." Gene confessed here because he thought that it would take the guilt off his shoulders, relieve the pain on the inside. Like Gene, lots of people feel guilt that eats them up. Having guilt is part of being human, when you do something you know is wrong you feel guilty, but some people can convince themselves that their actions were justified, which in Gene's case, he did not. Gene was the kind of person who does not avoid their guilt, he faced it and spoke the truth. In the end of the chapter Gene takes back his confession of jouncing the branch to spare Finny's feelings, but did Gene do the right thing?
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Gene is doing the right thing by setting the foundation to take back what he said. Right now finny is still healing physically as Gene says "he looked to me like an invalid, house-bound" (Knowles 68). If Gene doesn't take back what he said it could also add emotional problems. Finny will believe no one is with him and get down on top of this career ending injury. Gene needs to tell him what happened eventually but now he needs to let finny heal.
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