What causes Gene to attack Leper? The answer needs to involve a literal and figurative exploration of what occurs here (middle 145).
When Gene visits Lepers house, Gene realizes the Leper has turned into a crazy mad men who wasn't afraid to share his opinion, "You always were a savage underneath" (Knowles, 145). Once Leper takes a shot at Gene for knocking Finny off the tree Gene loses it, "I shoved my foot against the rung of his chair and kicked. Leper went over in his chair and collapsed against the floor" (Knowles, 145). Gene is easily tempered by the painful truth that Leper describes. Know one has ever stood up to Gene and call him a bad guy until now. Ever since the beginning of the book Gene has been trying to blame other people like Finny to make Gene look like a good guy. And with Leper revealing the truth Gene resorts to violence to try and deny the remarks. On a figurative note this act of violence can be easily compared to the recent act of pushing Finny off the tree. Much like the experience with Finny, Leper's feet were taken right out beneath him and then he fell to the ground. By hurting Leper, Leper confirms Gene's violence by saying this, " Laughing and crying he lay with his head on the floor and his knees up, always were a savage underneath" (Knowles, 145). Although Leper may be in a phased stage, his remarks about Finny were accurate and not denied able.
Leper badgers Gene about how he is a, “Savage underneath,” He then says “like that time you knocked Finny out of the tree,” (Knowles 145). Gene knows that he shook the branch and caused Finny to fall but he doesn’t like it when other people force him to confront his failings. When he is in the Butt Room earlier in the story and the younger classmen ask what happened in the tree, he “Could feel my throat closing on them; I could never say them never,” (Knowles 90). Gene can’t say the words out loud and can’t bare to listen when other people accuse him of causing Finny’s accident. When Leper tells Gene that he caused Finny’s fall he can’t cope. Gene loses his temper and flips Leper’s chair. Gene doesn’t like it when people tell him that he caused Finny’s fall even though he knows that this is true. When he does hear the words from Leper, he can’t handle them, so he knocks him over.
ReplyDeleteWhen Gene attacked Leper, I saw similar characteristics between Gene and Leper. They both act differently then the average person, and they both have strange characteristics. Leper views the world differently and is thought of as psycho and an outsider. Gene doesn't know how to handle tough situations and he acts out when they occur. For example, when Gene was trying to tell Finny the truth about his fall he said to himself, "It struck me then that I was injuring him again. It occurred to me that this could be an even deeper injury then what I had done before," (Knowles 70). In this instance, Gene took back the truth because he couldn't handle causing any more pain. When a tough situations come up, Gene doesn't know how to handle himself and acts in ways that normal people wouldn't. I see a connection between Leper and Gene because they both act differently then normal people.
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