Marcus Patalano Question 2: Explore Finny’s influence on other students – provide two specific examples and explore what they reveal about him and the other students involved.

     Finny's influence on the students isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing. In the book Finny is described as "A model boy who was most confortable in the truants corner"(Knowles 23). This quote shows a lot about finny. It shows that "(he) seemed to love school truly and deeply, and never more than when he was breaking regulations"(Knowles 23). This can be a bad thing. Many students overlook the fact that Finny is a model student and instead are influenced by his boldness and ability to get out of trouble. For example although Finny gets in trouble a lot, he always finds a way to get out of it because he is well liked amongst the faculty of The Devon School. Gene says "He had gotten away with everything"(Knowles 28). If another kid who was not an admired student was to break such rules as Finny had, than they would not get away with it, and although Finny is a model student, this gets overlooked by the students. One example of him influencing students to do wrong is when he says to Gene, "Lets go jump in the river"(Knowles 29). It is inferred that Gene is not as much of a spectacular student as Finny however he is contributing to the same activities as Finny. This leads me to believe that later in the book Finny will pressure Gene to do something dangerous and wrong, and gene who is slightly envious of Finny and describes him as an "extraordinary type of person", will willingly commit this act and get in deep trouble. However Since Finny is a fantastic student he will get in little or no trouble for the same action.