Natalie Madden Question 7 Why did Gene go to Finny’s house? How did it impact Finny? Did Gene try to do the right thing? Why or why not? What would you have done?

Gene goes to Finny’s house because he feels guilty. Gene shakes the tree and Finny loses his balance and falls.  Gene feels awful that he doesn’t tell Finny.  Seeing Finny for the first time after the fall and hearing from Dr. Stanpole that he will never be able to play sports again, Gene is ashamed of himself. When Gene enters the room Finny is in a hospital bed. Gene thinks to himself that if he were in the same situation as Finny, “He would have told me the truth”(Knowles 66). Gene then decides to tell Finny but Dr. Stanpole walks in before he can tell him. Finny is then sent home  before Gene can tell him the truth. Gene leaves for a vacation and on his way back to school decides to take a visit to Finny’s house. Gene travels to Finny’s house because his guilty conscience is getting the best of him. When Gene arrives Finny is not surprised to see him. After Gene told Finny that it was his fault that he fell he didn’t want to believe him. Gene then realized, “I was injuring him again”(Knowles 70) he had just turned on a person who thought of him as a friend. I think Gene did the right thing by telling Finny. If he didn’t and decided later on that he needed to, it would be too late. It was good that he told him sooner rather than later. I would have told Finny because if I didn’t and Finny went back to school and things continue normally, then I could never live with such guilt and act as if nothing had happened. Gene made the right decision by telling Finny the truth.

I you were Finny how would you react?