Gene notices Finny do some stuff that is very out of the ordinary once he comes back to Devon, which change both of them. Gene learns about how Finny has changed as a person during the time when he was gone. The observations that gene makes about Finny is that he is a little bit of an outsider in the social world. Finny is a little social awkward. Also, he stands in front of buildings and just stares up into the sky. He also said something to Gene. "... when you really love something, then it loves you back, in whatever way it has to love" (Knowles, 111). This relates to Finny because he really loves sports. He likes athletics more than anyone, but when he got injured he couldn't play anymore, but that didn't stop him because he is still involved with it by helping Gene train for the Olympics.
This comment by Finny changed the way Gene looks at things because he seems to think that it's all about being the best at what your good at. He doesn't realize until now that it's about what you love, and what loves you back. Finny and Gene have changed a lot during the period when Finny was gone.
I agree with you, Chris, that Finny has changed a lot since he was last at Devon. He seems a lot more subdued, less energetic, but at the same time he is a lot stronger then Gene expected him to be. He is also a bit more vulnerable and dependent on Gene, which is shown when Gene mentions enlisting and Finny seems really upset. Your point about Finny and sports was a good one, and I also think that Finny is trying to live his life through Gene since he can't do it himself any more-- like when he and Gene are in the gym and he tells him about how he used to want to be in the Olympics so now Gene has to be.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, chris, but I also think when finny talked about how when you love something it loves you back, Gene didn't believe him, and says "I didn't think this was true." Gene thinks this after Finny had stated the other quote. I think Gene didn't think it was true because Finny had loved and cared for Gene, but in the end Gene didn't love him back, but made him fall off a tree.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you for the most part Chris, such as your points that both have changed, and how Phineas feels a bit like an outsider. But when Phineas is standing outside of buildings staring at the sky he is doing this to catch his breath as he is much weaker than before but does not wish to give off this impression to anyone, and wants to still be remembered as the strong athlete he was. As for your quote Chris, I agree completely because since Phineas believes there is a god, he thinks that everything happens for a reason. So when his chance at the Olympics is taken away from him, the thing that means more to him than anything else, he was barely even fazed and immediately accepted it and came to the conclusion that that must mean that he was destined for a different role in sports than the one he had expected as the main star, and that he was supposed to be a coach. So he decides to coach Gene. Gene can not even refuse as it is his fault in the first place that Phineas is injured, and trains with Phineas as his coach. Finally, I completely agree with you when you say that it was this quote that changed both their minds, because since Phineas loved sports, sports loved him, so making him crippled must have been sports’ way of leading him onto his true path of coaching. Now, due to all the changes both have gone through when they were separate, when they are reunited their friendship is much different from the way it was before the accident.
ReplyDeleteJJ Ma