Explore the significance of the fight with Quackenbush. Why does it happen? What exactly sets Gene off? How is related to his narrative earlier in the chapter? Why might Quakenbush be so disdainful of Gene?
Gene at first does not wish to pit himself against Quakenbush, he in fact sympathizes with him. Cliff however feels the need to make Gene's life difficult. For much of the surrounding time, Gene keeps his cool through Quakenbush's disdain, which spawns from the fact that Gene is a senior and is an assistant manager. Usually a senior will only take that position if they have some sort of disability, so Quakenbush treats him as such. What sets Gene off is when Quakenbush says "listen you maimed son-of-a-bitch..." (Knowles 79). This resonates with Gene on an emotional level because Finny is essentially maimed, so using that word to describe Gene is taken as an insult to Finny. Since Gene has a deep seated admiration for Finny, and the guilt of being the one to maim him in the first place, he feels the need to strike back. He has a knee jerk reaction because of the fact that he is stewing in his guilt, and the idea that Finny will never again get the chance to be the star of sports, and it's all Gene's fault.
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