Katie Massie
Leper’s return to Devon represents to Gene that the truth will come out. Not only because Gene knows that Leper almost definitely remembered everything that happened with the tree, but also because Gene wasn’t entirely honest in his descriptions of Leper to Brinker. He didn’t blatantly lie, but he let Brinker believe that Leper was just being a wimp, that he got frightened and ran home. This is true, but it’s not as pathetic as Brinker thinks. There is so much happening with Leper that Gene leaves out. This could be because he didn’t want to say something embarrassing to Leper, which he was right to not do, but I feel he is making others trust him less when he gives them the wrong image.
The impact that Leper’s return has on Gene and Finny is that they have a conversation with each other about trust and who to believe. It is a very important scene in the book, because Finny is some one is skeptical of a lot of things in his life, but he tells Gene that he has to believe him. Finny tells Gene that if Gene says something is true, Finny will take it as fact. He says, “But I do believe – it’s important after all for me to believe you. Christ, I’ve got to believe you, at least. I know you better than anybody.” (Knowles 163). This is a very important scene because it finalizes Gene and Finny’s closeness right before they are about to be publicly tested in front of a large crowd of people they have known for many years. It’s the moment that their friendship has been building up to throughout the book, where all their time spent together is going to be tested.
I agree with all of the points here. Leper is the only one who knows the full truth about what happened in the tree other than Gene and Finny, but neither of them would be willing to admit it. This puts Leper in a position of power that he has wanted because he has been an ignored character in the book. Leper is also the trigger to Finny's emotions coming out right before his fall down the marble steps, when he cries. How will Leper react to Finny's second fall?
ReplyDeleteHenry Bamford
I agree with you when you said that the scene where Finny tells Gene that he believes in him and trusts him is a very important scene. I feel the interesting thing is, Gene does not really have a response for this after Finny says this to him. Gene knows that he has lied to finny before and has lied to himself too. I know if I was in Genes situation i would feel so bad at this point.
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