3.) What causes Gene to attack Leper? The answer needs to involve a literal and figurative exploration of what occurs here (middle 145).
Gene attacks Leper because Leper accuses Gene of making Finny crippled. Leper has gone completely nuts in this chapter and he doesn’t think about what he says to Gene. He starts getting mad at Gene and then he makes it seem like he wants to make Gene feel bad. He acts like it’s no big deal since he laughs while he accuses Gene. Leper is wondering if Gene even thought about him then he dropped the bomb, “like that time you knocked Finny out of the tree.” (Knowles p. 145). Of course Gene get’s mad and calls Finny’s name but Leper just keeps going as if he doesn’t care about Gene anymore, “Like that time you crippled him for life… Laughing and crying he lay with his head on the floor and hiss knees up.” (Knowles p. 145). Leper just laughs uncontrollably for no reason. He sounds completely nuts here and he keeps teasing Gene so eventually Gene did attack Leper because Leper was getting on his nerves. Gene attacks Leper because he’s mad that Leper is like this, he doesn’t want Leper to be like this he wants him to be his old self that played with snails, it’s almost as if Gene is scared of Leper. He is scared his friend has gone nuts so he attacks Leper as if telling him to snap out of it.
I agree with you Sophie, but I also think that Gene could have dealt with Leper's breaking down better. Leper was very emotional and unsure of himself, and he sent the telegram to Gene because he needed Gene. Gene there got emotional himself instead of trying to help Leper.
ReplyDeleteSophie, I think that your idea about Gene being afraid of Leper is an interesting one. Before Leper went 'crazy' he would have never said anything like that, so Gene was probably also not prepared for someone like Leper to accuse him of pushing Finny. He is still really sensitive about anyone suggesting that he had anything to do with Finny's accident, so Leper's comment really set him off. However, I think that this event is an interesting comparison to the scene in the Butt Room, since Gene acted very differently there. Gene didn't attack anyone there because he was prepared and made himself calm down, whereas at Leper's house he was so caught off guard by the comment that he just attacked instinctively.
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