5) Explain the significance of the last paragraph: "I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family's strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case."
This last paragraph of the chapter jumped right out of the page to me. Gene didn't cry because he felt as if he had killed himself by pushing Finny off of the tree. He tried to keep it a secret that he did it intentionally but Gene himself says: "The truth will out" (Knowles, 88). By lying to his friend and pushing Finny off the tree killed Gene inside. Once Gene found out that Finny died, he himself knew that he had just died too. He shows this once Dr. Stanpole tells him that Finny's dead. "He was incomprehensible. I felt an extremely cold chill along my back and neck" (Knowles, 193). The paragraph shows that when you kill a best friend, you fall with him.
I agree with you Chris, but I also think Gene felt like the funeral was his own for a different reason too. In chapter 12, Gene thinks that finny doesn't mind Gene's help, but minds everyone else's, "Phineas had thought of me as an extension of himself"(knowls, 180). This idea of being part of finny transferred to the funeral where Gene's still caught up in Finny's conceptions, even after he died.
ReplyDeleteI think that you have a very strong point, Chris, and I agree with your opinion. You did a nice job backing up your argument, with quotes and theories. Something that I would add is to talk more about how Gene did this to himself, and Gene brought this upon himself. In the future, this paragraph makes you think if Gene will live his life successfully, or will he be a dead man walking.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the statements you make in this post, such as Gene lying to himself about the incident in the tree making it worse for him in the long run, and how when a friend of yours dies, a part of you is buried in the ground with him. However, I do not agree with your last comment in the context of Gene and Finny. While I agree with your general idea, I believe that Gene died with Finny because Finny was so set on making Gene his "protege" and making sure that the athletic prowess and social standards that he created at the Devon School were upheld by someone trustworthy, as he could no longer do so because of his disability.
I agree with you Chris, on your point that since it was Gene’s fault that caused the accident that got Phineas killed, he feels that he too is dead. “My aid alone had never seemed to him in the category of help. The reason for this occurred to me as the procession moved slowly across the brilliant foyer to the doors; Phineas had though of me as an extension of himself” (Knowles 180). Gene states that Phineas considered Gene an extension of himself, therefore if Phineas dies, Gene goes with him. Gene did not help, however, as if Gene was a part of Phineas, then it was as if Gene was injured, and you would not help yourself. This is the same with the last paragraph. It was Gene’s funeral as Gene is a part of Phineas, therefore Gene almost pities himself as he himself has died. If Phineas really did consider Gene a part of himself, that shows the immeasurable amount of trust that Phineas bestowed upon Gene, it explains why he told Gene everything and why he was so comfortable around Gene. This was trust that he held onto even as he died because of Gene, by forgiving Gene despite knowing the truth, by justifying Gene’s actions the whole way through right to the end, but it is also trust that Gene never returned to Phineas. If Gene had always returned that trust, he never would have suspected Phineas of trying to lower his grades, and would have seen the almost obvious truth. But his jealousy caused him to believe that Phineas was his enemy, and his lack of trust caused him to jounce the limb, and on page 204, he reveals that he still considered Phineas his enemy after all that had happened, even after he dies, showing that Gene never returned the feeling of trust and friendship that Phineas had always given him.
ReplyDeleteJJ Ma