EDITED VERSION Assignment 11 Question 1 Katie

Is Finny's fall, and ultimately his death, something you can blame on Gene? Why or why not? If he is not to blame, then who is?

Finny's fall is something that Gene can partially be blamed for, but I wouldn't say entirely. Although it was he would physically caused Finny's fall, he wasn't really consciously and purposefully doing it. He hadn't thought it through or planned it out. It was an impulse move. Finny understands this, and says to Gene as they are sitting in the infirmary for the second time, "It was just some kind of impulse move you had in the tree there, you didn't know what you were doing." (Knowles 191). He wasn't trying to cripple Finny for life, it was an impulsive and dangerous move, that he wasn't in control of. Finny's death definitely cannot be blamed on Gene, although he helped to cause it. This is because he wasn't trying to kill Finny at all, and even if he had really meant to make Finny fall off of the tree, he had never had the real, admitted intention of killing Finny. No one is particularly to blame in this situation, although many caused it. Blame is suggesting that it was a their cruel intent. Brinker Hadley helped to cause the death, because if he had not held the trial, Finny never would have fallen down those stairs. Dr. Stanpole helped to cause the death, because he was not quite careful enough during the operation that directly caused Finny's death.

I do not think that anyone should be blamed for Finny's death, although many caused it.

Assignment 11 question 4 Julia Burnett

If Finny had survived his operation, do you think Gene and Finny could remain friends? Or do you think the friendship at this point is too broken? Make sure to include support from the text in your answer.

Although it would have been difficult at first, had Finny survived his operation him and Gene could have remained friends. Throughout the book Gene talks about Finny's ability to forgive and his inability to hate, therefore, it would be characteristic of Finny to accept Gene's apology and try to move on with their friendship. While Gene reflects on Finny's life after his passing he says, "When they began to feel that there was this overwhelmingly hostile thing in the world with them, then the simplicity and unity of their characters broke and they were never the same again. Phineas alone had escaped this. He possessed an extra vigor, a heightened confidence in himself, a serene capacity for affection which saved him...Only Phineas was never afraid, only Phineas never hated anyone" (Knowles 202-204). Although Gene’s actions at the tree were hostile and cruel, he sincerely apologized, allowing Finny to forgive him before he became overwhelmed with hatred and discontent. In their final conversation, Finny was able to express his anger and impatience with Gene giving them the ability to move past the anger so it could not cause resentment or problems at later times in their friendship. The readers know that Finny accepted Gene’s apology as he says in their last conversation, "I believe you. It's okay because I understand and I believe you. You've already shown me and I believe you" (Knowles 191). With the knowledge of Finny’s forgiveness and desire to move past the difficult time, the reader also understands that rebuilding trust between them will be difficult as described by Finny’s body language. While accepting Gene’s apology, Finny is described to be, “ nodding his head, his jaw tightening and his eyes closed on the tears” (Knowles 191). The nodding of his head and closing of his eyes show that Finny is being sincere while the tightening of his jaw describes the difficulty of rebuilding trust and bonds with Gene. Knowles description of Finny sums up the status of their relationship at the time and leads readers to think that while at times rebuilding friendship between Finny and Gene will be difficult, it is not impossible. Although rebuilding trust after such a traumatic incident would inevitably be difficult, it would be possible, especially with someone as forgiving as Finny.

Assignment 10 Question 3 Katie

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.