Gene and Finny’s training is significant because it is mutually beneficial to their friendship, but this training forces them both to be in denial about the war. Gene wasn’t in as much denial as Finny at the beginning of the chapter but in an effort to make Finny happy he has begun to train as if there would truly be an Olympics in ‘44 despite WW2. They both want to be happy, so they are talking about the war like it is not real and therefore can’t affect them. Because, even after the incident at the tree, their bond is still incredibly strong and resilient. So they are trying to push each other and do what the other person can’t do. According to Gene, “Finny and I, to our joint double amazement, began to make flashing progress where we had been bumblers before” (Knowles, 119). While they are denying their futures, they are both gaining something from their relationship and trying to preserve the “peace that had come back to Devon” (Knowles, 109). They need each other to protect the goals that they had set for themselves despite the reality of the war.
Do you think that them denying the war and focusing on other goals is a good way to distract themselves? Do you think that this will change their lives for the better?
I totally agree with you Kate, both Gene and Finny are trying to find different things and activities to get there mind off war. But I also feel that Gene understands that the day will come when he has to man up and go to war. Gene and Finny have a conversation about the olympics in '44, while Gene thinks there will be no Olympics because of the war Finny deny's it. "But there isn't going to be any war in '44. That's only a couple of years away. The war-- "Leave your fantasy life out of this. Were grooming you for the Olympics, pal, in 1944" (Knowles 117). This quote is showing that Gene is trying to address the war at hand while Finny is only denying it. Finny isn't ready to lose his friend to war and his defense mechanism is to deny it.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Kate when she says that the training will build up their friendship. It is a great opportunity for the both of them. I feel that the war has motivated Gene to "train for the olympics". However, they are trying to avoid thinking about the war and because they are far from the fighting it does not affect them. When Gene says " er saw nothing real of it, all our impressions of the war were in a false medium of two dimensions" (Knowles 118). This quote shows how Gene is trying to stay away from thinking about the war.
ReplyDeleteKate, I agree with all your points but one of the ones I found most significant was the point about pretending like the Olympics will still happen. This goes back to the central idea of lying to yourself. I think that there is a lot of lying to yourself in this section, especially as Finny and Gene don't talk about Finny's leg at all. Though Finny claims that he's "grooming you for the Olympics" (Knowles 117) both Gene and Finny are lying to themselves.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kate that Finny and Gene are training for the Olympics to get their mind off of the war. I also think that because of Finny's accident, he feels like Gene needs to take his place in sports so he begins training him for the Olympics. However, Gene is more worried about the war than training but Finny then convinces Gene, “Leave you fantasy life out of this, We’re grooming you for the Olympics pal, in 1944” (Knowles, 117). This quote is significant because, Finny is almost desperate to play sports, so when he can’t he gets Gene involved so he can still be connected to sports even without playing them himself.
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