The fight with Quakenbush was significant because Quakenbush told Gene that he must work as the manger because he cannot row, the relationship between Quakenbush and Gene is similar to the one of FInny and Gene. Because Finny is so good at sports, Gene often feels like he has to do something just as good to continue being Finny’s friend. The fight between Quakenbush and Gene occurred after Gene realized that he was late to his appointment at the crew house. When he arrives he gets mad at Quakenbush because he says he cannot row and must be the manager, when Gene hears this he smacks him across the face and they get into a fight and fall into the river, “I hit him hard across the face...Quackenbush had clamped his arm in some kind of tight wrestling grip around my neck...I tried to throw him off, he lunged at the same time, and we catapulted into the water” (Knowels, 79). This quote is significant because it shows how much Gene does care about being athletic and how he is no longer wiling to be the one with the perfect grades and not breaking any rules.
I agree that Gene had a realization in the boat house, but I believe that Gene was set off by something else. When Quackenbush called Gene "maimed", it irritated Gene as Finny is actually maimed. "I fought that battle, that first skirmish of a long campaign, for Finny. Until the back of my hand cracked against Quackenbush’s face I had never pictured myself in the role of Finny’s defender, and I didn’t suppose that he would have thanked me for it now." In the quote, it is clear that Gene hit Quackenbush out of anger for Finny, and was "defending" him. Gene was feeling guilty again, and felt like he needed to take action about it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Gene was set off my Quackenbush because Quackenbush called him maimed, and that insult was made more hurtful because of Finny's injury. However, I think that since Gene knows that he "jounced the branch" (Knowles 60) he knows that it it his fault that Finny is injured. He takes Quackenbush's insult hard because of the guilt he feels from injuring Finny.
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