What exactly happened in the tree and who do you think was responsible? Why do you say this? (Charlotte Trodden)
Over the summer, Phineas (Finny) and Gene create a club, the Super Suicide Society. Each night, they meet at the infamous tree on school grounds and plummet into the river from one of the trees branches. Once atop the tree, Gene stands on the branch and starts bouncing on it, causing Finny to lose his balance. Finny then falls through the tree and lands on the riverbank, injuring his leg. On page 60 it says, "Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the
limb. Finny, his balance gone, swung his head around to look at me for an instant with extreme
interest, and then he tumbled sideways, broke through the little branches below and hit the bank
with a sickening, unnatural thud." (Knowles 60). Although it might not have been intentional, Gene's actions caused Finny to fall. When Gene bounced the tree branch un and down, it caused Finny to lose his balance, making Gene responsible for Finny's fall. Gene might have done this because he was upset about the fact that he was jealous of Finny and all of his achievements, but Finny was not jealous of him, contrary to what he thought. Additionally, when Finny fell, Gene did not seem to show much remorse or care at all that he just injured his best friend, further pointing to the fact that Gene could have possibly made Finny fall intentionally.
Why might Gene be jealous of Finny? Does Finny realize how Gene feels? Does Finny realize that it was Gene's fault that he fell in the first place?
I agree with Charlotte when she says that Gene may have been upset about his jealousy towards Finny. I also agree that Gene didn't seem to show much remorse for his actions. I also understand why Gene may have intentionally hurt Finny. There is a lot of tension and jealousy between Gene and Finny and the intentional fall may have been a push back on Finny.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Charlotte that Gene is growing more jealousy towards Finny and that he doesn't seem to care that much when Finny fell. Finny and Gene had just had a conversation about Gene failing is test. " yes. I let this prop curtly to bar him from telling me what to do about my work," (59). In this scene Gene is getting upset with Finny because he thinks he is trying to control him. This could later lead to his actions of intentionally making Finny fall off the tree.
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