The two places Gene visits at Devon are the
First Academy Building and the tree.
Gene enters the First Academy Building noticing the marble stairs, and
how hard they are because, “ They were old stairs, the worn moons in the middle
of each step were not very deep” (Knowles, 11). The stairs, which he had walked
on everyday, were unnoticeably the same, and Gene begins to feel older. Meanwhile Gene starts his “ long trudge
across the fields” (Knowles, 12). Gene although covered in mud and rain continues his trek to a tree. The tree, which
loomed in his memory looked the same as al the other trees alining he
riverbank. When the tree is discovered Gene describes it has, “ The giants of
your childhood…but that they are absolutely smaller, shrunken by age” (Knowles,
14). I think Knowles might have included
these too specific examples because the marbles stairs are something that will
never change to the school or in Gene ‘s memory. However this tree, which Knowles makes a
significant part of Gene’s relationship with Phineas, a ever changing symbol.
One that was once huge and overbearing, now old and ‘ shrunk by age’. Knowles
also ends Genes reminiscing with him saying, “So the more thing remain the
same, the more they change after all” (Knowles, 14).
I agree with you about how Knowles might have included these two specific examples because it is imprinted into Gene's brain and it is a significant part of Gene's relationship with Finny. Also Knowles might have included this because when Gene thinks of Devon, those are the two things that really standout to him. Both examples, really show how Gene has grown up and that this school has changed him and made him the person he is now. Gene notices somethings never change, like how the marble stairs were the same as when he attended the school and the same tree, that he had jumped off of with Finny in high school, was still there. There were little changes to these two things, like how the stairs were old and worn down, and how the tree looked smaller. Gene just starts to realize that this place, the Devon School, is what shaped him into the person he is now and that these little things had a huge impact on his life.
ReplyDelete