Sunday, April 26, 2015
Assignment #4 (pg. 61-71): While Finny is in the infirmary, Gene is paranoid that people will be suspicious of him, and then he dresses in Finny’s clothes and feels better. Why does Gene do this? Why is this significant? (Joey O'Brien)
Gene dresses in Finny’s clothes because it makes him feel as though Phineas had never broken his leg. Gene is the same height as Finny and the two “wore the same size” (Knowles 62) clothing. He feels as though these facts would allow him to pass as Finny if he put his clothes on. Gene also went out of his way to find a specific article of Finny’s wardrobe, the pink shirt. This is because the top is something only Finny would wear. If Gene wore the pink shirt, he felt that there would be no doubt that he would pass as Finny. After he put the shirt on, he declared to himself “I am Phineas.” (Knowles 62). Additionally, the persona of Finny overtook him, as seen in the quote “I even had his humorous expression on my face, his sharp, optimistic awareness” (Knowles 62) Gene also skipped dinner that night, an action that Finny would do. When Gene went to bed and awoke the next day, though, he had to stop lying to himself and realize that the real Finny had a broken leg and resided in the infirmary. The guilt Gene felt had returned, and he stated “I was confronted with myself, and what I had done to Phineas.” (Knowles 62).
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I agree with Joey, that Gene was able to mask the fact that Phineas was injured by pretending to be him. In the beginning of the chapter, Gene says, "If anyone had been suspicious of me, I might have developed some strength to defend myself. But there was nothing. No one suspected." (Knowles 62). No one suspected that Gene had anything to do with the accident because everyone thought they were the best of friends. At least thats what it looked like from the outside, but from the inside a rivalry was brewing that no one was aware of. However, Gene became paranoid about the accident, "I spent as much time as I could alone in our room, trying to empty my mind of every thought, to forget where I was, even who I was." (Knowles 62). Gene is very good at masking his feelings, emotions and thoughts and he was able to do this once again with Finny’s clothes. He was so caught up in what had happened he couldn’t even remember who he was, so he became Finny. It was easier to do that, then confront himself with how he truly felt. After putting on Finny’s clothes he says, “I was Phineas, Phineas to the max.” (Knowles 62)
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