Gene fights Quackenbush because he can no longer separate his identity from Finny’s. What sets him off is when Quackenbush calls him “maimed” (Knowles 79). This is because Finny is maimed, and Gene is fighting as if he is Finny. The reason he is so offended is because he wants to be Finny so badly and ends up copying everything he does. There is a sense of irony in this because the reader is led to think that Gene is trying to escape Finny’s shadow by avoiding athletics and becoming a manager, but it is later revealed that those who are disabled do the managing jobs. Finny is the disabled one not him. He simply cannot separate his identity from Finny.
It relates to his earlier narrative because he is envisioning a godly figure of Finny and later he tries to be this figure. In chapters before this Gene’s power hungry and competitive nature is obviously expressed. Gene wants to be Finny so badly he was even trying his clothes on on page 62 to see what it would be like to be Finny. Earlier in chapter 6 when Gene is observing the lake and envisioning Finny he says, “balancing on one foot on the prow of the canoe like a river god” (Knowles 75). He envisions Finny everywhere and views him as a god. Gene is greedy and wants to be Finny and possess the abilities Finny does. Gene wants to be Finny so badly that he takes on Finny’s problems and takes offense to the statement of being maimed.
Quackenbush was most probably so disdainful of Gene because the assistant manager jobs were “usually taken by boys with some physical disability” (Knowles 77). From the way Quackenbush addresses Gene so offensively and disrespectfully it is implied that boys with disabilities are most likely viewed as inferior. For example Quackenbush uses “maimed” (Knowles 79), as an insult and then curses at him.
No comments:
Post a Comment