Explain the significance of the last paragraph: "I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family's strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case." - Rafaela
In A Separate Peace by John Knowles, Gene receives the news that Finny is dead. After a moment of disbelief,
and then grief, the narration quickly launches into an explanation to sum it up: “I did not cry then or ever about
Finny.” Gene feels that he can't cry over Finny because “I could not escape a feeling that this was my own
funeral, and you do not cry in that case” (194).
and then grief, the narration quickly launches into an explanation to sum it up: “I did not cry then or ever about
Finny.” Gene feels that he can't cry over Finny because “I could not escape a feeling that this was my own
funeral, and you do not cry in that case” (194).
After the tree incident, Gene attempted to tell Finny that the injury was his fault, but Finny refused to believe it
and instead drew them both into a pretend world, where there were no ill feelings or mistrust between them.
They formed a codependent relationship; Finny needed to live his sports fantasies through Gene, and Gene needed
to do whatever Finny wanted in order to make him happy and therefore rid Gene of his guilt. However, living like
this allowed Gene to escape his guilt only when he became Finny. When he’s working out, following Finny’s training
plan, Gene notices that he forgets his usual woes and “I lost myself, oppressed mind along with aching body; all
entanglements were shed, I broke into the clear” (120). While becoming Finny, he “[breaks] into the clear” (120)
and rids himself of the guilt, but along the way he also “lo[ses] [him]self” (120). In the end, when Finny dies,
overcome with grief and remorse, Gene circles back to his sole coping mechanism and once again loses himself in
order to be Finny, making Finny’s funeral “my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case” (194). This signifies
truly how much of himself Gene has lost to Finny. Even with Finny dead, Gene is still harmed by their toxic
relationship, and he feels more like Finny than himself.
Discussion Questions:
- Do you think Finny actually forgives Gene when he tells Gene “It’s okay because I understand and I believe you” on page 191?
- Why does Gene try to visit Finny in the Infirmary the night of the accident?
- How do you think Gene is going to handle/deal with his grief?
I think that Finny does forgive him. Despite Finny trying to push away the idea of Gene pushing him out the tree, he has probably still had it in his head to think about. Gene has also been having a hard time with the idea, but knows the truth, the same way Finny does deep down. When Finny finally does forgive Gene, he finds a way to work around Gene just being mean and doing it for no reason. He says that it was impulsive, the same way Gene said Finny would be in the war. Finny says that he understands, because he does understand. He understands that Gene didn't have a reason and was impulsive and it was a crazy thing to do. He really does forgive him. He forgives him and it seems to free both him and Gene. If Finny had not forgiven him, then after Finny died, Gene wouldn't be able to live with himself.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the significance in the timing and place of the apology?
Do you think Finny actually forgives Gene when he tells Gene “It’s okay because I understand and I believe you” on page 191?
ReplyDeleteIn Gene and Finny’s last conversation with each other, Gene insists that he’s sorry about pushing him and that it was completely an accident. Gene then ends their conversation by saying “It’s okay because I understand and I believe you” (191). This also was the last thing Finny said to Gene. I believe that when he said that, he was being genuine and truthful in what he was saying. The reason is that Finny had already basically known this had happened, which is proved by him agreeing that Gene did try to tell him back in Boston. I also think he had a realization during the night he was at the doctor’s because when Gene came back, he was much calmer, and Gene even noted that he didn’t seem angry. I think Knowles also used this final conversation between the two to symbolize Finny’s acceptance and forgiveness, as being the final thing he says to Gene before he dies. And in the rest of the book, Knowles will allow Gene to accept too.
What do you think Gene might do in the rest of the book?
Do you think Gene accepts Finny’s death? Why?
Will Finny continue to be a part of Gene?
I think Finny will continue to be apart of Gene's personality and character even now that he's dead. Ever since Finny's accident, Gene has been trying to ease his guilt by becoming Finny. Now that Finny has passed away, under circumstances Gene caused, Gene is left with no sense of character. He has become someone who is gone and can no longer help Finny for his peace of mind. Gene has been slowly chipping away from his own interests and ways of living to be like Phineas, and now, he is going to struggle with a sense of identity. Gene showing no emotion about his best friend dying because he feels like he died too, shows how dangerous a codependent relationship is. For the rest of his life, Gene will be a shell of himself, which is really a shell of Finny.
DeleteHow do you think Brinker will react to the news?
I think Finny will always be a part of Gene because at the end of this chapter Gene says that he didn't cry because you don't cry at your own funeral and he actually thinks that Finny is part of himself. That explains why Gene is back at Devon, he has never been able to separate himself from Finny. Also, in this book as a senior Gene starts to mature but since he was a part of Finny he was never able to do it fully because to mature you need to do it on your own. But Gene was never able to do this so that's why Finny will likely still be a part of him.
DeleteVisiting Finny in the infirmary was what he could consider his last act as a friend. He thinks, even if subconsciously, that their friendship is doomed. He shows how much he truly cares about Finny, and he knows that Finny will be mad at him for showing up. But he still goes, because part of his personality will always stay with Finny. He does not express that he went because he feels obligated to check on Finny, but because he is pulled there without truly thinking. The next day, when he returns with the luggage he tries to explain. The situation is now flipped, yet he does not desperately want to ignore what happened. This is unlike Finny, because Gene's personality does not let him just walk away. When he is wandering around the school at night, John Knowles makes it clear how empty he feels. He visits the bridge, again without Finny, but does not stay there to ponder it the same way he does the first time Finny is hurt. He isn't immediately struck by a happy Finny related memory. He hardly seems to be thinking at all. The two had become so codependent, that alone Gene does not find it in himself to have a purpose. In the day leading up to Finny’s death, Gene’s actions are disconnected from emotion. In the last sentences of the novel, it becomes clear why Gene felt the need to go back to Devon in the beginning of the novel, because he never really stepped back into reality.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think Brinker will react when he finds Finny is dead?
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ReplyDeleteI don’t think Gene will handle this grief well. At the beginning of the novel, the author leads us 15 years after the incidents. John Knowles takes us to when Gene is an adult, looking back on the tree and the marble staircases--he hasn’t given up this grief. It’s seen as still cooped up inside of him. The chapter that we read showed that Gene’s guilt left him for a while, that day when he finally confessed everything and Finny actually said he believed him. Gene went back to Devon, clear headed and finally able to see reality. But then the guilt comes back; Finny is dead because he fell down the stairs. Finny fell down the stairs because he was overwhelmed by the interrogation and the questions being thrown at him. Those questions came from the rumors/beliefs that Gene intentionally pushed Finny out of that tree. Finny’s death leads back to Gene and I think that now, Gene finally realizes this much.
ReplyDeleteDoes Gene realize that Finny might have been fighting an internal war?
I don’t think Gene is going to handle/deal with his grief in a good way. Even though Finny knows and forgave Gene about the incident, it clearly shows that it didn’t help as Gene had to go back to Devon to get resolution after 15 years. I don’t think Gene will get over this as he may feel it was his fault that Finny stormed out of the trial in the first place causing him to fall down the stairs. Unnecessary hatred towards Brinker may happen because he was the one that decided to have the trial in the first place. I don’t think this will stop Gene from wanting to become Finny though because he still hasn’t gotten over the incident.
ReplyDeleteI think that Gene will try to ignore his grief about the event until his feelings boil over. Finny's initial reluctance to automatically forgive him this time will definitely make a difference in how Gene sees things. For most of their relationship they ignored each other's flaws and were codependent, but when Finny is forced to believe that Gene could have been at fault he lashes out at him, trying to attack him from his bed. This is a change to what Knowles has shown us previously in the book, and Gene is so startled by it that he leaves the infirmary as quickly as he can. Finny does forgive him, but this is one of the first times that Gene sees Finny really shaken. The situation doesn't seem real to Gene because the Finny he sees in the infirmary doesn't seem like the Finny he knows and is friends with.
ReplyDelete