Gene feels that by enlisting is the war he would get a chance to push the restart button on life. Gene almost feels trapped in world where he is stuck in the same "'domestic white and schoolboy blue"' life (Knowles, 100). To Gene it's the same routine, with the same people, and the same guilt. The only way for Gene (in his mind) to get rid of this guilt, and regret, is to join the war. He feels that by enlisting in the war, he could drop these things and start new. "'To enlist. To slam the door impulsively on the past, to shed everything down to my last bit of clothing, to break the pattern of my life"' (Knowles, 100). At this point in the novel, Gene is receiving a lot of accusations about Phineas, and what he did to Finny. So, in Gene's mind, enlisting in the war, would be dropping all this stress off his back a starting fresh. Despite the fact that "'The war would be deadly all right"' (Knowles, 101), in Gene's mind it would be worth it as long as he could start fresh.
Do you think that despite the fact that Finny has returned, Gene with follow through with enlisting in the war?
I agree with Geoffrey that Gene feels that enlisting in war would allow him to push the restart button on life. Recently, Gene has been questioned about what happened to Phineas. Gene has all the guilt of what he did to Finny pilling up inside him and enlisting would give him that games to start new. If Gene were to enlist in war, he would be able to restart and leave everything behind at Devon. "To enlist. To slam the door impulsively on the past, to shed everything down to my last bit of clothing, to break the pattern of my life-...."(Knowles 100).
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Julia and Geoffrey this is Gene's time to finally start over with a clean slate. I don't think that Gene will enlist in the war since Finny has returned. It seems that Gene's whole life revolves around Phineas and to prove to himself that he's better than Finny. Right now I think Gene is in a mental fight with himself. "Everything that had happened throughout the day faded like that first false snowfall of the winter. Phineas was back." (Knowles 102). This shows that Gene's whole mind went blank when he saw Finny. If it was any other person they would be excited to see their best friend and roommate again. Since Gene is filled with guilt I think he's going to stay back.
ReplyDeleteI agree with sharon. I think Gene wants to forget about the accident and move on. He wants to start over. Unfortunately, the other kids aren't willing to forget about it, especially since Finny is popular. I think Gene thinks the war will be a place were he can start almost a completely new life. That if no one but him know about the accident, it will be like it never happened. I think this makes him an unreliable narrator. We have no one's view on this story except Genes and we will have no idea if what he says is true or not. His opinions could be biased.
ReplyDeleteI look at Finny as a "guardian angel" to Gene. When the idea of him enlisting pops up, Finny is shocked and does not want him to leave. I think Finny will have a huge impact in his decision to go to war or not.
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