#crying.sadness.pain

[qwesty-030]

wonderfully and beautifully said!

im fr about to go literary analysis mode again

i really agree with you about his leg being more than just a leg. he relies on his legs for sports ofc and sports was something Finny incredibly loved with all his life. but after that tree incident, all of his life dreams and hopes disappeared.

one of my favorite quotes of the book is when Gene compares Finny’s cast leg to an anchor he has to drag with every step he takes. like a heavy chained ball strapped to his leg.

“…sweat was running like oil from Finny’s face, and when he paused involuntary tremors shook his hands and arms. The leg in its cast was like a sea anchor dragged behind”

his broken leg literally AND figuratively drags him down. i believe thats why finny started to to rely or co-depend on gene to fulfill everything he couldn’t do

thats why he made Gene do sports

“Listen, pal, if I can’t play sports, you’re going to play them for me,”

that’s why he made Gene train for the olympics

“You’re going to be the big star now,” in an optimistic tone, and then added with some embarrassment, “You can fill any gaps or anything.” He slapped me on the back, “Get over there and chin yourself a few dozen times.

“Did I ever tell you,” he began in a husky tone…that I used to be aiming for the Olympics?… Now I’m not sure, not a hundred per cent sure I’ll be completely, you know, in shape by 1944. So I’m going to coach you for them instead.”

and that’s also why he isolates Gene from all this war talk. not only does Finny want Gene to do sports for him, but they also must have mindset and the same ideology. to become one

“How do you expect to be an athlete if you smoke like a forest fire?”

He drew me increasingly away from the Butt Room crowd… and all other friends, into a world…where there was no war at all, just Phineas and me alone among all the people of the world, training for the Olympics of 1944

so it just makes sense when Gene says

Phineas had thought of me as an extension of himself.

okay now that i’m rereading parts of the book, there are so many instances that make this co-dependent relationship really evident. And these quotes are just for Finny alone 😭😭 . Imagine how many more there are for Gene. Gene and Finny rely and complete each other but like in a really bad way 💀💀 (but ig could also be seen in a good way too if you think it like a opposite attracts kind of thing)

It’s just how Finny copes with his broken leg. He knows he’s stuck with it and he knows that he’s practically nothing and cannot do anything. and him not being able enlist further enforces this cruel reality

so ofc the only way to escape this reality is to use your ✨ IMAGINATION ✨ bc confrontation is SCARY and accepting the truth HURTS. it’s just so much easier avoiding the problem to temporarily ease the pain. SEE HOW GENE AND FINNY NEVER REALLY TALK ABOUT THE TREE INCIDENT UNTIL THE TRIAL IN CH.12???? broadening this subject a bit more, i think all the boys at devon struggle with this problem given how most waited to be drafted. which is reasonable bc they’re basically signing their lives away.

It takes time for the painful truth to fully assimilate into a person’s mind.

In a way, (if you think Gene deliberately pushed Finny off the tree), it’s as if Gene achieved what he wanted. To make Finny nothing just like him. they are both equals now.

but thats a theory for another time

“The whole world is on a Funny Farm now. But it’s only the fat old men who get the joke.”

“And you.”

“Yes, and me.”

“What makes you so special? Why should you get it and all the rest of us be in the dark?”

The momentum of the argument abruptly broke from his control. His face froze. “Because I’ve suffered,” he burst out.