Gene Forrester

Character: Gene Forrester is a boy attending the Devon School during the hard times of World War II. Gene's physical appearance is that he is about 140 pounds and is five feet eight and a half inches. Gene, in the summer of 1942, is in a shaky transit vetween Lower Middlers to Upper Middlers which means he is around the age of 15 or 16. Living in New Hampshire, Gene is a student at Devon and also sometimes volunteers to do work and pitch into the war effort. In addition, Gene is a very smart and intelligent student with a competitive nature to all his peers. He really does not enjoy taking risks or doing something no one else would do. Gene's closest friend and roommate is Phineas or Finny. Gene was in a group called the "Super Sucide Society of the Summer Session" where his friends and himself would jump off a tree by the river. Gene also worked as an assistant crew manager doing jobs meant for a maimed person.

Symbolism: Symbolism: A visual symbol associated with Gene, I think, would be a cat. The reason I think Gene would be similar to a cat is because cat’s are very smart and intelligent in their actions and behavior. Cats are also very quiet and observant animals. They aren’t rough or outgoing but keep to themselves. However cats are “scaredy-cats’ and so they do not make big jumps or risks but always chooses the more “safer way” to be. I think Gene is like this in many ways because he is very smart and has many thoughts but is not really outgoing. He is more observant and quieter than most boys and he does not like taking risks. He wouldn’t be able to be the first to do things that no one has done before but would rather stay on the “ground” and stick to the rules.

Analysis: When Gene asks Finny how he would feel if Gene was top in class, Finny replies jokingly, “I ‘d kill myself out of jealous envy.” but Gene says “I believed him. The joking manner was a screen; I believed him” (Knowles 52). Gene is a very competitive boy when it comes to his friend Phineas. They are both friends but Gene is constantly comparing himself to Phineas and planning on which ways he can try to beat him. In addition, Gene takes in Finny’s joke of how he would be jealous into literal context and starts to make up his own ideas of what Finny was planning to do. One of Gene’s character traits is that despite his intelligence and thoughtfulness, he assumes things about everyone very easily and tries to compete with everyone. Another trait of Gene is that he is very innocent and naïve and so the feeling of guilt burdens his everyday life. For example, after Finny fell off the tree Gene says that “I couldn’t go on hearing about it much longer. 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). Gene actually wishes that someone would confront him because he hated listening to the fact that Finny was hurt but no one was blaming him. In addition, Gene says later on that “Enlist! I wouldn’t enlist with you if you were Elliott Roosevelt!” (Knowles 108). Since Finny cannot enlist due to his leg, Gene’s guilt and innocence drives him to say no to enlist with Brinker for the sake of Finny. He says that he will stay next to Finny as long as he needs me and so Gene gives up his dream for Finny and his own guilt.

Character Theme Tie In: I think for Gene, his character can fit into the theme of man’s inner conflict. Gene, besides all his outer man-to-man conflict, deals with a war in his own mind. After jouncing the limb to make Phineas fall, Gene is in a state of mind where he himself cannot say if he did it on purpose or not. However, more than the confusion in his mind, the burden of guilt is killing Gene from the inside out. Gene cannot stand being next to Phineas without feeling guilty and sorry for him whenever Finny gets on his crutches. In addition, he adds that when Quackenbush and him get into a fight after being called a maimed, Gene says that suddenly a flash of someone who was went across his mind. This shows that in Gene’s mind, Finny is constantly being pictured and the guilt weighs Gene down from being able to do anything.