Assignment #2: "Re-read Gene’s recognition of his use of sarcasm in the middle of page 29. In what ways has young Gene revealed himself to be weak and then to use sarcasm to mask this weakness?" (Rohan)

Gene uses sarcasm to make himself feel better because he thinks Finny is better than he is. After having tea with the Head Minister, Gene reflects on Finny’s actions by saying “He got away with everything because of the extraordinary person he was” (Knowles 28).  He thinks of Finny as this incredible person, and yet he wants to be more like him, like how he said earlier in the book that he envies him and his character. However, after the tea, Gene pokes fun at Finny by saying “You, Talk too much? How can you accuse me of accusing me of that.” (Knowles 29). After that, he stated that “Sarcasm [was] the protest for people who are weak.” (Knowles 29). He later realized that he was just using sarcasm to make himself feel better. Gene was trying to make fun of Finny in not too harsh of a way, but he wanted to make him feel like he had done something wrong, in this case, talk too much. He did this because he felt that Finny was better than him, so when he had done something wrong, Gene would point it out so he could feel like Finny wasn't as perfect as he thought.