Since the
story is told by Gene, we tend to sympathize with him. People are most often the heroes of their
own stories. However, Knowles also uses ominous description and dialogue in this scene to
encourage our sympathies to lie with Gene.
The butt room itself is described
in ominous terms as a place of entrapment. It is likened to a "dungeon," and because
it is the place the boys go to smoke, the school administration tries to make it as unpleasant
as possible. We learn it is small, has a low ceiling, small dirty windows,
"mutiliated" tables, ashy colored walls, and a concrete floor. This gives us a sense
of unease, as does Brinker's aggressive move as they enter the room:
Heres your prisoner, gentlemen, announced Brinker, seizing my neck
and pushing me into the Butt Room ahead of him.
While
Brinker taunts Gene about Phineas and threatens him with a trial, the boys in the room grill
Gene in an ominous way about what he did to Finny. One student, for example, states:
So, you killed him, did you?
Gene tries to laugh it all off by telling absurd and exaggerated stories, but we fully
feel his unease. The boy who asks if he killed Finny is described as sounding "tense."
He also "uncoiled" from the couch, as if ready to spring at Gene. Although Gene tries
to stay joking and cool as he informs them of things they know are untrue, such as giving Finny
arsenic, the many ellipses (...) that show him pausing and hesitating testify to his unease.
When it comes to joking about pushing Finny out of the tree, Gene says "I could feel my
throat closing."
Over all, a sense of danger that builds our sympathy
for Gene hangs over the butt room, both because of its dungeon-like appearance and the pointed
way the boys grill Gene. On the other hand, we know Gene is guilty of purposely shaking the
tree, so despite our sympathy for him, we wonder if his guilt should or will be
exposed.
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