Phineas and gene a comparitive
Phineas and gene a comparitivePhineas and Gene: A Comparative Study
Throughout the story, Phineas and Gene, the two main characters, showed a number of contrasting traits. Phineas was a confident, non competitive, naive, irresponsible, and unintelligent person throughout the story, whereas Gene, Phineas' roommate, was insecure, competitive, mature, responsible, and intelligent throughout the story.
Phineas had a confident nature in everything he did. As Phineas and Gene first met, they noticed they were both the same height, but Phineas, being confident, said, "Where did you get that dizzy shirt?"(100). Only a person with extreme confidence could have insulted someone they just met because the other person could have easily struck back to cause a conflict, but Phineas' confident nature helped him get through the situation as he laughed his way through the conversation. Another example which showed Phineas' confidence occurred during a conversation he had with Gene. Even though Phineas did not know Gene, he felt perfectly comfortable talking about his sexual history. The author explained what Phineas was talking about as he stated, " He had experienced it three times, and gave detailed, completely matter-of-fact and unboastful accounts of all three."(101). If Phineas was not a confident person, he would not have shared his story with a complete stranger. Gene, on the other hand, was a very insecure person. The reader was able to see Gene's insecurities when he first tried to have a conversation with Phineas. His roommate was being very explicit in revealing the stories of his past, but when it came for Gene's turn to tell his stories he felt his "ideas would have been as dull as catechism after his;"(101). If Gene was confident, he would have been comfortable in partaking in the
conversation between him and his roommate. Another example displaying Gene's insecure nature occurred after Phineas ridiculed him for his choice of shirt. After a small argument between the two, Gene gave in and admitted to himself that his shirt was dizzy by saying, " It was right"(103) when replying to a rude comment Phineas made on his shirt. If Gene was more secure in his own choices, he could have stood up for himself, and not let anyone cut him up or insult his choice of shirt.
One definite difference between Phineas and Gene was their competitive natures. Phineas was a naturally talented athlete who excelled in every sport he played and did not have the need to compete with others. An example of Phineas just finding the fun in sports and not being competitive occurred when he was discussing football with Gene. Phines explained, "In a sport you've got to be loose..you have to invent something new all the time"(104). When Phineas said this, he explained how he enjoyed the fun out of games and not the aggressiveness about it. When Phineas was explaining football to Gene, he stated, "It's just like those damn push-ups and knee-bends today,"(104). Phineas did not like the fact he had to follow rules...
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