Assignment #11: Explain the significance of the last paragraph: "I did not cry then or ever about Finny. I did not cry even when I stood watching him being lowered into his family's strait-laced burial ground outside of Boston. I could not escape a feeling that this was my own funeral, and you do not cry in that case."

Gene feels that Finny's death is his own funeral, because of their shared connection and because of Gene's loss of innocence now that somebody close to him has died. Finny was the first one to cement their relationship by living his life through Gene, and now Gene is dying his death through Finny. Their relationship has come full circle, which is a fitting conclusion to the book. When Finny first says that "Gene will have to play sports for him" (Knowles 85) and when Gene decides that his purpose is to "become a part of Finny," (Knowles 85) this is when their shared life begins. Gene figures that since that phone call, they have shared an identity, and that means part of himself is dying with Phineas. Gene decides it is morally wrong to cry at your own funeral, that it diminishes your "manliness." Finny has already lost his manliness by being a coward and lying to the world. Do you think Gene's character will become even less righteous?