“Was damned if I’d climb it,” said Gene (6)when he returned to the tree that Phineas and he had jumped out of so many times when they were students at the Devon School for boys. This was only fourteen years ago and there is no way that he could jump out of this tree now. There was nothing physically wrong with him that he could not climb the tree once again and just jump out of it like he had when Phineas was around.
This tree reminded him of all of the things that had happened to Phineas and that they all started at this tree when he had given the tree limb the slightest little nudge. This slight nudge caused Finny to fall and end his sports career. He doesn’t even know now if he meant to wiggle the limb or if it was an accident. He knew that there was no way he could climb this tree now, for the tree had changed, and so had he.
This was definitely the tree that Phineas and he had jumped from during the summer session at the Devon School. Finny always had some crazy idea, but this one ruined his life forever. Finny always had to be the one to think up a crazy idea like this. He knew that no Upper Middler had ever jumped from this tree before and he had to be the first. Gene was still physically capable of climbing the tree and jumping out, but the times had changed and so had the tree. “Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence,” stated Gene (6).The tree had changed, he had changed, and the mood had changed. Phineas was not there to urge him to climb up the pegs on the side of the tree and edge out on that limb until he could go no further unless he jumped. He never wanted to climb that tree when he was at Devon before, but he couldn’t let Phineas outdo him. Until Finny got hurt the second time, Gene saw him as his rival, not as his friend.
Gene just had to see the tree, but he’d be damned if he’d climb it. The memories about what had happened at that tree had been cooped up inside him for too long and he had to see the tree one more time to release those memories. With all of the changes that had happened in his life, he always thought about how Finny never had that chance to change the world. He always blamed himself for what had happened. Now Gene sees that things are meant to happen and that nothing ever stays the same. It is not possible for something not to change. If it didn’t change then it wouldn’t be real. In his mind Gene tried to keep everything the way it was. He now realizes that those memories have changed and so has everything else.