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   mshurn Teacher
   College - Freshman

   eNotes Editor

   The frame is completed in a subtle way on the final page of the novel with Gene's three-paragraph coda which begins "I never killed anybody . . . ." Instead of ending the flashback by returning to the opening setting (Devon 15 years after the story takes place), Knowles brings the story full-circle through Gene's voice as narrator. The Gene Forrester who speaks the coda in the novel's conclusion is the same adult narrator whose voice we heard in the beginning of the novel.

   This segue is developed very smoothly, beginning as the scene ends with Brinker and his father. As Gene the student goes about leaving Devon (even emptying his gym locker), his commentary is characterized by adult observation and insight, leading into the final, powerful three paragraphs of the novel.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/separate/gene-forrester

   http://www.enotes.com/separate/style

   http://www.enotes.com/separate/themes

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   Posted by mshurn on Sunday March 15, 2009 at 1:41 AM