To what extent does Knowles make the reader sympathise with Gene While he is in the butt room?

One of
the ways in which Knowles makes the reader sympathize with Gene is by having him caught off
guard by the accusations levied against him. Although Gene has thus far been unable to admit to
himself that he intentionally caused Finnys accident, he is (and we, the readers, are) aware of
a hint of guilt that he is starting to feel. Genes creeping realization that his own dark
jealousy may be responsible for Finnys accident, and the guilt that he is feeling, makes him
less of a monster to us and more human. This allows us to not hate Gene but to almost feel pity
him and his demons. When he goes down to the Butt room to have a cigarette, Brinker suddenly
makes Finnys accident the focus of the roomin particular Genes role in it. Gene is caught off
guard and is fighting his own inner battle while trying to deflect attention from himself. He
deflects what has become an interrogation by his curious classmates by embracing the role of the
villain and getting into character. He pretends as though it is obvious that he caused the
accident, and in a flamboyant manner, he describes all the ways he may have done it. He singles
out his questioners and embarrasses them, and we are relieved when the group does not suspect
him of his crime but laughs with him. Even though we know that what Gene has done is wrong, we
cant help but feel conflicted about his fate, as we understand his motives as well as his
regret; it isnt hard to imagine that his error was made in a split second that he would take
back if he could.