Journal Number 2- Seperate Peace

Finny’s falling from the tree marked a turning point in the psyche of Gene. At this point in the story Gene realized that Finny was not jealous of him and his academic excellence. This realization, found when they were on their way to a Society meeting and Gene wanted to continue to study his French, filled Gene with anger and frustration. While he acted upon it by stepping on the branch to make it bounce while his friend was precariously perched above the shore, Finny is not the one that Gene should be mad at. In fact, as the story develops through the ninth chapter, it turns out that he will begin to turn into a Finny because the old Finny is no longer.

            Gene was always jealous of Finny, a typical teenage boy emotion. He wished to be as skilled in academics as Finny was in athletics. Gene wasn’t able to understand why Finny was so easy to forgive him for the incident, even when he nearly admitted to causing it out of anger. Gene doesn’t understand why Finny was not willing to share the fact that he was such an incredible athlete that he was able to break a record without training. Jealousy is a typical teenage emotion, and Knowles does an incredible job of portraying it through Gene’s relationship with Finny.

            Finny experienced a palpable change with the injury, although he did retain some traits that make him noticeably Finny. Obviously he was no longer able to do sports, but despite this he wasn’t angry with Gene. Even in the hospital and laid up at his own home, Finny always gave Gene his unique form of friendship. When he returned to Devon (an interesting day for Gene) instead of feeling sorry for himself and moping about not being able to do sports his only complaint was that there were no longer maids. Hobbling around the campus on crutches and slipping on the snow and ice and still his only complaint was the maids. He doubled his efforts in school with the guilt-driven help of Gene and he adjusted his goal of making the Olympics to instead help Gene get there. This was one of the main points that Gene notices his transformation into Finny.

            A surprise phone call from Finny on the first day of school began his change. When Gene revealed that he was planning on overseeing a sport instead of participating Finny spoke up and told him that because he was unable to means that Gene must. What Finny was not aware of was that Gene was incredibly guilty and short on the phone call because he knew that if it were not for his anger and jealousy, Finny could be participating in all the sports at Devon. Gene’s reaction when Finny told him to play sports: “I lost myself to him then, and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: become a part of Phineas.” When Finny returned to the school this purpose was only intensified. Not only did Gene tutor him and help him get around the school, but Finny made it his new goal to get Gene to the Olympics, working him out every second that he could. Finny still does not know that if it were not for Gene he may have been able to reach the goal for himself, but Gene’s guilt has put his goals in the hands of Finny. The life that he ended for someone else was quickly becoming his own.