A Seprate Peace

Finny How Things Change In the novel "A Separate Peace," by John Knowles, a boy named Gene visits his high school 15 years after graduating in order to find an inner peace. While attending the private boys school during the second World War, Gene's best friend Phineas died and Gene knows he was partially responsible. Phineas, or Finny as he was sometimes called, was the most popular boy in school. He was a handsome, taunting, daredevil …

…blood stream stopping his heart. When Gene heard this news he didn't cry. Gene felt that, along with Phineas, he himself had died, and you don't cry at your own funeral. Gene went back to his school to come to grips with the fact that he was partially responsible for Finny's death. Finny was not perfect; D's on his tests and bad grades show that. But to Gene, Finny was perfect and always would be.