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He concludes that he should not feel any gratitude towards his roommate.
Since everything seems to come so easily and naturally to Finny, especially his
athletic abilities, Gene grows insanely jealous of him. The jealousy is
carefully hidden inside until he can stand it no more. He causes Finny to fall
out of the tree, crippling him for life. By hurting him, Gene could bring him
down to his level. After the accident, Gene even sees himself as Finny. He
dresses in his roommate's clothes and says, I was Phineas, Phineas to the life.
He also becomes the crippled Finny, refusing to participate in sports, since
Finny cannot do it. After the accident, Gene is riddled with guilt and shame.
During summer vacation, he decides he must confess that he has caused the
accident to Finny. He goes to his home, where he is recovering, and tries to
tell Finny that he has bounced him out of the tree. Finny refuses to believe the
story, for he trusts Gene as his best friend in life. When Finny returns to
Devon, he tells Gene that he is going prepare him for the next Olympics. The
agreement is that Finny will coach Gene in sports, and Gene will coach Finny in
his studies. During the winter, Gene participates in a winter carnival that
Finny has organized. He easily wins all of the sporting events, proving that
Finny's efforts have paid off. But Gene is still not at peace with himself. The
war that is raging in Europe, and his internal war, driven by guilt and shame.
When the friendship between Pinny and Gene strengthens, Gene gets motivated by
Leper’s telegram to join the Navy. Gene lets go of Pinny and goes off to find
Leper. Gene sees that Leper has gone crazy from the internal conflict. When
Leper describes himself as a psycho, Gene is has a fear because he is afraid
that this will also happen to him. When Leper suggests that Gene has caused
Finny to fall from the tree, Gene's fear turn into actions. He reacts violently,
kicking the chair from underneath causing Leper to fall. Gene obviously feels
threatened that somebody else knows the truth about what he has done to Finny.
Returning from Leper's house, Gene joins in a student snowball fight organized
by Finny. As they playfully wage a war, far removed from the real world war that
haunts them, Gene tries to kid himself into believing that he is at peace with
himself. He genuinely believes that there is no longer a conflict between him
and Finny because Finny has been brought down to his level. Additionally, Finny
has confessed his absolute faith and trust in Gene. Brinker, one of the
students, senses that Gene is living a lie. Suspecting that he is responsible
for Finny's accident, he then organizes a student trial in the First Building.
Finny and Gene are both brought in for questioning.
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