A Separate Peace - Resentment and Change In the novel "A Separate Peace", by John Knowles, a boy named Gene visits his high school 15 years later graduate in to find inner peace. While attending an all-boys private school during World War II, 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, provocative and reckless athlete. Gene, on the other hand, was a reclusive, self-sufficient intellectual. Somehow the two became good friends, or so Finny thought. Gene, unfortunately, was bitten by the green-eyed jealousy monster. Gene simply couldn't accept the idea that someone of Finny's stature would want to be his friend. Gene's envy grew to the point that he was willing to seriously hurt Finny because he was too perfect. Unfortunately for Finny, Gene succeeded. Finny's apparent perfection, his strong beliefs, and his ability to forgive trace his development throughout the novel. Finny's apparent perfection was the basis of Gene's resentment towards him. Gene thought everything Finny did was perfect, which shocked him even more. Finny was so perfect that he didn't care what others thought, like when Finny wore a pink shirt as an emblem after the bombing of Central Europe. "'...Pink! Makes you look like a fairy!' “Really?” He used this worried tone when he thought of something more interesting than what you told him.” Once Finny and Gene were at the pool when Finny noticed that a boy named A. Hopkins Parker held the record for the 100-yard freestyle. When Finny realized that A. Hopkins Parker had graduated before their arrival, he remarked, "I have a feeling I can swim faster than A. Hopkins Parker." He was right. Gene was ecstatic that Finny could do something like that without any training or anything. All Gene could say was, "You're too good to be true." In a way it was. Throughout the book Gene knows that Finny has some strong beliefs. The first three he noted were: "Never say you're five foot seven when you're actually five foot seven"; "Always say a few prayers in the evening because it might turn out that God exists"; and “You always win in sports.” The last of the three was great because for Finny all you had to do was play to win at a sport. Unfortunately, this all got to the point where jealousy got the best of Gene and caused him to hurt Finny. Gene and Finny had started a Super Suicide Society which included a jump from both Finny and Gene at the start of each meeting. This time Finny had the idea to jump both at the same time. They were in the tree with Finny farther away on the jumping branch when Gene's "... knees buckled and I jerked the branch." Finny fell and broke his leg. Gene was overcome with grief because he had shattered his best friend's leg. The most athletic person in school could no longer play sports. Gene finally found the courage to go to Finny and tell him the truth about the cause of the fall. However when he got to him it was Finny who apologized, saying, "I'm sorry, Gene", meaning he regretted the feeling he had that Gene had actually made him fall. Finny believed that a friend would never do such a thing. Finny was a great person and one of his best qualities was his ability to forgive. Gene and Finny became friends again once Finny was able to return to school. Everything seemed fine until the boy in the room on the other side.