Finny never feels jealousy towards anyone; in contrast Gene becomes extremely jealous of Finny throughout the novel, a very human characteristic. Gene is very envious of Finny because of his great athletic ability and his amazing skill of persuasion. Gene speaks with envy of all the awards Finny has won. Here Gene thinks: "...After all he should talk. He had won..." (43) Gene continues to list the many accomplishments Finny has and the ones he will achieve in the future. It is natural for someone to feel jealous. Gene begins to think that Finny might be jealous of his academic success because Finny knows he can never have this ability. Here Gene interrogates Finny:

Opposite of Gene, Finny is so incredibly modest that he does not want any credits for his accomplishments. It is a normal emotion to feel pride when someone achieves a great act. Finny is very humble about his athletic ability. In this scene Finny has just broken the school swim record in front of only Gene. Gene requests that Finny try the swim again with witnesses so that the time will count officially. Here Finny replies: "No, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Now I know. But I don't want to do it in public." (35) Instead of feeling pride about his achievement, Finny acts with an abnormal amount of humility and does not want anyone to know. This is not the typical reaction of someone who has just accomplished something great. This seems very non-apropos for a normal human being thus characterizing Finny as inhuman again. In contrast, Gene wants to be the head of the class very badly. He wants the credit for being the smartest one. This shows that he has p!

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ride in something that he has toiled diligently for. Here Gene explains the situation: "I was more and more certainly becoming the best student in the school; Phineas was without a question the best athlete..." (47) Gene can say that he is one of the best students which he should be proud about, but Finny will never admit that he is without doubt the best athlete. This makes Finny's personality seem very unrealistic unlike Gene's personality that seems very humanistic.

had been alone, would have been thoroughly scolded for these acts. Gene's situation seems more real than Finny's.

Gene's character is very

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1131
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)