Gene and Finny initiate their summer of 1942 with the false perception that their friendship is flawless. At the beginning of the story, Gene seems to accept Finny's superior athletic ability, but he resents what he feels was Finny flaunting his abilities. Finny demonstrates his superior agility to Gene when he grabs Gene's hand, lending him support when he loses his balance during one of their routine jumps from a towering tree. Gene feels that he s

As Gene's envy and paranoia take over him, he is drawn farther from the truth that lies within his brotherhood with Phineas. When Gene realizes that his only advantage over Finny is his mind, he begins competing with Finny. His paranoia leads him to believe that Phineas has "deliberately set out to wreck [his] studies." Finny's only objective is to have fun with his best friend, however Gene sees it as Phineas' attempt to keep him from studying for his examinations. As Gene tries to unravel Finny's fiendish scheme, he isolates himself from what his friendship is about. He feels as if he "[doesn't] know Finny at all;" as if the Finny he had loved months ago is not the same as the Finny he detests now. Gene paranoia and jealousy finally drive him to injure Finny by jouncing the limb where he is standing. Gene later denies that he has anything to do with the accident, stating that it is the "first clumsy action [he] had ever seen [Finny] make."

hould not feel any "rush of gratitude toward Phineas," because he does not like feeling clumsier than Finny. Instead, he blames his pre

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 729
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)