A Separate Peace

Gene explains that the relationships at the Devon School are based on competition. However, this competition seems to be largely an invention of Gene’s insecurities. In his friendship with Finny, Gene creates his own inner competition without realizing that the rivalry is not mutual. He builds up an unspoken resentment toward his friend that comes to a head when Gene shakes the tree branch that results in Finny’s fall. Before Finny’s accident, Gene locks himself into competition with Finny because the two are polar opposites. In Finny, Gene sees a boy who excels in every way that Gene does not. Gene is quiet, serious, and introverted while Finny is outgoing and charming. Finny is a born leader, and Gene is a follower. Finny is the best athlete on campus while Gene barely participates in sports. However, this also means that Gene succeeds where Finny does not. Gene easily surpasses Finny academically. Although Gene’s impulsivity causes Finny’s injury, Finny’s careless daredevil nature places them in the tree in the first place. While Gene admits that he is afraid every time they jump from the tree, this represents a sense of self-preservation that Finny does not seem to have.

Finny’s disinterest in competition results from a lack of insecurity. His actions baffle Gene, who cannot imagine not needing validation. When Finny breaks the swimming record, for example, a confused Gene imagines that Finny must have been trying to impress him. Gene can’t comprehend Finny’s desire to break the record simply because he can. Jostling the tree limb takes away Finny’s one measurable area of excellence: his athletic abilities. But it also saves Gene from having to continue the ritual of jumping out of the tree when he feels that he cannot extract himself without losing face. When Finny tells Gene that their secret society is “only a game” (54), Gene realizes that Finny has not been trying to sabotage his grades in the name of competition. If Finny has not been distracting Gene in order to destroy his academic standing, then he has actually been including Gene in his escapades because he is a good friend. Finny, who always wins, simply doesn’t understand competition. This revelation shows that Finny, who does not share Gene’s pettiness, is also a better friend and a morally superior person.

Unlike Gene, whose competitiveness and insecurities become toxic, the rest of the boys in their class do not seem to take competition to such a dangerous level. Their “suicide society” shows that Gene is in a class of his own in terms of rivalry and competition. None of the other boys are willing to risk jumping, but Gene does so repeatedly in order to keep Finny from winning. As Gene strives to become valedictorian, he criticizes Chet Douglass, his competition, for allowing his passion for learning to get in the way of his grades. Similarly, Leper enjoys skiing and studying nature, but hates the idea of racing on skis because skiing is meant to be pleasurable rather than competitive. Of Gene’s friends, Brinker has the most defined competitive edge. He dominates campus organizations and, as Gene describes, prefers politics to sports, which is another sort of competition. When Brinker decides to enlist instead of finishing school, he transcends schoolboy competitions, and that edge does not come back when Finny returns to campus and Gene decides not to enlist. Brinker quits all of his clubs and societies. However, when Brinker holds a trial to find out the cause of Finny’s accident, regardless of what Finny wants, he is challenging Gene to a competition. That moment is his comeback. But through Finny’s death, both Gene and Brinker learn that ruthless rivalries come at a serious cost.