Finny's Characters

John Knowles, the author of the historical fiction novel A Separate Peace , used his characters to explore concepts related to youth and maturation. The four most prominent characters he utilizes are Brinker Hadley, Elwin “Leper” Lepellier, Gene Forester, and Phineas. Brinker and Leper are used by Knowles to contrast Gene and Finny as characters, highlight their relationship, and exemplify the different forms of friendship.
Brinker is the character that is most used to contrast Gene and Finny’s individual character traits. Gene, the narrator, notes that “[He] liked Brinker in spite of his Winter Session efficiency” (Knowles 87). This “Winter Session efficiency” is the core of Brinker’s character, and it is in direct juxtaposition with Finny’s youthful summertime free-spiritedness. During the summer session, the rules were temporarily loosened, and Finny dominated. When the regular Winter Session began, Brinker claims his plane as the dominant student of the term and becomes the character that symbolizes discipline and
Gene, as the narrator, is inherently biased. Therefore, the only outside sources the reader has are other characters, namely Brinker and Leper. For example, Brinker states that “[Gene’s] been putting of enlisting in something for only one reason…, and I’ll tell you what it is. It’s Finny. You pity him” (Knowles 160). This quote tells the reader that the problems in Gene and Finny’s dynamic are apparent to others in the story. The rivalry, the conflict, and the guilt is not only in Gene’s head. Indeed, later in the book, after Gene receives a letter from Leper requesting his presence in Vermont, Leper accuses Gene of being a “savage underneath” (Knowles 145). Leper then goes on to cite how Gene crippled Finny. These two scenes give the reader a perspective grounded in reality and far removed from Gene’s rationalizations and Finny’s