Phineas is also known as “Finny”, is one of the main characters in John Knowles, A Separate Peace. As Gene reminisces on his past a the Devon School, Finny, his best friend plays a key role in this book. Have you ever felt as if your best friend was always better than you? This is exactly how Gene feels. Finny has all of these likable traits that tend to make Gene jealous. As Gene and Finny’s friendship grows, they go through many obstacles together. Gene starts to uncover who Finny really is. What Gene doesn’t know is that his best friend may not be all what he’s made out to be. Finny has a numerous amount of friends, but even Gene doesn’t know what lies beneath. People in general tend to put on a mask and not reveal truly who they are, but once the mask starts to come off more of their personality is revealed, you realize …show more content…
He is also manipulative, and self-centered. He may not seem like this at first but once you get too know him you uncover traits you did not know before. Finny did not consist of only good traits; furthermore we had flaws just as everyone else. He was selfish and conceited. Multiple times he compelled Gene to do activities when he and Gene both knew that Gene should be studying. Gene, one day, discovered this new side to Finny and said, “I had detected that Finny’s was a den of lonely, selfish ambition.” Finny was also devious. He consistently tricked Gene into thinking it was okay to go out at night in place of studying. Gene only realized this when Finny first said, “You were very good,” said Finny good-humoredly, “once I shamed you into it.” “You didn’t shame anybody into anything.” “Oh yes I did. I’m good for you that way.” There is always more hidden underneath the surface. It may take time to figure out who this person is entirely, but once you find out you find a hole new side of this person you thought you knew. It took Gene some time to figure out who Finny truly