Here, however, Gene provides. This verbalization, nonetheless, is only found when he is not in the homosocial environment of Devon. Finny makes his faltering proclamation at the beach. He concedes to Gene:. Not only is Finny able to verbalize his emotions for Gene here, but he also points to the selective nature of their bond. This declaration is very close to ideas of monogamous relationships suggesting an exclusive partnership between the two. I started to; I nearly did.
But some- thing held me back. Gene admits that he wanted to affirm his longing, but also there was something forbidding that prevents him from doing so. Gene recognizes the homosexual love for Finny, but he panics and cannot express his feelings for Finny. While Gene has a hard time verbalizing his feelings and, at times, inwardly admitting his feelings toward Phineas, he does acknowledge that he has some fondness for Phineas.
Gene is equally aware of the animosity between himself and Finny. Gene thinks that Finny is trying to sabotage his grades and begins to resent him. Despite his intermittent recognition of his desire for Finny, Gene never acts on it. He is sadly aware of his inability to express these feeling, when Finny falls for the second time.
Gene, however, is not participating in the activities because the intensity of his relationship with Phineas leads him to suppress his urges, lest homosexual panic consume him. Gene still cannot outwardly express his desires, but he is able to covertly and enigmatically act on his longing for Finny. This seemingly innocent act later evolves to become a form of sexual displacement. They are the only two to jump from the tree, which Finny acknowledges as a bond they now share.
The eroticism between these two characters immediately intensifies as they begin to wrestle. Evidence can also be found later on in the story that Finny reciprocates these feelings. An example of which is when Finny first gets back to Devon after his leg was broken and greets Gene, who had spent the day shoveling snow off of railroad tracks. Finny jokes about the condition of Genes clothes, and then switches to complimenting Genes sweat-stained undershirt.
There Gene sees he has become Finny "to the life. Unexpectedly, Gene feels free, daring, confident — just like Finny. For a moment, Gene has become Finny's double. In a sense, Gene and Finny have been each other's doubles since the beginning of the novel.
In the first description of the boys standing together by the tree, the narrator makes clear that they resemble each other physically to a remarkable extent. Their heights and weights are nearly identical, although Finny weighs about ten pounds more than Gene. But the crucial ten pounds, Gene notes with envy, are distributed evenly over Finny's body. Finny, therefore, does not look like Gene with extra weight.
Instead, next to Gene, Finny's entire physique looks more filled out, somehow more striking. This weight difference, "galling" to Gene, seems to prove that Finny stands as the larger, more substantial, somehow more generous, of the two. For Gene, then, Finny represents another version of himself, only better and more powerful. How does Finny represent innocence? What is the main conflict of a separate peace? Is a separate peace in first person?
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