'A Separate Peace': Phineas Idealism

In the book A Separate Peace, Phineas is a character who exudes idealism, as is shown in the rules of his game Blitzball. The rules of Blitzball can essentially be summed up in the third and most important of Finny’s commandments: “You always win at sports” (35). This is an undisputed rule of Blitzball; there is no winner, and the only purpose the game serves is for the players to have fun. This is shown when the ball is thrown at Leper Lepellier and Leper is scared and refuses the ball. Instead of ignoring this and possibly making Leper upset, Finny says “The reciever can refuse a pass if he happens to chose to …….We call that that the Lepellier Refusal” (39). In this passage, Finny is obviously creating rules just for the happiness of one
person, which shows that in his world, a major priority is for everyone to always be having fun. Another example of this is when Gene has the ball and Finny says to him “Don’t hog it!’ (37). Even though Gene is his best friend, he wants everyone to have a chance. Another priority of Finn’s is obviously fairness, as shown when he prevents an unfair play by Chet Douglass from being permitted: “...throwing himself [Chet] around my legs, knocking me down. ‘That naturally was completely illegal’” (38). The rules of Blitzball reflect on Finny’s priorities that are fun, fairness, and inclusion, which add up to a very idealistic disposition.