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
mature responsibility. As for his role as a foil to Gene, cliffsnotes.com states that “As a successful, convention student leader, Brinker stands in contrast to…Gene (the unquestioned follower)” (Higgins). Brinker's self confidence and easy authority calls attention to Gene’s own status as an insecure follower.
Brinker, along with Leper, also makes light of the reality of Gene and Finny’s relationship with each other.
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
denial.
Finally, Brinker and Leper both exemplify the other, healthier varieties of friendship between teenagers. Starting with Brinker again, after the quote about how Gene pities Finny, he goes on to say “And if you don’t watch out, he’s going to start pitying himself…He’s crippled and that’s that. He’s got to accept it, and unless we start acting perfectly natural about it, even kid him about it once in a while, he never will” (Knowles 160). It is an admirable sentiment, and what Brinker is suggesting what a person who was properly trying to help their friend move on would try. Gene’ however, is compromised because of his own guilt and the co-dependent nature of his Gene’s relationship. He would rather enable Finny’s delusion and sweep the incident away to be forgotten. With Leper, Gene has a much less involved and much healthier relationship than he does with Finny. They like and talk to each other, but aren’t dependent on the other’s company. Being involved with Finny for most of his year was toxic to Gene’s psyche and vice versa for Finny. Relationships like the ones Gene has with Brinker and Leper should make up the majority of a teenagers interact with his peers.
In conclusion, Brinker and Leper serve the very important purpose of contrasting and highlighting the aspects Gene and Finny’s characters and relationship. They both provide insight and an outside perspective that Gene is unable to provide is the novel’s narrator. The presence of characters like these round out the first-person perspective of John Knowles’ A Separate Peace.