A Separate Piece Character Analysis

In A Separate Piece by John Knowles, it is about a boy named Gene Forrester who becomes friends with Phineas (Finny). They are best friends and roommates in Devon School in New Hampshire during the 1940’s. They decide to make a secret society (Super Suicide Society) which turns jumping out of a tall tree into a river a ritual. Gene starts envying Finny and wonders if Finny is trying to ruin his grades since Finny only exceeds physically and not mentally. He soon starts to hate Finny and think differently of him. After a while, Gene realizes that he was wrong about Finny trying to sabotage him. They decide to make amends by jumping off of the tree together. When Finny is about to jump off, Gene bends his legs which caused Finny to fall off and break his leg. After his leg heals, a trial is held to figure out if Gene is responsible for Finny’s broke leg. Finny runs out and trips over marble steps. He breaks his leg again and gets surgery which leads to his death. Gene should be held legally responsible over the death of Finny. He was the cause pf the first fall and he has guilt over his death. Finny would not have died if it wasn’t for the first fall that tragically broke his leg.