Chapter 4 Summary

The morning after the trip to the beach, Gene has a trigonometry test. Finny on the other hand is not bothered by this and is not bothered about Gene’s concerns about the test. He is instead excited about sneaking another swim at the beach before class — a plan that Gene once again goes along with. They barely make it back to class in time for the test, but due to their time spent enjoying the waters the previous day and this morning, Gene fails to prepare for the test. He fails it. Seeing Gene pouring over his books in his room, Finny teases Gene for being too serious about tests and studies. He also teases Gene about wanting to be the valedictorian of his class. Gene, despite initially denying this accusation, suddenly wonders why being the valedictorian would be a bad thing.

Putting more thought into it, Gene concludes that Finny, being one that struggles with academics, wants to prevent Gene from excelling in studies and thereby outshining him. Gene by now knows that there is no way he could ever compete with Finny in athletics. Finny is also incredibly charming and well-liked by most people, even teachers. Gene’s competitive spirit pushes him to find a way to stand on par or exceed Finny. Thus, he comes to the belief that despite Finny’s outstanding talents, if he manages to become the valedictorian, then he would become even with Finny.

Gene checks with Finny if he would have a problem with Gene becoming a valedictorian. Finny responds that he would kill himself out of jealousy if Gene became the valedictorian, a statement that Finny makes jestingly, but which Gene takes seriously. Gene now suddenly realizes that with Finny now becoming his rival, there is nobody else in Devon or outside of it that he can trust and call a friend. He finds respite in the assumption that him and Finny are now even, as both of them want to be better than the other. This feud between friendship and rivalry within Gene prompts him to a conclusion that Finny has been actively hampering Gene’s efforts at doing well in his studies, enough to ensure he would do better than Finny. This ultimately pushes Gene to actively put in efforts to do well in academics, and though Finny continues to be seen by Gene as a rival to beat, Gene also still considers him a friend and gets along with Finny.

Time flies as Gene continues pushing himself into his studies. As the two boys inch closer to their final exams, Gene lacks confidence concerning his level of preparation for the exams. Moreover, the activities of the Suicide Society continue to interfere with his studies, with Finny getting them to jump off the tree at every meeting. Gene, despite knowing the distraction that this is causing him, continues to join Finny to go to the meetings and jump as he believes that this too is an integral facet of their rivalry. One day, while Gene is studying, Finny interrupts him to get a Suicide Society meeting going. Finny tells Gene that Leper has finally decided to do the jump and join the club. Gene slams his book shut and is quite angry at being interrupted, but Finny pretends to not notice the passive aggressive display. Gene then musters the strength to tell Finny that he is tired of the secret society and the jumps as they interrupt his studies. Finny responds by telling Gene to stay, not to come to the meeting and to focus on his studies, hearing which Gene is stunned. When Gene now insists that he come along, Finny replies by saying that Gene should be focusing on his studies because he is good at it, unlike himself. Finny underplays himself by saying that it would be pointless for him to study as he was going to be bad at it anyways. Gene’s perception of Finny was that he would do anything possible to prevent Gene from studying and excelling in it, and yet his perception was proven wrong. Finny says he would never be able to excel at academics like Gene. This makes Gene realize that the rivalry that he had built in his head between himself and Finny has never existed. He realizes that him and Finny are not “of the same quality” at all, and this realization only makes Gene despise Finny even more. Still, Gene decides to follow Finny to the river anyways and do the jump.

Once the two boys reach the river to meet up for the Suicide Society, Finny tells the group that he and Gene will be taking the first jump together at the same time. Finny wanted himself and Gene to hit the water together. By now, Gene no more has any fear of the jump. He climbs up the tree together with Finny and is right behind him on the limb, hugging the trunk. Finny tells him to move along and get just behind him so that the jump can be simultaneous. When Gene moves forward and bends his knee, he jounces the limb of the tree, throwing Finny off balance. From Gene’s perspective, time seemed to slow down at that moment, the moment when Finny turns around to look at him at the instant before he falls down onto the bank of the river in a crash. Gene does not seem worried about Finny, and casually does the jump from the tree and into the river.

Chapter 4 Analysis

Gene’s failure at the test after their adventure to the beach leads him to blame Finny for his failure, although he very much had the choice to not waste his day away at the beach. Gene here is shown to posit the blame that he deserves onto Finny, and this process helps justify the pieces of irrational dislike for Finny that he carries. These switches between admiration and dislike seem recurring now, just as recurring as Gene’s proclivity toward transference of his own culpability or blame or responsibility onto Finny.

After failing his test, Gene also convinces himself, and also the readers, that there is a very real rivalry brewing between himself and Finny. Moreover, Gene regresses in his commitment to the friendship with Finny when he moves beyond just assigning transferring blame onto Finny. Gene believing that Finny intentionally is trying to sabotage his attempts at studying is a position that automatically characterizes Finny as a calculative and devious character, something which is the opposite of what Finny has displayed throughout his time with Gene, for Finny values honesty significantly. Gene’s competitiveness further makes him believe that Finny’s admission of potential jealousy if Gene becomes the valedictorian is an admission of the competition between the two. Gene’s meaning making process is so skewed by his own self-indulgence that he seems to move further away from accepting Finny for who he is, toward looking at Finny through the looking glass of his own insecurity.

Finny’s admission of jealousy of Gene’s academic skills makes it seem like Gene’s assumptions about Finny is on point. One may even realize that while Finny may not care if people knew about his swimming record, he certainly seemed bothered when Leper judged Gene’s dive to be better than Finny’s. Finny’s competitiveness seems to extend to Gene alone, and this makes Gene’s understanding of Finny seem quite plausible. But Gene seems to ignore the difference in the nature of the two kinds of competitiveness. While Finny seems to not be working hard, is honest in admitting his feelings, and is competitive in a way that is good-natured and healthy, Gene’s competitiveness makes him bitter, fracture his bond with Finny one-sidedly, and associate malintent toward Finny’s casual actions.

When the end of the year approaches, the story shows the extent to which Gene has fractured the bond between the two. He is frustrated from having to go the Suicide Society meetings with Finny, but instead of voicing his concerns earlier, he waits till he cannot take it anymore. When the seeming tipping point approaches where Gene expresses this frustration to Finny, instead of doing something to protect himself or coerce Gene, Finny tells Gene to do what he wants to do, which is study. Finny crushes Gene’s assumptions of competition between the two, including any assumption of malintent from Finny’s side. Gene then realizes that the competition that drove him to work harder, attend club meetings and push himself had never existed, and instead of feeling better or relieved, Gene only devolves further into the abyss of malcontent and bitterness. What was supposed to be a friendship with traces of rivalry and competition has now been tainted to such an extent within Gene’s mind that the only thing holding his bond with Finny was the sense of competition. The vacuum left behind after the disappearance of competition seemingly destroyed any sense of bond that Gene had with Finny. Finny still considered Gene his best friend, one he would love to see succeed in what he was good at, even at the cost of not doing their jumps together from the tree. Gene was never honest about his real feelings toward Finny, and when he sensed turmoil strike his bond toward Finny, instead of honestly expressing his feelings or resolving them, or even going back to his books for his own good, Gene suppressed it all and chose to go the river anyways.

Jumping from the river was not just an act of adventure for Finny, or just a rite of passage for students heading to war, but a ritual between him and Gene that reinforces their bond every time they jumped. The first jump that Gene did made him Finny’s best friend. Even when Finny knew that Gene making valedictorian would come at the cost of not doing these jumps, he chooses Gene’s success over their ritual or bonding. He expressed his feelings toward Gene unlike with others, he confessed his true feelings about the war, and he made it clear that he appreciated honesty from all. Gene’s first jump from the tree was a form of a trust fall in Finny’s mind. A friend who would fall for Finny is a friend that Finny could trust. And when Gene was going to fall from the tree, Finny showed by action that he could be trusted by Gene by saving him. When Gene jounces the branch before Finny could jump, causing Finny to suffer a dangerous fall, Gene broke all of Finny’s trust. Gene had never trusted in Finny, and his friendship toward Finny turned into competitiveness and rivalry, voiding all codes of friendship. Not only did Gene not catch or reach out to Finny when he slipped, but the cause of the fall was Gene himself. And instead of showing shock, remorse or sadness, Gene feels almost nothing, casually moving forward and jumping into the water, as if Finny did not matter anymore, their bond and relationship nonexistent in Gene’s mind.