"Because I have suffered." Those were the words Finny said that shocked Gene. Perhaps it was because he really was mad Gene for knocking him out of the tree. However, that seems extremely unlikely. Finny was once five-"foot"-eight-and-a-half blond athlete who everyone in the world looked up to because he was such a nice guy and so easy going. Finny was creative, innocent and brave, this was no surprise to everyone who knew him. Finny was truly a special person who made Devon boarding school what it was during the World War 2 era.

Finny was extremely creative. For example, in the beginning of the book when he and Gene missed dinner because they were jumping out of the tree, he made up such a convincing story that they didn't get into any trouble at all. His best friend Gene was amazed at this...