Finny has such unbelievable sportsmanship that games and competitions are just all for fun to him. When the boys visit the pool, they see A. Hopkins Parker’s name on the school record board for breaking the swimming record from 1940. When Finny decides to see if he can break it, he does. Gene insists on getting a coach to be witness to change Parker to Phineas, Finny refuses saying, “…I just wanted to see if I could do it. Now I know. But I don’t want to do it in public.” (Pg. 35) This shows how modest Finny is. Another way Finny shows sportsmanship is how he thinks that no one is ever a loser, “Finny never permitted himself to realize that when you won, they lost. That would have destroyed the perfect beauty which was sport. Nothing bad ever happened in sports; they were the absolute good” (Pg. 27) A place in the novel where Finny is displays his love for games is when he creates Blitzball although it was a game in which he shined due to its rules, so did others. The game, like all others he participates in, was enjoyable and exciting, much like Finny.
Finny is someone who is so caring that he inspires all around him, and never destroys anything, not hope, not people. A good example of how Finny inspires is when he and Gene go to the beach. Gene obviously found the short excursion to the beach a pleasurable one, “…he enjoyed himself hugely, he laughed out loud…And he did everything he could think of for me.”(Pg. 39) Another example of the students’ spirits being lightened is when Finny establishes the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session. Through out the involvement in the society it takes the boys’ minds away from the war and turmoil and into a fantasy world like boys playing games in the back yard when they were little. Finally, the snowball fight, which turns into an “every man for himself” battle, is a time when the boys can just relax and have fun. These are examples of how Finny brings laughter and happiness into what would other wise be the students’ routine school lives.
Through Finny’s friendly attitude, he has an incapability to see enemies. When it comes to Gene, he views him as being his best friend not as being the two faced friend that he really becomes. One main example of this blindness is when Gene attempts to tell Finny that he was the one who knocked him out of the tree, and that he did it purposely, “‘I jounced the limb. I caused it.’ One more sentence. ‘I deliberately jounced the limb so you would fall off.’ He looked older than I had ever seen him. ‘Of course you didn’t.’” (Pg. 62) Another instance is when Finny invents the idea of the Winter Carnival in order to lighten up the students’ situations. Finny obviously thinks that this short moment of relaxation and happiness will help all the others take their mind off the dreary weather and war, which Finny still does not believe is taking place. Also, a good occasion in the book, which illustrates that Finny refuses to believe in enemies, is when he discusses how the war is fictitious. He says that he believes it was though up by the “‘Fat old men who don’t want us crowding them out of their jobs.’”(Pg. 107) He applies this theory to other low points in history such as Prohibition and The Depression. All of these cases demonstrate how harmonious and innocent Finny really is.
Though out the novel, there are many examples to prove how Finny is the living definition of peace. Finny’s point of view helps him keep a calm mind for the duration the war. During the time of struggle they must cope with, this harmonious outlook is hard to come by. If so many people in the world took this more serene attitude, it would be possible for everyone to co-exist without conflicts.
