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exaggerated adjectives which is seen when gene says "Such an extraordinary athlete" this portrays genes idolization and submissiveness, the word "extraordinary"  captures genes perspective of finny.At one point in the extract when the boys were ready to jump off the tree finny sarcastically says " Do you want to go first "

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In this extract, John Knowles presents Finny as an optimistic leader through Gene's perspective and Finny's dialog. Gene's opinion about Finny giving them the idea of jumping fro the tree is that "Naturally Finny was going to be the first to try" shows Finny is the one that's going to set an example for them. Knowles uses repetition for "naturally" to show that Finny was born a leader. Finny's dialog "if I do it, you're all going to do it, aren't you?" shows that he kept being optimistic even though he was unsure of the others will also jump from the tree with him. He jumps from the tree to encourage his friends to jump too. Gene is portrayed as Finny's follower where he and three other boys "looked quietly back at him, and so he began taking off his clothes" instead of taking action, they just watched Finny take the lead as none of them are brave enough to jump. This is where Finny, instead of stopping or points at someone else to go first, takes the chance to jump first and encourage the others

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Knowles presents Finny as a dominant and self centered character through Gene's naive perspective.Finny leads the boys to jump off the tree "he was going to inveigle others,us,into trying it with him." This suggests that Finny controls everyone and anything Finny does the boys are expected to do as well.

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Knowles presents Finny as leader through Gene’s point of view. Gene believes that ‘naturally he was going to inveigle others, us’. The adverbial ‘naturally’ is repetition. This suggests that it was normal and usual for Finny to do so. The verb ‘inveigle’ means to persuade someone to do something through deception.

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How does Knowles present the characters Gene & Finny at this point of the novel?

In this extract of "A Separate Peace", Knowles portrays Finny as a risk-taking and care-free character while Gene portrayed as a meek and slavish character. In this extract, Gene and Finny are "playing tag in the river farther downstream" which shows that they're careless about what is happening around them, which is war, as other boys their age already rushed ahead of them towards it.
Towards the end of the chapter, Knowles changes the perspective of Finny and makes him seem a bit mature. "Here's my contribution to war" was said by Finny before he jumps off the limb first, which shows that he is starting to care about the war since at the start of the chapter he was completely careless about it since it didn't bother him.

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Knowles portrays Finny as bieng the boss and have in’s leadership qualities through Gene’s narrative voice when said”Naturally Finny was going to be the first”.Gene used the word ‘naturally’ to describe the fact that there was no discussion and thinking as Finny was the leader and he would be the first.The effect of this word is that

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Knowles utilises Genes narration to portray Finny’s role as a leader in this extract (chapter 1) of A Separate Peace. This is demonstrated when gene says “Naturally” towards finnys actions. The word “naturally” suggest that finny unpretentiously had a

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How does Knowles present the characters Finny and Gene?

Knowles contrasts the character of Gene and Finny to build up tension within their friendship in later chapters.
Knowles uses the repetition of “naturally” to describe Finny’s bravery and charisma compared to Gene, who is shown as a follower as they just “looked quietly” back at him after asked a question.

The word “naturally” is used specifically to describe Finny to show how his leadership and charisma is all natural, all too normal for him, him being this character portrayed as brave and spontaneous and not just a front he puts on. The use of “naturally” could also foreshadow to coming chapters where Gene believes that Finny is trying to sabotage his studying, while Phineas just thinks it comes naturally to him. The word “naturally” also connotates to believable and gives the reader this sense of trust towards Finny, as “naturally” means to not be fake and Knowles repeats this about Finny. Gene, however, is portrayed as a follower as he just “looked quietly” back at Finny, showing his submissiveness towards Finny and his leadership. The word “quietly” also illustrates towards the reader that Gene is a follower and not someone to speak up, unlike Finny, who is brave and is portrayed as charismatic and likable. The author also chose to use the word “looked” as other words such as stared would show a sense of authority from Gene (as stare is harsher than look), so “looked” would’ve fitted to make Gene and the fellow students look like followers.
Most of the extract describes Finny from Gene’s perspective, Gene describing Finny’s body as that of a “panther”, even though at first, Gene says he’s not “spectacularly built”.

Most of the extract is filled with Gene just describing Finny, which not only shows his admiration for Phineas, but also how much their personalities contrast as Phineas takes charge, is spontaneous and brave, unlike Gene and the rest of the students who watch Finny and follow him. It would also justify the resentment Gene has for Finny later on as Finny is always the center of attention, while Gene is barely given attention compared to him. The fact that Gene describes Finny’s body as a “panthers” also shows the admiration that Gene has towards Finny, and further contrasts their personalities as Gene is known as more of the smart one while Finny is the athlete of the school. Knowles first describes Finny from Gene’s perspective as “not spectacularly built”, telling the reader that even the strongest athlete in the school isn’t impeccably built, however Gene later goes on to compare his body to that of a “panthers”. “Panthers” are animals with stamina and agility, known for their survival in the wild and their ruthlessness to other animals. This confusion between admiration (Finny’s body like a “panther”) and envy (“Not spectacularly built”) is already built within the first chapter to build tension within  their relationship, which gradually grows through the chapters. Irony is also used as a way for foreshadowing here as Gene describes the pegs as not being strong enough to support Phineas’ weight, foreshadowing the fall that Phineas has on the tree.

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Finny is presented

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How does Knowles present the characters Finny and Gene?

At this point in the extract Gene, Finny and there friends are loitering around the tree watching Finny courageously jump from it.

Knowles portrays Gene as a submissive character through Gene's admiration of Finny. Gene "just looked quietly back at him (Finny), " when Finny asks a question, showing the blank face of a by-stander. Gene constantly admires Finny and all his little quirks.

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knowles utilizes genes narration to portray finny as a dominant character. This is evident through knowles use of exaggerated adjectives which is seen when gene says "Such an extraordinary athlete" this portrays genes idolization and submissiveness, the word "extraordinary"  captures genes perspective of finny.At one point in the extract when the boys were ready to jump off the tree finny sarcastically says " Do you want to go first "

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Knowles portrays Gene in this extract, submissively, instead Finny is given all the attention. Gene is referred to as one of the 'others', that finny' 'inveigles'. The repetition of the word 'Naturally', is a powerful adverb, which is being used, to show how Finny is always the 'first', suggesting that he is a leader, and boys like gene are just 'inveigles'.

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(Carried on from the comment)
Gene's

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In the extract Knowles portrays Gene as a submissive character and Finny as a dominant character. This can be proven as before Finny climbs the tree he asks "Do you want to go first?". This shows that Finny is a dominant character as he asks this question while knowing that he will be the only one who wants to go first. This shows that Finny is always the one who is the first one to try something and all his other friends follow after him. The effect on the reader. The effect on the reader is that the reader believes that Finny is in a way their leader. When Finny starts to climb the tree his body is referred to as looking "like a panther". This is showing that he is glorified within his friend group.

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Q: How does Knowles present the characters Finny and Gene in this extract?

In the extract, Knowles presents Finny as a dominant character and Gene as submissive through the description of Finny. As the boys watch Finny getting ready to jump off the tree, Gene mentions how Finny's muscles were "working like a panther's". The comparison indicates how strong Finny is, because of how most panthers are generally strong. The strength represents his dominance and how he's stronger than the other boys. "Panther" refers to an animal with agility and speed, Gene is mentioning how Finny has these traits. The "panther" is also a predator, which shows that Finny is the predator, and Gene is the prey. Gene also repeats the word "naturally". The word "naturally" is said in an exaggerated tone because it is repeated.