The word innocuous means harmless or non-irritating. Since A Separate Peaceis written from Gene's perspective, there are many times when he feels that Phineas is irritating or out to get him. However, Gene's opinion can be skewed because of his own jealousy and paranoia when it comes to his best friend. One minute, Gene thinks Phineas is being competitive or jealous with a hidden agenda, and the next minute, he thinks Finny is his...
The word innocuous means harmless or non-irritating. Since A Separate Peace is written from Gene's perspective, there are many times when he feels that Phineas is irritating or out to get him. However, Gene's opinion can be skewed because of his own jealousy and paranoia when it comes to his best friend. One minute, Gene thinks Phineas is being competitive or jealous with a hidden agenda, and the next minute, he thinks Finny is his best friend. From an objective standpoint, however, Phineas would rather have fun and engage in friendly sporting competitions than seek the downfall or failure of a friend. Gene is simply paranoid.
Phineas shows that he is innocuous during the first time the boys jump from the tree into the river in chapter two. Gene almost falls out of the tree because he turns back for a moment to say something. He loses his balance and almost falls uncontrollably to the ground, but Phineas reaches out, grabs his arm, and saves him. Gene later realizes the following:
"If Finny hadn't come up right behind me . . . if he hadn't been there . . . I could have fallen on the bank and broken my back! If I had fallen awkwardly enough I could have been killed. Finny had practically saved my life" (32).
This isn't enough to convince Gene that Phineas isn't out to destroy him or his life. In chapter three, Phineas creates a game called "Blitzball" and Gene is jealous of this. Gene feels that Finny creates the game to show off his own athletic ability and talent. This is a misconception because Phineas is innocuous! He just loves being social and playing sports. Put the two together and Phineas is a leader in fun, not treachery.
One last example of Phineas being harmless is when he breaks the school swimming record in chapter three. Gene is the only witness to the event and expects that Phineas would want to show off and tell the whole school what he had accomplished. This doesn't happen, because Phineas tells Gene to be quiet about it. His response is as follows:
"By the way . . . we aren't going to talk about this. It's just between you and me. Don't say anything about it, to . . . anyone" (44).
Phineas isn't out to seek praise and glory like Gene thinks he is. He's humble and not as bad as he's made out to be in Gene's mind. This proves that Phineas is not harmful, too competitive, or bent on seeing the downfall of others.
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