A Separate Peace

Brinker was not the cause of Phineas' death because he only called the meeting to prove that Gene had deliberately jounced the limb of the tree while Finny was on it. When Brinker suggested that they do something about preventing Finny from pitying himself, Gene made it clear that Brinker didn’t have his approval to do so. However, after Gene caused Phineas to fall and break his leg for the first time, Finny’s bone became weak. If Gene had not jounced the limb, then Finny’s bone would not have been so weak from being broken that it would break the second time. He was also following routine procedure. Gene challenged Brinker to calling the meeting by telling him how not to act towards Finny. death because he had intentions of helping Finny and making him better. If he had just let Brinker do as he pleased, Brinker would have never called the meeting, and Finny would have never fallen down the stairs. In this case, the operation would have never had to happen and the bone marrow would have never flowed into Phineas' bloodstream, causing him to die. On page 152, Brinker told Gene that he pitied Finny, and Gene responded by telling Brinker how wrong he was. However, if Gene had just admitted to deliberately jouncing the limb Finny was on, causing him to fall, Brinker would have never called the meeting.