By his very nature, Gene conforms and embraces the conventional. In contrast to Finny, he wants to follow the rules — spoken and unspoken — as if in a kind of lock-step. His "West Point stride," for example, suggests this tendency toward conformity — even, potentially, the military conformity that looms before all the boys at Devon.
With tragic consequences, Gene's conformity brings him into conflict with rebellious Finny, but his natural reserve prevents him from expressing his feelings openly and directly. As a result, Gene's anger churns within him and emerges in unconscious forms — a "bending of the knees," for instance, that shakes the limb of the tree at the critical moment and causes Finny to fall.
Yet, as much as Gene resents Finny's freedom, he needs him to become a complete human being. Over the course of the story, Gene functions as Finny's opposite — but he also becomes his double. At the end of the novel, Gene gratefully accepts the forgiveness of his friend, whose death he mourns in silence, as he readies himself to face the world without resentment or fear.
